The extreme limits of electric cars are a matter that one group of motorists does not think about at all

Electric cars extreme limits and powers appeal to private motorists, but one group has a completely different attitude to electricity: companies looking for utility vehicles.

This is what the CEO of Toyota Suomen claims Heikki friend.

Commercial vehicles refer to transport vehicles for professional use, such as vans and pick-up trucks. The “can you get to Lapland with electricity” level of whining about this tip is strange.

“The consideration list of a commercial vehicle buyer is very different,” Freund tells HS.

Toyota presented its market outlook to the media this week.

It is the country’s biggest brand in new passenger cars, but not in terms of profit. That puts it behind Ford, Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz.

It will try to grab more market share next year with new cars, and there will be electric versions. For transport companies, advertising slogans for electric passenger cars “from zero to a hundred in a couple of seconds” mean nothing.

“There, a purchase decision is made from a completely different angle. The company has a long list of things and needs, why it is interested in an electric car.”

Firstly companies – or their customers – may have emission targets. A random transport company won’t get a deal if it does the work with end-of-life internal combustion engines.

Some are preparing for ever-tightening EU regulation. The Union’s goal is for new cars to be emission-free in 2035.

Then, according to Freund, the exact list of how the cars are used on a daily basis begins.

“Am I driving myself? Do my employees drive? Where do the employees live and charge? Do we have a location where you can charge the car or not?”

If the delivery company makes a frequent route in the city, it does not have to think about the battery’s sufficiency for pleasure trips.

Toyotas do not have battery pre-heating, which speeds up quick charging in winter along the way. It is said that companies are not asked that.

According to the interpretations of the brand, the van that pulls around the block has time to run the day’s work on one battery. According to Freund, companies’ technical questions are often related to “slow” night charging.

Eventually let’s get to the euros.

“The first person to think about is whether this car is possible for me. The company first looks at all its needs, and finally asks if this is still financially sustainable for us.”

A lot decides what is left of the car order during the entire life cycle of the car.

Leasing, i.e. long-term renting in practice, was a red garment for the consumer for a long time, but the uncertainties related to electric cars made it more common. According to Freund, commercial vehicles have not seen similar leasing tension.

in Finland is fair now one hundred thousand fully electric carsbut there are only about 4,000 electric vans. About 10 percent of Toyota’s own van sales are electric, but the share is going to be increased.

“Next year, we’re going to aim for the third one. I dare to say that when we look back two years from now to this moment, that electrification really happened quickly,” says Toyota’s information manager Pekka Karvinen.

In the entire utility vehicle market, it aims for a 15 percent share, regardless of drive power. The brands’ battleground is in the “ton class”: more than half of the market is medium-sized cars capable of carrying a thousand kilos of cargo.

On the electric side, it can become a problem for companies that the biggest cars with batteries weigh so much that the weight limits of a typical driver’s license are exceeded. Autoala estimates in its statementthat the restrictions on driver’s licenses should be reexamined.

On the other hand, there is a carrot: you can apply for electricity packages support from the state until the end of the year.

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“It’s pointless to dream of the title of the best-selling car brand in Finland by selling only electric cars.”

In the global in the picture, Toyota is criticized for the skepticism related to fully electric driving. With a cautious approach, it has still gained almost a fifth of the Finnish market in new passenger cars.

“It is pointless to dream of the title of the best-selling car brand in Finland by selling only electric cars. That’s my honest opinion,” says Freund.

The one closest to the neck is Volvo. However, the current year’s car sales will go down in history as a hole dug by the uncertain economic situation.

In January–September, the first registrations of passenger cars fell by about 19 percent compared to a year ago. In vans, the decline was 11.5 percent in the corresponding period.

An intermediate model the solution, i.e. the plug-in hybrid, has held its ground in Finland. They are cars with which you can drive short distances on electricity and long distances on fuel.

The automotive industry believes that these hybrids will begin to decline next year. Toyota’s Freund, on the other hand, believes that nothing will change for a couple of years.

“The supply and demand for plug-in hybrids will still be very strong in the next few years. Then if we jump to the 30s, the situation may already be different, but it is so far away that at this point it is difficult to assess whether they will have a role or not.”

On the other hand, even the heavy duty icon of utility carts is not immune to the budding electrification. Hard times From the Hilux pick-up truck there will be a light hybrid soon.