Toyota slammed by Greenpeace over its support of fossil fuels

Toyota has been criticised by Greenpeace East Asia following a ranking of global car makers according to their environmental credentials.

It has been ranked last and attacked over its support of fossil fuels and a slow move to fully-electric vehicles.

Greenpeace also named Toyota as the third-most-influential negative climate lobbyist globally, only behind the Exxon Mobil and Chevron oil companies

It attacks Toyota over “lobbying against measures to reduce climate pollution from vehicles, greenwashing and advocacy for fossil-fuelled hybrid vehicle technology” .

Toyota Australia has mounted a vigorous defence, highlighting its “diverse approach to electrification”.

“Many Australians would be shocked to learn that one of the country’s most trusted car makers has worked to extend the use of polluting fossil fuel vehicle technology,” said Greenpeace Australia Pacific campaigner, Violette Snow, in an official statement by Greenpeace.

“Toyota is a global roadblock to electric vehicles, lobbying to weaken fuel efficiency standards, greenwashing its image and promoting electric vehicle disinformation while making big profits from polluting internal-combustion engine and fossil-fuelled hybrid cars.”

Greenpeace said its study comes as Australia is at a crossroads on its transition to electric vehicles and believes there is “a strong risk Toyota will work to weaken and slow Australia’s transition to cleaner, safer electric vehicles”.

“The International Energy Agency says to get to net zero by 2050, all new cars must be electric by 2035. If Toyota and the petrol car industry don't support this timeline, how do they think Australia can meet our climate goals?”, said Greenpeace.

In response, Toyota Australia highlighted its performance on hybrids since the original Toyota Prius in 1997, its recent work on hydrogen fuels for vehicles including the fuel-cell powered Toyota Mirai, and the latest BZ4X battery-electric vehicle (BEV, for short).

“Having a diverse approach to electrification, with the aim of reducing carbon emissions, is important because Australians have vastly different motoring needs, including varying passenger, cargo and towing capacity requirements, and significantly differing levels of access to infrastructure throughout urban, rural and remote Australia to support BEVs and other emerging zero/low tailpipe emissions powertrain options,” Toyota Australia said in an official statement.

“Importantly, Toyota is not limited to a single technical solution. We remain absolutely committed to providing our customers with a diverse range of vehicles and technologies, including BEVs, that will help them on their journey to zero tailpipe emissions based on their individual motoring circumstances, ensuring no-one is left behind.”

“Our parent company is making large investments into carbon-reducing and carbon-neutral vehicles and technologies.

“By 2030, Toyota is targeting global sales of 3.5 million BEVs a year with plans to launch 30 BEV models, resulting in a comprehensive line-up of electric passenger cars, SUVs and commercial vehicles. Locally, we will introduce our first dedicated BEV, the BZ4X, during 2023.”