Toyota's message as it unveiled 16 new battery electric vehicles during its 'showroom of the future' presentation on Tuesday was simple: we are not anti EV.
The automaker, a pioneer in launching gasoline-electric drivetrains, has faced criticism for the slower speed it has rolled-out battery-electric cars than rivals such as Volkswagen Group.
This has opened up Toyota to criticism that it is not taking the global climate emergency seriously enough.
Tuesday's unveiling, including 14 new full-electric concepts and the Lexus RZ production battery-powered crossover, was Toyota's dramatic reply to critics.
This was emphasized by CEO Akio Toyoda's announcement that the automaker aims to sell 3.5 million full-electric cars by 2030, a total revised upward from an earlier figure of 2 million.
"Some people say Toyota is not interested in EVs, that's what we hear a lot," Toyoda said during the presentation in Tokyo. "But when you think of the volume [of EVs] we are talking about it's a huge volume."
Toyoda, however, warned that even the upwards revision of EV sales would not silence all the company's critics. "Two million is a huge number and now we're saying 3.5 million as a baseline, but people will still say [it's only] 3.5 million out of 10 million annually," he said.