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Toyota, Honda, Nissan Are the Laggers of the Decarbonization Efforts, Hybrids Won't Cut It

Japanese carmakers are called out again for their lack of progress with zero-emission vehicles and decarbonization efforts. They landed last in a Greenpeace study among the top 10 carmakers worldwide because of their insufficient decarbonization efforts.
Left to right: Hitoshi Kawaguchi (Senior Vice President, Nissan), Kiyotaka Ise (Senior Managing Officer, Toyota), Toshihiro Mibe (Operating Officer, Honda) 6 photos
Photo: Toyota
Akyo Toyoda announcing 30 BEVs by 20302023 Toyota bZ4XToyota PriusNissan LeafHonda Prologue Electric Crossover SUV rendering by KDesign AG
Toyota, which repeatedly declared that electric vehicles are not yet ready, is the last of the top 10 carmakers in sales volume in the Greenpeace ranking. Toyota kept the same position as the previous year. According to the Greenpeace study cited by Reuters, zero-emission vehicles made up less than 1% of Toyota’s sales. At the same time, supply chain decarbonization has seen only slow progress.

Toyota has long been seen as a pioneer of decarbonization, thanks to its Prius hybrid launched in 1997. For many years, people bought Priuses to show their support for the environmental cause. But the tables are turning, and Toyota is now frequently criticized by environmentalists and green investors alike for resisting the battery-electric vehicles trend. The production of its only EV, the bZ4X, is now halted indefinitely because Toyota could not find a way to prevent its wheels from falling off.

Nissan is also facing backlash, even though the Japanese company led the electrification efforts with the Leaf, launched in 2010. Leaf’s sales have made little progress, and the pioneer of EVs, Nissan, had to announce pulling the plug. Around 577,000 Leafs (Leaves?) were delivered since launch, about what Tesla is expected to sell in the fourth quarter alone. Its replacement, the Nissan Ariya, does not seem to be getting traction due to ongoing supply chain problems.

Honda, the second to last in Greenpeace’s ranking, does not even have a roadmap for electrification. According to Reuters, a Honda executive said it would continue to work towards carbon neutrality by 2050. This is awfully late, considering the bans on ICE vehicles that were announced as early as 2030. Several states in the U.S. and some European countries have announced combustion engine bans that start from 2035 at the latest.

Compared to the Japan Three, nearly every other carmaker plans for an all-electric lineup by the decade’s end. Tesla, the leader of the EV market, expects the Model Y to become the world’s highest-selling car by revenue this year and the best-selling vehicle by total volumes next year. This proves that people want to buy EVs, but the problem is not building enough of them. Or, as one Greenpeace campaigner said, “the time for hybrids, I think, has finished.”
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About the author: Cristian Agatie
Cristian Agatie profile photo

After his childhood dream of becoming a "tractor operator" didn't pan out, Cristian turned to journalism, first in print and later moving to online media. His top interests are electric vehicles and new energy solutions.
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