- Tesla will produce a fleet of electric RAV4 prototypes for Toyota for evaluation.
- The company expects to market the EV in the United States in 2012.
- The next-generation RAV4 is due in 2012.
TOKYO — Toyota Motor, which has gambled billions on hybrid vehicles as its long-term core powertrain technology, appears to be hedging that bet with a modest agreement with California-based Tesla Motors to jointly develop a new battery-powered version of the Toyota RAV4.
Tesla and Toyota earlier this year announced a deal under which Toyota would take a minority stake in the U.S. company and Tesla would acquire Toyota's mothballed NUMMI plant in Fremont, California. The two companies also agreed to cooperate on development of electric vehicles and propulsion systems.
On Friday, the companies said Tesla this year would produce and deliver a fleet of electric RAV4 prototypes to Toyota for evaluation, "with an aim to market the EV in the United States in 2012."
The next-generation RAV4 is due in 2012.
The companies said the first electric RAV4 prototype is undergoing testing.
Toyota, which showed its first EV concept nearly 20 years ago, previously built an electric version of the RAV4 in extremely limited numbers, beginning in 1997, eventually phasing it out of production in 2003.
Inside Line says: With Tesla's help, Toyota may be better able to face the EV challenge from close rival Nissan. — Paul Lienert, Correspondent
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fortstring says:
01:55 PM, 07/19/2010
Whatever. The fact is that Toyota's cohorting with Tesla is really a godsend to Tesla, b/c Tesla doesn't have the production capabilities nor the sheer amount of capital that Toyota possesses. Toyota DOES churn out a nifty profit per year, so Tesla and Toyota make a perfect match. What can I say, opposites attract. (No pun intended.)
tbone85 says:
04:57 AM, 07/18/2010
Toyota like a big brother? Can it possibly be that investing in Tesla is less expensive than developing the technology from scratch? EVERY company has survival problems when they first start up. Startup risk is part of the life cycle of every business whether highly successful, or an early failure. Toyota is interested in access to the technology, while balancing control and investment costs. There is no altruism involved.
compressor says:
07:29 PM, 07/17/2010
windsor5 - though I understand part of your argument, stating that Tesla was making a profit selling the roadster is false. To show a "profit" they would need to ignore the R&D costs, which you can't. I can say I make $1 per widget, with an overhead of $10/widget. Technically, i am making a "profit" on the sales but losing $9. (simple scenario, but its just to show what is happening).
And I am not a Tesla "hater". I think they really put it out there to research and design a Li-Ion battery system that works and will eventually be worth something. However, as a business, they are not making a profit. Going public allows them to float capital until they can achieve a good business model. This may require them to become a "losing" entity of a larger company that realizes the value in their technology applied to a mass market car. Time will tell if this works out for them. I personally think they will remain around in some form or another, but I don't think they will be able to remain a true stand alone car manufacturer.
Finally, just because a company doesn't make a profit doesn't mean it has a bad product.
fortstring says:
12:56 PM, 07/17/2010
This is awesome. Rav4 revival? Niice. Hope it has plenty of oomph in its motor.
agnh says:
08:13 AM, 07/17/2010
I don't think the masses were ready when the last electric RAV-4 was out, but as long as they can mnake this reasonably priced, it should sell very well.
canabacon says:
06:34 AM, 07/17/2010
This is the future of the commuter. Now we just need big oil to become big hydrogen and Ford, Toyota and Honda will become king as they have fuel cell vehicles on the road now. As ford said in the mid 90's, "In 2015 there will only be 6 car companies remaining, we will be lucky to be one of them."
Mitchtj says:
02:01 AM, 07/17/2010
I really do see Tesla becoming Toyota's electric car brand.
mce63 says:
10:08 PM, 07/16/2010
This is just the first step in Toyota buying most if not all of Tesla. What better way to bring the technology in house quickly and cheaply.
And who's kidding who? Tesla was started by a dot com billionaire. They are adept at developing technologies and using them to add value to the company. Then they sell out, either through an IPO or private sale.
windsor5 says:
08:38 PM, 07/16/2010
Also have any of you haters actually driven one? or seen one in person they are really quite nice. and the interior is way better than the lotus it is based on but thats just my personal opinion.
windsor5 says:
08:34 PM, 07/16/2010
wow such haters. Lolz If you look at teslas acounts you will see that They are actually profiting on the sales and distributions of the roadster. The reason they are not profiting is becuase they need to expand to further develop their enterprise throughout all of history no company has ever stayed profitable while expanding. Just look at toyota they are currently losing millions if not billions.
At least do some research before becoming such a hater. Obviously tesla had to do this as part of getting the nummi plant on the cheap. which in lamens terms is called a good business move.
The fact that you have all these companies wanting a bit of tesla to help them out just shows how good their product really is.
Mercedes-benz electric smart for two (made by tesla) and now toyota e-Rav 4 also made by tesla. The nice thing is that all the research they make on suv's and small cars they can apply that to their own vehicles