Toyota's dealers rolling out EV chargers

Toyota Australia says 232 of its franchise dealers will have electric vehicle chargers “well ahead” of the launch of the company’s first EV, the bZ4X, later this year.

Dealers will be footing the bill for the infrastructure, which Toyota Australia says represents a collective investment of $20 million.

These locations will install “at least” one charger, and Toyota says it expects the number to vary based on geographical location.

Installation of the first stage is underway.

“Our dealers will have a mix of AC and fast-charging DC outlets in prime metropolitan and regional sites as well as smaller locations across the country, ensuring they deliver the best possible customer experience for Toyota EV owners,” said Sean Hanley, Toyota Australia’s vice president of sales, marketing and franchise operations.

Each dealer will make their own decision about where to place the charger, whether it be situated inside the building itself for use only by sales and service staff or whether it’ll be positioned externally “for more 24-hour, seven-day charging”.

The chargers won’t, however, be available for use by non-Toyota vehicles.

Mr Hanley says the dealers will invest according to scale and car volume moving forward, and there’s no maximum number of chargers they can install.

Toyota is launching the bZ4X in the fourth quarter of 2023, and has confirmed it will launch three EVs over the next three years starting with the mid-sized SUV.

“Toyota is committed to bringing electric vehicles to Australia, in their thousands within a few short years, and ultimately, in the tens of thousands,” said Mr Hanley.

He also expects broader market acceptance of EVs will occur quicker than it did for hybrids.

“I don’t expect that EVs will take 22 years to accelerate in Australia, I think in the next seven years, you’re going to see significant acceleration,” he said.