Toyota Boss Slams Electric Race Cars: “They’re Just Not Exciting”

While much of the auto industry races toward electrification, Toyota Chairman Akio Toyoda is holding firm to something more old-school: the roar of an engine and the scent of burning fuel.

In a recent interview with Automotive News, Toyoda—who also happens to be Toyota’s unofficial “master driver”—made it clear that, for him, a real sports car isn’t just about speed or design.

For me as a master driver, my definition of a sports car is something with the smell of gasoline and a loud engine.

Even as Toyota accelerates its investments in EV technology, Toyoda believes there’s still plenty of room for performance cars powered by internal combustion.

He played a hands-on role in developing enthusiast favorites like the GR Corolla, Supra, and GR Yaris—cars that aim to deliver a visceral driving experience.

Despite being an avid racer himself, Toyoda says today’s electric race cars just don’t thrill him.

It’s not just the lack of engine noise—it’s how the dynamics of racing change when battery strategy takes center stage.

The kind of races I participate in are mostly endurance races,” he explained. “So with the current electric cars, it won’t be a race between the cars. It will be a race on charging time or battery replacement or something like that.

To him, that takes the excitement—and the driver’s role—out of the equation.

Cost Is Still a Dealbreaker

Beyond the driving experience, Toyoda points to another major barrier: price.

While electric sports cars are coming, they’re still expensive, and that doesn’t sit well with Toyota’s core mission as a mass-market brand.

Toyota is a mass-production brand, so we also have to think about affordability, even with electric cars.

That doesn’t mean the idea is off the table forever. Toyoda hinted that when the company can produce affordable EVs at scale, a Toyota electric sports car could eventually make its debut.

Toyoda has long promoted a diversified approach to lowering emissions—one that doesn’t rely solely on battery-electric vehicles. He believes the company should pursue whichever technologies offer the least resistance to reducing CO₂, whether that means hybrids, plug-in hybrids, or EVs.

For now, however, Toyoda remains focused on ensuring that sports cars continue to deliver excitement the old-fashioned way: through sound, smell, and sensation.

As for the task of electrifying Toyota’s performance lineup?

That, he says, can be left to the next generation.