Tokyo — Toyota Motor Corp is looking at mass-producing long-range electric vehicles (EVs) that would hit the market around 2020, the Nikkei newspaper reported on Monday, in what would be a dramatic reversal of strategy for the world’s top-selling car maker. Even as rivals such as Nissan Motor, Volkswagen and Tesla Motors have touted pure electric cars as the most viable zero-emission vehicles for the future, Toyota has said it would reserve EVs for short-distance commuting given the high price of rechargeable batteries and lengthy charging times. By adding longer-range EVs to its product range, Toyota would be changing its tune from promoting plug-in petrol-electric hybrid cars and hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles (FCVs) as the most promising alternative to conventional cars. The Nikkei business daily, without citing sources, said Toyota would set up a team in early 2017 dedicated to developing electric cars that could travel more than 300km on a single charge. "Toyota has been a major h...
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