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Toyota: Going Pure EV Again?

Discussion in 'Prius, Hybrid, EV and Alt-Fuel News' started by hill, Oct 13, 2010.

  1. hill

    hill High Fiber Member

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    Tesla to get $60M from Toyota in powertrain deal - Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal

    Despite these trying financial times, Toyota is throwing $60M at Tesla. I'm having a hard time reconciling how Toyota says they are NOT going to make an EV again, and then they do this. Works for me! ... it's just the double speak is overwhelming. What does it mean? Is Toyota trying to defend against the Leaf?

    .
     
    #1 hill, Oct 13, 2010
  2. ksstathead

    ksstathead Active Member

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    Perhaps the pre-order strength surprised them?
     
    #2 ksstathead, Oct 13, 2010
  3. Rybold

    Rybold globally warmed member

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    I heard about this on the financial news radio while driving home from work today. They said that through this deal, Toyota is effectively ordering EV systems from Tesla to drop into the RAV4, and sold at Toyota dealers as an EV RAV4. Pretty cool.

    I somewhat interpret this as Toyota preferring to have Telsa, experienced in EV, to make EV drivetrains for Toyota instead of Toyota investing their own $MULTI-MILLIONS of R&D into EVs like Nissan and GM did. Toyota invested HUGE amounts of money into creating the world-leading HSD system. That's their claim to victory. To have a head-to-head product with Nissan's Leaf, they will spend much less and just contract with Tesla. Excellent strategy for now.
     
    #3 Rybold, Oct 13, 2010
  4. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    Works for me. Toyota tends to be fairly quiet about things.
     
    #4 Tideland Prius, Oct 14, 2010
  5. usbseawolf2000

    usbseawolf2000 HSD PhD

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    Can't wait to see it.
     
    #5 usbseawolf2000, Oct 14, 2010
  6. Unlimited_MPG

    Unlimited_MPG Member

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    #6 Unlimited_MPG, Oct 14, 2010
  7. SageBrush

    SageBrush Senior Member

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    #7 SageBrush, Oct 14, 2010
    1 person likes this.
  8. usbseawolf2000

    usbseawolf2000 HSD PhD

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    Awesome! I don't need to see it in person (too far for me). I just want to know where they would put the battery and the EV range. If they use the flat battery pack like the Model S, you won't lose any interior room. I am hoping for 150 to 250 miles range. Model S has 300 miles range.

    [​IMG]
     
    #8 usbseawolf2000, Oct 14, 2010
  9. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    Now the question is... would they put it on the SWB version or the LWB version of the RAV4?
     
    #9 Tideland Prius, Oct 15, 2010
  10. hill

    hill High Fiber Member

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    Are any countries still selling the short wheel base this year/2010? The SWB is lighter and would thus be less expensive to make.
     
    #10 hill, Oct 15, 2010
  11. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    AFAIK, Australia and NA are the only two that get the LWB.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     
    #11 Tideland Prius, Oct 15, 2010
  12. austingreen

    austingreen Senior Member

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    Toyota after most likely spending billions deciding that can't profitably make an ev, has found the more nimble smaller tesla can do it more cheaply and likely better. $60M is nothing. GM spent over $1B for production of only 800 EV1s. Its smart for toyota to use a supplier that can creatively design the BEV guts. Ford has done similar things to get the BEV transit connect and focus to market faster.


    My educated guess is the LWB. SWB isn't going to really impact costs much. LWB is the one that sells in the US which is likely the market. I'm sure that tesla could outfit either one, but LWB provides more space for the batteries.
     
    #12 austingreen, Oct 17, 2010
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