As the world moves towards electric vehicles, Toyota keeps banging a different zero-emission drum: Hydrogen. Between the production Mirai and hydrogen-powered concepts with manual transmissions or big V8 power, the company clearly views hydrogen-powered vehicles as part of our automotive future. Incoming CEO Koji Sato, speaking at an endurance race in which Toyota campaigned a hydrogen racer, seems to agree.

In case you missed it:

• This Fashion Photographer Shoots the Most Beautiful Big-Rigs on Earth

• BMW M3 Touring, Donut Media’s Broken Cars, And More of the Best Car Enthusiast Videos on YouTube This Week

• Ricky Bobby’s $10 Million ‘Talladega Nights’ Mansion Is For Sale and Oh God Look at It

True, Toyota has introduced more electrification to its lineup — cars like the sought-after plug-in hybrid Rav4 Prime or the all-electric bZ4X — but its push towards EVs has thus far lagged behind other automakers of similar size. Sato intends to change that, with more attention paid to battery-powered vehicles, but it seems he isn’t willing to leave hydrogen behind.

Read more

• These Are Your Guilty Pleasure Cars

• The 15 Most Successful Formula 1 Cars of All Time

• These Cars Should Never Have Been Killed Off

Automotive News reported on Sato’s statements, in which he talked about keeping hydrogen a “viable option” despite pushing an accelerated EV timeline. Yet, it seems he isn’t expecting consumers to keep up with Toyota’s big plans — when asked about targeted sales numbers, Sato replied, “We don’t have a very specific business goal at this time.”

Toyota’s status as a dominant automaker in the coming decades may depend on its zero-emissions plans. With more and more jurisdictions moving to ban the sale of new internal-combustion cars at some future date, manufacturers will need new, advanced vehicles to fill in the gap. Yet Toyota’s commitment to splitting zero-emissions development between batteries and hydrogen may hamper its efforts. After all, only a tiny number of hydrogen refueling stations exist worldwide, and Toyota doesn’t want to foot the bill to change that. In Sato’s words, “It’s not that Toyota will take a proactive lead in making these investments.”

Hydrogen has long been a passion project of Toyota’s, and it seems that will continue under Sato’s tenure as CEO. But with the days of ICE vehicles drawing to a close, and the push towards EVs growing ever stronger, one has to wonder if Toyota’s barking up the wrong tree.

More from Jalopnik

• Don't Expect Used Car Prices to Collapse Anytime Soon

• NYPD Arrests Cyclist For Uncovering Obscured License Plate, Lets Driver Go

Sign up for Jalopnik's Newsletter. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Click here to read the full article.