Tesla and Toyota sitting in a tree…

Tesla Roadster

Tesla Roadster (source: Tesla Motors)

Marriage made in heaven or hell?

It is no secret that Toyota is using Tesla engineering for the upcoming Toyota RAV4 EV. In fact, Toyota just announced that the RAV4 EV will be built in Canada starting next year. This is the same plant where the internal combustion engine (ICE) RAV4 is built. The reason given by Toyota is production efficiency.

Maybe it’s just us, but it seems that a company with Toyota’s resources could afford to develop its own electric vehicle (EV) technology. Or… perhaps it’s that Toyota can afford to develop its own EV technology, it just forgot to in its quest for hybrid superiority. Don’t get us wrong. We applaud Toyota’s efforts at reducing fuel consumption and providing reasonably economical alternatives to the masses. But in their hybrid zeal, Toyota seemingly neglected any developmental work in the pure battery electric realm. So when Nissan burst on the scene (after almost two decades of development work to get where they did in the EV state of affairs), Toyota was left holding the proverbial bag. (We’ll have to do some research on that. We’ve never really known what was in that bag, although we do have some ideas.)

Certainly, Toyota has started their own developmental work in the area by now, but there is word (based on Tesla’s second quarter earnings call) of a deal “an order of magnitude larger” than their previously announced $100 million deal with Toyota. If inked, this would prove that Toyota has done nothing (or very little) on their own to move EV technology forward. Perhaps Toyota feels that buying their way into the table is the least expensive approach.

While Tesla has produced one EV (the Roadster) and is looking forward to their second (the Model S sedan), clearly their market is the affluent consumer. Roadsters were priced at well over six figures. While the early info from Tesla stated that the Model S would be available starting at $60,000, the initial trim levels offered will be that price and half again as much, with the “affordable” sedan making an appearance in two to three years. Not your typical Toyota customer. Which leads us to wonder – if the vehicle is designed for the upper tier of the financial strata (which it appears to be), can the electric portion of the vehicle (typically the most expensive part of an electric car) be manufactured ultimately to a Toyota price point?

This entry was posted in Industry News, LEAF Information, Other EVs. Bookmark the permalink.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.