How Electrified Vehicles Are Moving Us Toward a Brighter Future

Last year, a survey found that 38 percent of Americans would consider an electric vehicle for their next car, with the majority citing that helping the environment and saving money on gas were the most compelling reasons why.

Getting into an electrified vehicle can help reduce CO₂ emissions, and it can also have other benefits like lower maintenance costs and enhanced performance. By offering a wide range of electrified vehicle options, from plug-ins to hybrids, Toyota is helping make electrified vehicle adoption a more attractive choice for consumers. Today, 78 percent of its 2024 and 2025 models have an electrified option, including classics like the Land Cruiser and the popular Tundra. The automaker’s Beyond Zero initiative aims to help reduce carbon emissions by producing cleaner vehicles with more efficient manufacturing practices.

The push to electrify the automotive industry is important, but the transition requires EVs to be an attractive and affordable choice for consumers when they’re in the market for a new vehicle. Toyota provides a diverse array of electrified options—Hybrid EVs, Plug-In Hybrid EVs, Battery EVs, and Fuel Cell EVs—with the goal of ensuring that consumers can align their environmental values with their driving preferences.

Not everyone is ready or able to make the transition to a fully electric plug-in vehicle—it might be cost prohibitive, it might not fit into their driving habits or lifestyle, or they might not be able to add the necessary infrastructure to support a plug-in. Often, people are considering many other important features when shopping for a vehicle, like size, aesthetics, efficiency, power, and speed. Thankfully, going electric doesn’t just mean plugging in.

By offering varied electrified powertrains, Toyota can help alleviate pressure on limited battery resources and provide customers with choices to reduce their carbon footprint. Today, Toyota carries more low- and zero-emissions vehicles than any other automaker.

For many, the transition to electric vehicles can feel daunting. Concerns about range anxiety—the fear that an EV won’t have enough charge to get to its destination—and insufficient charging infrastructure often deter potential adopters. Toyota addresses these challenges with a variety of options to fit easily into people’s lives.

Hybrid EVs seamlessly integrate the benefits of electrification with the familiarity of traditional gasoline engines. They start, refuel, and handle like gas-only models, and are a great option for those who aren’t quite ready to commit to all-electric vehicles.

Plug-In Hybrid EVs run just like hybrids and can switch between rechargeable battery power and conventional fuel to offer the best of both worlds. With the ability to use either power source, it’s a great way to explore the benefits of a fully electric vehicle.

Battery EVs use all-electric motors for silent, clean power, and don’t use any traditional fuel. They also have the lowest emissions of all the electrified options—yielding 3.7 tons in carbon-emission reductions per vehicle.

The innovative Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles use hydrogen to generate their own electric charge and only emit water from the tailpipe. The hydrogen-powered 2024 Toyota Mirai, available only in California, doesn’t create any emissions, and has a 402-mile range.

Beyond the environmental advantages of reducing CO₂ emissions, drivers can also experience other benefits that come with electrified options like enhanced performance, instant torque, and quiet driving, plus lower operating and maintenance costs. Whether it's the smooth acceleration of Battery EVs or the efficiency of Plug-In Hybrid EVs, Toyota's electrified lineup delivers tangible benefits that go beyond reducing carbon emissions, making the switch to sustainable transportation not just a moral imperative but a practical one too.

Toyota's commitment to sustainability doesn’t just mean offering low- to zero-emission electrified vehicles. From reducing plastic waste to supporting water conservation efforts, Toyota is working to minimize its environmental footprint and foster positive societal change.

Through initiatives like the Toyota Environmental Challenge 2050, the company is setting ambitious targets to hit carbon neutrality, minimize water usage, establish recycling-based systems, and operate in harmony with nature. Toyota has partnered with the National Environmental Education Foundation for 25 years, joined Business for Nature’s Call to Action to call on governments to reverse nature loss, and aligns with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.

In 2022, Toyota sold 2.73 million electrified vehicles. By 2030, it’s targeting 70 percent electrified new vehicle sales—and for 45 percent of its total electricity purchases to come from renewable sources by 2026 (in 2023, it purchased 380,688 MWh of renewable electricity).

The push to offer low- to zero-emissions vehicles is just part of the company’s goals; it’s also working to reduce emissions in its manufacturing plants, dealerships, and suppliers. Through implementing more efficient practices, Toyota saves 23 million gallons of water per year at just one of its assembly plants. In 2021, 93 percent of its waste was recycled, reused, or repurposed—and more than 186,000 hybrid vehicle batteries have been recycled or remanufactured since 2010.

Through advancing recycling technologies and promoting environmental education, Toyota is helping to create a better, safer, and healthier world.

Learn more about Toyota’s Beyond Zero vision here.