The government has put together an action plan for the realization of a carbon-free society in 2050.
By the mid-2030s at the latest, all new passenger car sales will be electric vehicles, and specific goals will be set in 14 fields, and all policy measures will be mobilized to achieve them.
Of these, in the field of automobiles, comprehensive measures have been taken to enable all new passenger car sales to be made into so-called electric vehicles such as electric vehicles, hybrid vehicles, and fuel cell vehicles by the mid-2030s at the latest, in order to achieve this. It is intended to improve the performance of storage batteries installed in cars.
Goals for electrification in the world one after another
Recently, in response to the Paris Agreement, countries around the world have set a series of goals to eliminate cars with only gasoline engines and promote electrification.
Of these, the UK set a new goal last month to ban new gasoline and diesel sales by 2030, five years ahead of its previous goal.
In 2035, new hybrid vehicles will also be banned from sale.
Also, in September, the state of California in the United States set a goal to ban the sale of new cars such as gasoline cars by 2035, and in October, a group of experts in China, the world's largest automobile market, set a goal. the 2035 has put together a process table that all of the new cars to hybrid and electric vehicles in prospect.
The electric car that Japan is trying to advance
The "electric vehicles" that Japan is trying to promote include electric vehicles = EVs and fuel cell vehicles, as well as hybrid vehicles and plug-in hybrid vehicles.
Japanese manufacturers have adopted an "omnidirectional strategy" so that they can handle other electric vehicles such as EVs depending on the region and purpose, while focusing on hybrid vehicles that they are good at.
Of these, hybrid vehicles run on engines and electricity, and Toyota Motor began mass production for the first time in the world in 1997, more than 20 years ago, and since then, Japanese manufacturers have been leading the world.
In addition to the type that supports the movement of the engine with a motor, a type that runs with a motor while generating electricity with the engine has also been developed.
As for EVs, Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. started mass production 10 years ago, and next year it will release a new EV that greatly extends the distance it can travel on a single charge, and Honda has also released its first EV. ..
Toyota Motor has started selling EVs in China and Southeast Asia, and has also launched a two-seater ultra-compact EV in Japan.
We are also developing a next-generation autonomous driving EV that can be used for parcel delivery and mobile stores.
In addition, Toyota and Honda are also involved in fuel cell vehicles that run on electricity generated by hydrogen.
The ratio of electric vehicles in Japan is about 35%
According to the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association, electric vehicles account for about 35% of the 4.3 million passenger cars sold in Japan last year.
Hybrid vehicles powered by engines and electricity accounted for 34.2%, plug-in hybrid vehicles that can be recharged accounted for 0.4%, electric vehicles accounted for 0.4%, and fuel cell vehicles accounted for 0.01%.
While electric vehicles are becoming more widespread than in Europe, the United States and China, gasoline engine-only vehicles still account for more than half, at 60.8%.
Many Japanese manufacturers have adopted an "omnidirectional strategy" so that they can handle other electric vehicles such as electric vehicles depending on the region and purpose while focusing on hybrid vehicles, but most of them also have gasoline vehicle manufacturers. In order to make everything an electric vehicle in about 15 years, it seems that a major shift in the production system, including parts manufacturers, will be required.
EV also emits carbon dioxide
There is a widespread belief that carbon dioxide emissions should be reduced as a whole, not only when the car is running, but also in the process of producing gasoline as fuel and generating electricity.
It cannot be said that EVs, which are said to emit no carbon dioxide when running, do not emit carbon dioxide at all, including the time when electricity is produced.
This is because when the source power is thermal power generation, a large amount of carbon dioxide is emitted when mining fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and natural gas, and when burning them to generate electricity.
This idea is called "Well-to-Wheel" in the sense that it captures everything from the "well" that mines fossil fuels to the "wheels" of cars.
According to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry's estimation of carbon dioxide emissions based on the operating conditions five years ago, assuming that a car with only a gasoline engine is "100", a hybrid car is "52" and an EV is "45" in Japan. ", Both are about half.
It has also been pointed out that batteries, which are indispensable for EVs, emit a lot of carbon dioxide at the production stage.
For this reason, toward the realization of carbon neutrality in 2050, not only the electrification of cars, but also the decarbonization of electric power such as increasing renewable energy such as solar power and wind power, and the so-called life from production to disposal. We also need to work on cycle decarbonization.
Batteries are the key to the spread of electric vehicles
Currently, the prices of electric vehicles and hybrid vehicles are higher than those of gasoline vehicles, but the major factor is that the price of batteries remains high.
According to the IEA = International Energy Agency, the cost of lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles is declining year by year, but as of last year, the amount of electricity generated was about 16,200 yen per kilowatt hour.
Based on this, the cost of batteries for electric vehicles in Japan will be 500,000 to 1 million yen per vehicle.
Reducing the cost of this battery is the key to promoting the spread of electric vehicles.
Toyota Motor Corporation and Panasonic have set up a new company to jointly produce lithium-ion batteries and plan to sell it not only to their own company but also to other manufacturers, and hope to reduce the price by mass production.
In addition, next-generation batteries called "all-solid-state batteries," which are expected to run longer and shorter charging times on a single charge, are being developed.
Toyota Motor has already succeeded in running a small electric vehicle, and in a public-private project by NEDO = Industrial Technology Development Organization and automobile manufacturers that started two years ago, the battery manufacturing cost is 3 minutes of lithium ion. We have set a goal of reducing the charging time to about one-third.
Currently, the presence of Chinese manufacturers in the production of lithium-ion batteries is increasing, but the future focus will be on whether Japanese manufacturers can regain their presence by reducing prices and developing next-generation batteries.
Car dealers are concerned
Car dealers are saying that prices need to be reduced in order for electric vehicles to be accepted by consumers.
Since the new car dealership in Minuma-ku, Saitama City is located in the suburbs, many customers buy cars as a foothold for daily life such as shopping and commuting, and they handle a lot of gasoline cars, mainly light cars, which are cheap to maintain.
There are hybrid cars in stores, but even with the same model, the price may be hundreds of thousands of yen higher than gasoline cars, and gasoline cars account for more than 80% of the sales of the entire store.
A man in his 60s in Saitama Prefecture, who usually rides in mini cars, said, "I think decarbonization is a problem that should be addressed globally. I don't know how much the price of mini cars will increase by becoming an electric car, but consumption People are cost-oriented. "
In the past, the dealers were refraining from buying when the consumption tax rate was raised, so I am concerned that if the price of electric cars remains significantly higher than that of gasoline cars, it may be difficult for consumers to accept them.
Yasuo Kuroki, CEO of "Access", which runs the store, said, "The more regions where public transportation is scarce, the more cars are bought to maintain a living. Japan is also in the global trend of decarbonization. We have to keep up, but we need to be affordable to consumers through technological innovation. "
Also equipped with parts manufacturers
Manufacturers working on parts are also preparing for the spread of electric vehicles.
Marelli, a parts manufacturer in Saitama City, deals with automobile manufacturers in Japan and overseas, and handles a wide range of parts such as engine and transmission control devices, car interiors, and exhaust systems.
The handling of parts for hybrid and electric vehicles is increasing, but if we aim for 100% electrification by the mid-2030s, we need to take steps at a faster pace than ever before.
For example, we would like to apply a system called "exhaust" that emits exhaust gas from an engine to parts for fuel cell vehicles that generate electricity with hydrogen and run in the future while continuing production.
In addition, as demand for electric vehicle parts is expected to increase, we are rushing to develop an air conditioning system that lowers the temperature of the battery in cooperation with a major Chinese air conditioning manufacturer.
Ryo Hori, General Manager of the Marelli Innovation Technology Promotion Center, said, "Changes will occur in a short period of time, and parts manufacturers will also be required to look ahead. We will accelerate development and make it possible to provide products that can be used in various automobiles. I was talking.