Toyota Motor Corporation was not one of the producers who planned production of Electric Vehicles. However, information published from various sources says that world’s biggest automaker is planning to start EV production.

According to the Japanese newspaper Nikkei, producer Toyota will start production of long-range EVs by 2020. Tem for this task will be seat up next year with the task to develop EVs that can cruise more than 300 km (186 miles) on a single charge and sell them in Japan and other markets that promote EVs, such as California and China, Nikkei said.

Commenting this info, Executive Vice President Takahiko Ijichi said: “EVs do have many challenges.  But different countries and regions have different energy policies, and depending on infrastructure availability, we would like to have a structure that allows us to consider the introduction of EVs.”

Long term plans of Toyota are leaned on hydrogen fuel cells

Head of Toyota’s China operations Hiroji Onishi, said that China’s fuel economy regulations will make the company to work in difficult circumstances because of the China’s sales goal of around 2 million vehicles by 2025. The rules are forcing Toyota to deviate from its product strategy centered around conventional hybrids. Those do not qualify for what China’s regulators count as “new energy vehicle” credits for plug-in electric vehicles.

Up to now, Toyota was leaned on hydrogen fuel cells for green drive powers. Connected with that, answering the hypothetical question what is the ultimate environmentally friendly vehicle Ijichi said:  “We’ll say it will be fuel cell vehicles. And our idea has not changed. But, as a full-line automaker, Toyota must cover all alternative drivetrains, including battery-powered electric vehicles.”

Unlike the planning for the future, needs to solve the issues from the past. Owners of Toyota Tacoma, Tundra, and Sequoia trucks in U.S. filed a class action suit against the producer claiming to have received inadequate rust protection, which in turn could lead to corrosion significant enough to affect the trucks’ structural integrity. The automaker is expected to reach a formal settlement worth up to $3.4 billion.

Program will affect 2007 and 2008 Toyota Tundra and 2005-10 Tacoma pickup trucks along with 2005-08 Sequoia SUVs, with the total figure derived from the estimated cost of frame inspections and replacements for over 1.5 million total trucks.

Under the proposed settlement Toyota plans to inspect the frames of affected trucks for 12 years from the day they were initially sold or leased, and perform frame replacements if needed. Toyota is also expected to reimburse owners who have already paid for frame replacements out of pocket.