Toyota will continue making gas-powered high-performance cars, says Racing Boss

An all-electric Toyota sports car may not be as close as it seemed last year.

Tomoya Takahashi, president of the Japanese automaker Gazoo Race (GR) division, recently told CarExpert that his team will build cars with internal combustion engines for as long as possible. He also appears to have no interest in building an EV anytime soon.

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The first half of 2024 saw several manufacturers including Aston Martin, back off from previously announced plans to go all-electric by the end of the decade. Toyota has made no such promise, and if Takahashi’s words are anything to go by, it remains as committed to building gas-powered vehicles as ever.

During a conversation with the Australian website, the executive said that Gazoo Racing wants to use ICE engines “as much as possible”. He also suggested that his division would not just continue to use the same gas-powered engines currently on the market. GR SupraGR Corolla and GR86, but will instead invest resources in developing new mills.

“There may come a time in the future when engines are banned, but internal combustion engines are not bad, the enemy is carbon,” he told CarExpert. “We are investing in future engines.”

However, Takahashi is not completely opposed to electrification. The GR boss said he saw hybrid technology being used to “reduce carbon emissions” and mentioned wanting to explore the potential of carbon-neutral synthetic fuels. He also acknowledged that while full electrification is likely coming, he’s not sure when that will happen.

The executive’s quotes will certainly be well received by the type of enthusiast who thinks a vehicle must be powered exclusively by gasoline to qualify as a sports car. His words will be less comforting, as Motor1.com points outfor those intrigued by battery-powered FT-Se Concept that Toyota showed off last fall. That EV, which sports a design closely tied to the beloved MR2, was said to feature a dual-motor powertrain powerful enough to compete with the Porsche. next 718 electric Cayman. If Takahashi was serious about GR’s lack of interest in building an EV, it suggests the concept is unlikely to go into production later this decade, as some had hoped.

Fortunately, Takahashi seemed to only be talking about GR, so the much talked about LFA successor, known until now as the “Electrified Sport,” appears to remain a possibility.

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