Toyota Corolla PHEV unveiled in Beijing

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Toyota has big electrification plans for the Chinese market. The company unveiled plug-in hybrid (PHEV) variants of Corolla and Levin cars at Auto China 2018, which will be introduced in 2019. Also, a fully electric version of CH-R compact SUV will hit the market in 2020.

Including the aforementioned vehicles, Toyota plans to introduce 10 new electrified vehicles in China by the end of 2020.

Both Corolla PHEV and Levin PHEV (above) are expected to have a BEV driving range of 50 km or more, and in 2019, Toyota will begin producing them in China, marking the company’s first overseas production of PHEVs.

Toyota said that they’ve been working with their Chinese partners for localization of key components. Also, the company intends to increase the annual production capacity for nickel-metal hydride battery modules at Sinogy Toyota Automotive Energy System Co., Ltd. (STAES) and Corun PEVE Automotive Battery Co., Ltd. (CPAB) to 220,000 units in 2020.

To accelerate its vehicle electrification in China, Toyota is also strengthening its local R&D and production bases. In 2020, it plans to open a new battery testing facility at Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing (China) Co., Ltd. (TMEC), which is Toyota’s R&D center in China, for evaluating battery packs for electrified vehicles.

In 2017, including sales of the Corolla Hybrid and Levin Hybrid installed with locally produced hybrid units, Toyota sold approximately 140,000 electrified vehicles in China. That brought its cumulative total of electrified vehicles sold in the country to approximately 350,000 units.

As for fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs), Toyota is exploring potential applications for its fuel cell technology in China. Last year, it began a 3-year verification-test program in China that uses Mirai FCEV, and it has expanded the feasibility studies to include commercial vehicles such as buses.

Also Read: 2019 Toyota Corolla Hatchback revealed