At a time when many automakers are cutting back on electric-car production, Toyota appears to be going all in.

Environmental groups have criticized the world’s largest automaker for relying on hybrids instead of full electric vehicles. But the Japanese manufacturer has announced three new electric models, and it has also moved to discount its existing bZ electric crossover SUV.

When Toyota’s new fully electric Highlander SUV debuts in 2027, Toyota will sell seven battery-powered models from its main brand and Lexus luxury subsidiary. Cox Automotive estimates that only one manufacturer, Mercedes-Benz with six EVs, will come close to Toyota’s number of battery-powered models if nothing else changes. Two others, BMW and Cadillac, currently sell four.

“Toyota is accelerating when most are slowing down,” Stephanie Valdez Streaty, Cox Automotive’s director of Industry Insights, said. “The bZ is #3 top-selling EV” this year through the end of February 2026, she added.

It’s a far cry from Toyota being derided as a laggard on EVs by environmental groups in Washington, DC, as recently as 2025.

With that in mind, the USA TODAY Cars team took a look at why Toyota is going all-in on EVs while other automakers are pulling the plug.

Why Toyota is going all-in on EVs while other makers are cutting back
EV road tax proposal could shrink drivers’ gas savings. Here’s why

These 5 EVs have the shortest highway driving range
5 EV deals shoppers can take advantage of as Toyota cuts prices
The five EVs you can buy now with the longest range
Why is Toyota now going all-in on EVs?
Toyota says it is following its customers by evolving its product lineup.

“We’re looking at what makes sense for our customer and for our product lineup,” Julia Rege, Toyota’s general manager of environmental regulation and research, said during a news briefing on March 18.

“Toyota is very well known for having a multi-path strategy that is a portfolio approach where we are making improvements on our gasoline engines, providing hybrid electric vehicles, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, battery electric vehicles, as well as fuel cell electric vehicles,” Rege continued. “Quite frankly, the best strategy is to make sure that you’re selling what your customers want and being prepared for the future of what customers want as well.”

Rick Gezelle, Toyota’s senior program manager of sustainability and regulatory affairs, said the company is “not changing much” but rather “some of our competitors are chasing that pendulum that’s swinging back and forth.”

“We’re not pivoting on our plans that we had in place, which were not very popular just a few years,” he added. “But you know it’s a different story now. I think it’s consistency that is the key.”

In case you missed it: Toyota announces $1 billion investment in Kentucky, Indiana plants
What do environmental groups say about Toyota’s EV pivot?
Environmental groups that have held Toyota up for years as a laggard on EVs offered a much less charitable take, saying the Japanese manufacturer is simply bowing to their pressure to urge them to press the gas on electric cars as the world’s largest carmaker.

“Does this announcement show that Toyota is serious about the EV transition, or is it simply an attempt to create a positive media cycle?” asked Adam Zuckerman, senior clean vehicles campaigner with Public Citizen’s Climate Program, when Toyota made EV announcements in May 2025.

“If Toyota is serious about EVs, it needs to show it by ending its anti-climate lobbying and support for climate deniers,” Zuckerman continued. “This is an opportunity for Toyota to take advantage of America’s growing market for electric vehicles and go from EV laggard to EV leader.”

What other EVs are being axed by automakers?
Ford has announced plans to transition its F-150 Lightning pickup from a fully electric car to an Extended Range Electric Vehicle (EREV).

Honda is axing three of the electric models that it previously planned to build and sell in the United States. The Japanese automaker announced in a March 12 statement the end of its plans to produce the electric Honda 0 SUV, Honda 0 Saloon, and Acura RS.