As regular Charged readers know, Toyota’s electrification strategy blows hot and cold—in Q2 2024, its EV share of total US brand sales was abysmal—below 2%, lower than any other major automaker save fellow laggard Honda/Acura. However, even as it continues to lobby against emissions standards and spread misinformation about EVs, the giant automaker is researching new battery and charging tech.
The latest welcome news is that Toyota has (a bit belatedly) joined seven other automakers as an investor in public charging network IONNA. Toyota and Lexus customers will now have access to the public network of DC fast chargers IONNA that plans to begin deploying later this year. IONNA hopes to install at least 30,000 charging ports in North America by 2030, and its stations will include both NACS and CCS connectors.
“We are excited to announce our support of IONNA to deploy DC fast chargers throughout the U.S. and Canada,” said Ted Ogawa, President and CEO of Toyota Motor North America. “We believe this will not only promote the adoption of BEVs and increase customer confidence in the technology, but it will provide our Toyota and Lexus customers with access to IONNA’s rapidly growing charging network in North America.”
Toyota currently offers two BEV models in the US and Canada—the Toyota bZ4X and the Lexus RZ. It recently announced plans to produce two new electric three-row SUVs in Kentucky and Indiana. By 2030, the company aspires to offer 30 BEV models globally (read: mostly in Europe and Asia).
Source: Toyota
