India must look at other options and not just EVs to curb emissions: Toyota

India must look at multiple technology options, including hybrids, to tackle carbon emissions and not just restrict to electric vehicles, a senior company official of Japanese auto major Toyota said on Friday.

In May, the company announced plans to invest Rs 4,800 crore in Karnataka for local production of powertrain parts and other components of Electric Vehicles (EVs). It is preparing to develop an ecosystem for electrified vehicles in the country as part of its path towards carbon neutrality.

"For India, we should have a diversified way to tackle carbon neutrality, not only BEV (Battery Electric Vehicle), not only A or B or C (technology). We have to tackle with A and B and C," Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) Managing Director Masakazu Yoshimura told PTI in an interview.

To do so, he said, "We need to have a good rich resource of technology backup ... we need good skilled manpower supported by some investments of course, and the government support."
Considering the size of the country and its diverse industries, he said "each industry in India must also have their own strategy on how to tackle (carbon emissions)."
When asked about the Indian government's push for EVs as compared to other technologies like hybrids, he said, "If India becomes a complete BEV oriented country, we will introduce our BEVs."
When asked how soon the company can launch a full EV in India if the need arose, he said, "If it is CBU (Completely Built Unit), we can bring it, maybe, in six months minimum, perhaps, but it will have very less local content."
He further said, "If it is dedicated, uniquely designed for India, it will take two years."
When asked if Toyota is preparing for a big push towards electrification, Yoshimura said, "We have already prepared Toyota globally and TKM at the Bidadi site in Bangalore ... e-drive production line has already started production and will first start exporting to Japan and we will produce for the locally manufactured vehicles (including the Urban Cruiser Hyryder)."