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Tesla Signs $60 Million Contract With Toyota
thecarchik writes "Tesla Motors announced that it has reached a $60 million deal with Toyota to develop the powertrain for an electric version of the strong-selling Rav4 sport utility vehicle. A prototype RAV4 Electric will be unveiled by Toyota at November's Los Angeles Auto Show. The company plans to sell the electric RAV4 starting in 2012, the same year that a number of new electric cars will join the 2011 Nissan Leaf and 2011 Chevrolet Volt in the US market."
No.
The resources of Toyota. The electric car know-how of Tesla. The factory's in the US and will create jobs here. Absolutely excellent news.
I'm a touch confused by this announcement.
Toyota already sells the Rav4 as a full EV. I see them on the road regularly. Several bay area cities use them as official vehicles.
On the other hand I am a Tesla fan, and I have owned several Toyotas so I see this partnership as a good thing.
"You want to know how to help your kids? Leave them the fuck alone." -George Carlin
Toyota cant R and D this themselves after decades of research?
sounds like a back scratching deal to me
Worker's wages account for the vast majority of people directly involved. Does it really matter whether the fat cats who keep all the profits are here or in Japan? The taxes on the profits, if any, are probably paid in the Cayman islands either way. And even if you still believe in trickle-down economics, money has no trouble trickling across borders.
An electric car is still a car--an absurdly overweight waste of energy. If you want something that can really make a difference, get an electric bicycle: cheaper, cleaner, healthier, and ~1000 mpg equivalent.
the most powerful intellect is that unbounded by indubitable preconception
how about a regular bike? 10 miles per donut.
From what I see, a doughnut averages 300 calories and from what I see here you burn 30 calories per mile - so 10 miles per donut.
RIP America
July 4, 1776 - September 11, 2001
Toyota has already done an all-electric Rav4. Those of us who have seen Who Killed The Electric Car remember it being featured on there (though not as prominently as the GM EV1).
The only real question here is why they are working with Tesla. There are plenty of good opportunities for conspiracy theorists on this one...
Damn_registrars has no butt-hole. Damn_registrars has no use for a butt-hole.
So... how do I move heavy stuff? How do I travel when it's raining? When it's fucking cold? When it's fucking hot? When it's more than a few kms?
I don't own a car and I use public transportation, yet I can see a lot of uses for one. A bike is not, and never will be, a replacement for a car.
Kill all hipsters.
Of course they *could* do it, but Tesla has a powertrain that's pretty much exactly what they'd need already developed for the Model S, and they're presumably already gearing up for production of the components.
Tesla's proven they know what they're doing with the Roadster, so I can see why Toyota would want to spend $60M to adapt an almost-exactly-right design with a very low risk profile than spend probably more pulling together their existing R&D projects and tooling up, with all the entailing higher risk and extra development time.
The hybrid powertrains they've been developing are conceptually very similar to an all-electric powertrain, but there's a lot of mechanical re-engineering they'd have to do, and that takes time. Hell, maybe $60M is a loss, but they're doing this deal because all their best engineers are busy working on another project and they just don't have the staff to handle a big rush job right now. Staffing is a big deal!
I was part of the business development team that made this happen.
Toyota was actually one of four OEMs we were talking to, and the least likely at the outset, but the rest were moving too slowly.
Toyota was the only manufacturer that didn't put the brakes on the deal.
Anyone else initially assume it was about the band, Tesla?
Anyone else initially assumed it was about Nikola Tesla?
Yup, a golfcart that easily out-preforms whatever clunker you have sitting in your garage right now.
"linux is just DOS with a UNIX like syntax" -- Galactic Dominator (944134)
> Toyota was the only manufacturer that didn't put the brakes on the deal.
Toyota doesn't put the brakes on ANYTHING.
"Slow down, Cowboy! It has been 3 years, 7 months and 26 days since you last successfully posted a comment."
Toyota owns 20% of Subaru now (GM's former 20% share - it goes from company to company).
Subaru has a very well defined niche that is not at risk. Despite not offering hybrids, they were one of the few vehicle manufacturers that had sales increase in past years. This is partly due to the fact that they've been marketing one of their vehicles (the Outback) as the fuel efficient SUV alternative for over a decade, so were well placed when the anti-SUV backlash hit. They also are tied with Audi for having some of the best AWD systems on the planet.
As an interim solution, Subaru started putting CVTs into their cars a year ago.
They're working on a few joint design efforts with Toyota, and I suspect we'll see a hybrid Subaru come soon using Toyota expertise. That and/or a gasoline direct injection engine are what Subaru is going to need soon.
retrorocket.o not found, launch anyway?