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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."
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.
Toyota cant R and D this themselves after decades of research?
sounds like a back scratching deal to me
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_RAV4_EV
The RAV4 EV was an all-electric version of the popular RAV4 SUV produced by Toyota. It was leased from 1997 to 2003, and at the lessees request, many units were sold after the vehicle was discontinued.[1] As of 2010 there are 800 units still in use.[2] In July 2010 Toyota announced that is working together with Tesla Motors to develop a second generation RAV4 EV, and the companies expect the vehicle to be mass produced by 2012.[2][3]
The first fleet version of the RAV4 EV became available on a limited basis in 1997. In 2001 it was possible for businesses, cities or utilities to lease one or two of these cars. Toyota then actually sold or leased 328 RAV4 EVs to the general public in 2003, at which time the program was terminated despite waiting lists of prospective customers.
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.
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.
Toyota and Panasonic were forced to discontinue the battery pack design by Texaco(Exxon now) because the patent for the NiMH battery tech is/was owned by them and they won't let vendors build high power NiMH for vehicle motive purposes. Toyota discontinued the Rav4 EV after losing the lawsuit against them because of their batteries they used.
And don't forget, Tesla might have something Toyota wants so they partnered. It could be just a "Made in America" label or it could be something special they did with the EV powerplant or control systems. It might just be a quick way into the market while they figure out if a 100% EV market will grow as opposed to the plug-in hybrid market.
I feel there is a market for both.
LoB
"Anyone who stands out in the middle of a road looks like roadkill to me." --Linus
look at the wikipedia page section regarding the battery. Besides the GM EV1 going 126 miles on a charge with the NiMH batteries, the Toyota Rav4 EV also used high power NiMH batteries until they were sued by the oil company owning the patent and required to discontinue making those batteries.
Pba batteries are too heavy for their energy density and LiOn are still very expensive.This has not helped the EV market but has helped keep oil flowing for the oil industry.
LoB
"Anyone who stands out in the middle of a road looks like roadkill to me." --Linus
> Toyota was the only manufacturer that didn't put the brakes on the deal.
Toyota doesn't put the brakes on ANYTHING.
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