Toyota claims to be working on its first GR electric sports car
A few days ago, it emerged that Toyota shareholders were very upset about how the brand is dealing with the shift towards electrification, even calling for a vote to oust Toyota’s president; Akio Toyoda, as despite leaving the CEO position to Koji Sato, the brand does not seem to be making any progress in favour of electric vehicles.
Now, Akio Toyoda has claimed that the brand is working on its first all-electric sports car from Toyota Gazoo Racing (GR). Toyoda said it will match or exceed the expectations of current GR combustion vehicles such as the Supra and Yaris. The announcement comes on the heels of a second-place finish at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Toyota even claimed to have tested the brand’s new sports car in development, and said that while it was not certain it would make it to market, it would include a manual transmission and simulated noise, two features that are unsurprising for a brand with such a strong focus on combustion-engined vehicles.
It can also be assumed that this sudden announcement may have been made to appease shareholders, who, as mentioned above, are not very happy. But… it is not really an electric sports car that is being demanded from the brand, in fact it is more about the brand making a commitment to go 100% electric and, in any case, announcing mass electric vehicle developments.
Despite all that has happened in recent days, Akio Toyoda has been re-elected by 85% of shareholders at the company’s annual meeting. Although this is still a high percentage, it is lower than in previous years, which shows that dissatisfaction with the brand’s future plans is becoming increasingly real.
A day before the shareholder meeting, Toyota unveiled a plan to introduce solid-state battery and other technologies to improve range and ultimately reduce the cost of future electric vehicles.
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