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Toyota announces initiative for all-solid state battery as part of electric vehicles plan

TOKYO - Toyota plans to make an all solid-state battery as part of its ambitious plans for battery electric vehicles, the company said Tuesday, amid mounting criticism Japan’s top automaker needs to do more to fight climate change.

Toyota Motor Corp. aims for a commercial solid-state battery as soon as 2027. Charging time, one of the main drawbacks of electric vehicles, will get shortened to 10 minutes or less, the company said in a statement.

It plans to deliver 1.5 million EVs in 2026 by expanding its battery EV lineup and developing technology.

“With the evolution of the vehicle’s operating system, the next-generation battery EV will also enable customization of the ‘driving feel,’ with a focus on acceleration, turning and stopping,” it said.

EV owners usually have charging stations in their homes and keep their cars plugged in overnight to recharge. That’s one of the main reasons Toyota has long insisted that hybrids are a better solution. A hybrid recharges as the car runs, but it also has a gasoline engine in addition to an electric motor.

Toyota President Koji Sato has said the company must play catchup after falling behind in the EV sector. The automaker is likely to face harsh criticism on its climate change commitments at a shareholders’ meeting in Toyota city, central Japan, set for Wednesday. ...continue reading

Source: ANNnewsCH

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A newly formed tropical depression near Taiwan on June 9th is expected to intensify the seasonal rain front lingering over southwestern Japan, raising the risk of warning-level rainfall across Okinawa and the Amami Islands through around June 11th.

Japan, which records the shortest average sleep duration among OECD countries, is launching new efforts to tackle widespread sleep deprivation, including the opening of specialized sleep disorder departments and programs aimed at improving children's sleep habits through sports and physical activity.

Japan's national soccer team arrived in Nashville, Tennessee, on June 8th from Monterrey, Mexico, where it had been conducting a pre-World Cup training camp, and held its first practice session at its base camp for the FIFA World Cup in North America.

A prolonged eruption at Sakurajima on June 7th blanketed parts of Kagoshima City in volcanic ash, turning roads gray and prompting long lines of vehicles seeking car washes after a plume of smoke rose 1,300 meters above the crater.

A powerful earthquake struck off Mindanao Island in the southern Philippines at 8:38 a.m. (Japan time) on June 8th, generating tsunami waves across parts of the Pacific, causing building collapses and casualties near the epicenter, and prompting the Japan Meteorological Agency to issue tsunami advisories along a wide stretch of Japan's Pacific coastline before lifting all of them at 4:50 p.m.

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Japanese stocks suffered a sharp sell-off on June 8th as weakness in U.S. technology shares and growing concerns over higher global interest rates triggered widespread selling, sending the Nikkei Stock Average down 2,563.52 points, or about 3.8%, to close at 64,024.60.

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