The undisputed hybrid king, Toyota has made a surprise announcement this morning that it is to team up with Tesla Motors in the development of electric cars.
It’s been Toyota’s mid-term strategy to focus on hybrid rather than electric cars under the belief that consumers will not want to feel time or range compromised by running fully electric cars. But in what seems a seismic shift in focus, the Japanese car giant is now set to cooperate with the Silicon Valley start-up in the development of electric vehicles and their parts.
As part of the deal, Toyota is to purchase $50 million of Tesla common stock immediately after the start-up closes it currently planned initial public offering (IPO).
Tesla, ran into financial trouble last year as the car industry struggled to recover from a global recession. In the first nine months of 2009, it is believed the firm made losses of $31.5million. The deal with Toyota however should help to fast-track its plans to develop a new electric saloon known as the Model S. Using similar technology already used in the firm’s famous Roadster model, the new model will be expected to have a range of at least 200 miles on a single charge just like its predecessor. The model will seat up to seven people and will be fully highway capable, getting up to speeds of 60mph in just 5.6 seconds. The Tesla Roadster was the first production car to use lithium-ion batteries and can accelerate from 0-60mph in a mere 3.9seconds.
“I sensed the great potential of Tesla’s technology and was impressed by its dedication to monozukuri (Toyota’s approach to manufacturing),” said TMC President Akio Toyoda. “Through this partnership, by working together with a venture business such as Tesla, Toyota would like to learn from the challenging spirit, quick decision-making, and flexibility that Tesla has. Decades ago, Toyota was also born as a venture business. By partnering with Tesla, my hope is that all Toyota employees will recall that ‘venture business spirit,’ and take on the challenges of the future.”
“Toyota is a company founded on innovation, quality, and commitment to sustainable mobility. It is an honour and a powerful endorsement of our technology that Toyota would choose to invest in and partner with Tesla,” said Tesla CEO and cofounder Elon Musk. “We look forward to learning and benefiting from Toyota’s legendary engineering, manufacturing, and production expertise.”
So far Californian-based Tesla has delivered more than 1000 models of its £89,960 Roadsters to customers in North America, Europe and Asia. It is currently the only automaker in the U.S. that builds and sells highway-capable EVs in serial production. The Tesla Roadster accelerates faster than most sports cars and yet produces no emissions.
