Newly revealed Toyota EV plans include batteries with 900-plus miles of range

SUSONO, Japan — Solid-state batteries for electric vehicles with ranges of 900 miles or more, software operating systems that update automatically, futuristic factories where cars drive themselves through final assembly and ultraslick aerodynamics developed through rocket science are just a few of the new technologies Toyota is packing into its toolbox for EVs of tomorrow.

Under pressure to show it has a winning game plan for the disruptive new age of EVs, Toyota Motor Corp. spills fresh details about its strategy to leapfrog ahead in just a few years.

An all-day executive briefing drove home Toyota’s point that, contrary to being left behind, it has both the technology and the production system needed to deliver industry-leading EVs from 2026.

Top among the technologies is a wave of advanced batteries.

Keiji Kaita, Toyota’s top battery guru and president of its carbon neutral advanced engineering development center, outlined five new batteries that will debut by the end of the decade.

They kick off with a next-generation lithium ion power pack that will double the range of the power pack used in the current bZ4X electric crossover. The new battery will deliver a driving range of 621 miles, Kaita said.

It will cost 20 percent less than Toyota’s current EV batteries and be able to recharge from 10 to 80 percent in less than 20 minutes. Toyota compared those targets with the bZ4X battery’s range of 382 miles and a 30-minute charge time.

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— Hans Greimel