Date: September, 2021
Tetsuo Ogawa, President and Chief Executive Officer,
Toyota Motor North America
6565 Headquarters Dr.
Plano, TX 75024
Dear President Ogawa:
We urgently request a meeting with you by September 24th.
Earlier this year, President Biden laid out a bold vision for an electric transportation future by proposing a historic $174 billion investment in electric vehicles and related infrastructure. He subsequently called on auto manufacturers to make the transition to electric vehicles so that 50% of the market is electric by 2030, building upon a decade of companies like Tesla moving the zero-emission battery electric vehicle market into the strong state it is in today. Most of the industry has now joined him in this critical step towards the nation’s target of reducing GHG emissions by 50% by 2030, and companies like Ford, General Motors, Hyundai, Nissan and Volkswagen are offering a rapidly growing selection of compelling battery electric vehicles to a demanding public.
Unfortunately, Toyota’s efforts to lobby Congress to steer away from this vision and pressure members of Congress to reduce funding and oppose tax credits for Americans’ access to zero-emission EVs are putting our nation’s and the world’s transportation and climate future at risk. As a collective group of organizations concerned about the tremendous consequences of such action, we ask Toyota not to stand in the way of Congressional funding of the president’s vision. Instead, we urge you to fully support battery electric vehicle investments in all modes of transportation, and in all related zero-emission EV charging and other infrastructure needs.
We know that your company can do much better–the introduction of the Prius was an important shift forward in the industry, but cleaner technologies have left Toyota’s focus on PHEVs and hydrogen vehicles out of pace with what needs to be done to achieve a 100% reduction in GHG emissions from new vehicles in the sector by 2035.
We request a meeting with you to learn how Toyota will stop its negative influence on EV funding in Congress and join the rest of industry, organizations like ours, and everyday Americans in a full-throated call for a more robust federal investment in zero-emission EVs by Congress. Given the timeline for final passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and a reconciliation bill by the end of September/early October, we urgently request a meeting to take place by September 24th. Our hundreds of thousands of supporters have strongly voiced their support of Congress fully funding President Biden’s transportation electrification proposal, and want to hear that Toyota does as well.
We look forward to the discussion, and hope for a more positive direction going forward.
Sincerely,
Center for Biological Diversity
Coltura
Electric Auto Association
Environmental Defense Fund
Environmental Working Group
GreenLatinos
League of Conservation Voters (LCV)
Mobilify Southwestern Pennsylvania
Moms Clean Air Force
Philadelphia Solar Energy Association
Plug In America
Public Citizen
Sierra Club
Tri-State Transportation Campaign
Union of Concerned Scientists
Link to public letter: https://pluginamerica.org/group-letter-to-toyota/