Toyota’s ‘Master Driver’ Akio Toyoda Doesn’t Believe in Electric Sports Cars
The Toyota chairman says passionate people at the company are working on battery-powered sports cars, but he prefers "the smell of gasoline and a noisy engine." The post Toyota’s ‘Master Driver’ Akio Toyoda Doesn’t Believe in Electric Sports Cars appeared first on The Drive.
If you’re a fan of Toyota’s recent take on affordable performance cars, former CEO and current chairman Akio Toyoda is the man you should thank. His role in developing the GR Corolla earned him a special edition named for his race track alter ego, and earned him the unofficial (but nonetheless critical) title of “master driver.” In a recent interview with Automotive News, Toyoda says that as long as he retains that responsibility within Toyota, he will continue to advocate for sports cars that provide the same visceral sensations he loves.
“There will always be people inside Toyota passionate about developing electric sports cars,” Toyoda told the outlet. “But for me as the master driver, my definition of a sports car is something with the smell of gasoline and a noisy engine.”
That’s one of the key reasons why Toyoda, an avid racer, has no interest in going wheel-to-wheel in an all-electric racing series. The other thing holding electric performance vehicles back is cost.
“Toyota is a mass-production brand, so we also need to think about affordability, even with BEVs,” he said. “Once Toyota has the capacity to offer affordable BEVs, then maybe that’s a moment when I as a master driver will be introducing a BEV sports car.”
The same limitations that hold high-performance EVs back on the street cause even greater complications on the race track. Since electric race cars can’t quickly refuel, the race becomes less about the driver and more about team logistics.
“It’s not exciting. Because you won’t be able to go around the circuit for more than an hour,” he said. “The kind of races I enter are mostly endurance races, so with the current BEVs, it’s not going to be a race of the cars. It’s a race of charging time or battery exchange or something,” he added.
Toyoda believes the company should continue to follow the path of least resistance when it comes to reducing carbon emissions, whether that means producing more hybrids, more EVs, or both. For now, though, he’s content to stick with gasoline-powered performance machines and let the next generation tackle the electrification of fun.
“The next master driver will have to take on that challenge,” he said. “That’s their job.”
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The post Toyota’s ‘Master Driver’ Akio Toyoda Doesn’t Believe in Electric Sports Cars appeared first on The Drive.
