Convert those cars

To accelerate the global move toward sustainable vehicles, Toyota is suggesting simply replacing the inner workings of vehicles already on the roads with cleaner technology.

“I don’t want to leave any car lover behind,” says chief executive Akio Toyoda, from Tokyo. Mr Toyoda says it will take a long time for all the cars to become zero emission, as they only make up a fraction of the vehicles being sold.

Changing old cars to go green, or “conversion,” is a better option, he believes.

Toyota is a front-runner in the industry with its hybrid technology.

Its Prius has both an electric motor and a petrol engine, switching back and forth to deliver the most efficient ride. That has often been seen as reflecting the company’s reluctance to go totally electric.

Battery electric vehicles make up about 20 percent of the global auto market. Europe remains ahead of the United States and Japan in the move toward electric vehicles.