It's quite baffling how Toyota, the world's largest automaker, has been so hesitant to properly invest in fully electric vehicles. While they argue that battery-electric vehicles aren't the sole solution for sustainable transportation and achieving carbon neutrality, their focus on hybrid and hydrogen technology seems like a deliberate attempt to stall the progress of EVs. It's hard not to view their recent announcements about solid-state battery technology with a cynical eye.

• Toyota has been lobbying the US government to slow down the rollout of battery-electric vehicles
• Outgoing CEO Akio Toyoda held the opinion that EVs are simply "overhyped"
• Toyota's lateness to the EV game has allowed competitors like Hyundai to seize market share

Is Toyota genuinely committed to a cleaner, more sustainable future or just trying to buy time while they continue to profit from their hybrid and to a lesser extent hydrogen technologies.

Toyota's reluctance to fully embrace electric vehicles and their focus on hybrid and hydrogen technology has actively held back progress in the EV market.

Their solid-state batteries seem like a last-ditch effort to stay relevant, but i suppose only time will tell if they can successfully commercialize and mass-produce these batteries sooner than later.