Electric Car Agreement for Toyota and Tesla

Source: NYTimes

Electric Car Agreement for Toyota and Tesla
By JIM MOTAVALLI
Published: May 20, 2010


In a press conference late Thursday in Palo Alto, Calif., attended by Elon Musk, the chief executive of Tesla Motors, and Akio Toyoda, the president of the Toyota Motor Corporation, the companies announced they would cooperate on the development of electric cars.
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Toyota said it would buy $50 million of Tesla common stock in a deal that would be completed after the completion of Tesla’s pending initial public offering.

Tesla, which sells the electric Roadster, also announced that it would buy part of the property occupied by the now-shut Nummi plant in Fremont, Calif., operated as a joint venture for many years by Toyota and General Motors. Tesla said it would build electric cars on some part of property.

In prepared remarks, Mr. Toyoda praised Tesla’s “challenging spirit, quick decision-making, and flexibility,” which he said Toyota related to because it was “also born as a venture business.” He also said he was impressed by Tesla’s speed to market and its energy.

Mr. Musk said he looked ...

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/21/business/21tesla.html?src=busln

Good news.

The Prius is a parallel hybrid design but it is the series hybrid and strait EV configurations are what everyone else is focusing on. Toyota is trying to play catch-up.

I drive a Hylander hybrid and my daughter drives a Prius. ;-)

Toyota bet on Prius (hybrid) because the so-called "Smart Money" (Detroit, Stutgart) were saying that "pure electrics" didn't have the 300+ mile range that "American families demand" and the quick refile times at the pump taht "American families expect."

Prediction -- Toyota will dominate the "Pure electric" market.

The "parallel hybrid" is a more challenging design then the "series hybrid."

when the California govt. passed a law saying they HAD to introduce an electric car. Then they pulled the usual bullshit with astroturfed movements to kill it, bought control of the California legislature, reversed the legislation, and then got rid of all the electric cars. A technology they PIONEERED (with a little incentive from govt), and then went out of their way to destroy.

So, is inventing the electric car, and then lobbying your own govt to kill it the same as never having invented it? No, not in my opinion. IT'S WORSE! :)

In my opinion it's an absolute F-ING DISGRACE that the first affordable suburban electric car to be manufactured in the United States (the country that again PIONEERED affordable automobile mass production) is going to be manufactured by a NORWEGIAN company (Th!nk City) that is opening a branch in the U.S.

http://www.smartcarofamerica.com/alternative_vehicles/electric_cars/the_th!nk_city_is_coming_to_america/

Meanwhile all the American auto executives are whining that the market for electric cars is not big enough in America for them to build an affordable one, while ignoring the fact that NORWAY can do it with a population of FIVE MILLION PEOPLE!

It's official. American business executives are a DISGRACE to the country, and the spirit of American invention and enterprise is alive and well...IN NORWAY! (You know...one of those evil 'socialist' countries. ;)

EV1 had range problems. Battery technology was not ready then.

No innovation there.
Then they gave it out to young celebrities. An accident in waiting.
They probably just had a silent problem getting the last car back before some icon got killed.

edited for clarification

Its not the body, but the power train.

:sarcasm:

Yes, a small plane crash...

Looks like we know the intended outcome of their deaths...

Ironically, they were flying to their present factory in SoCal. The weather that day was miserable, and the tower advised the pilot against taking off. He did, they crashed, and much of Palo Alto was plunged into a blackout as the downed plane clipped a transmission tower.

Tinfoil hats off, please.

It is a bit like selling the iPod to Sony.

Tesla is American car making at its best. I would love to see an offer made to keep it American. Perhaps Ford should take a Government loan after all.

Source: Mercury News

Tesla, Toyota to build electric cars at NUMMI plant

By Dana Hull and Steve Johnson

In a stunning deal, Tesla Motors announced late Thursday that it is teaming up with Toyota to build its all-electric Model S sedan at the recently shuttered NUMMI plant in Fremont, creating more than 1,000 new jobs.

The pact, put together in utter secrecy, immediately injects new life into an auto plant once left for dead, is a jolt of positive news for beleaguered Toyota and elevates Silicon Valley's role at the heart of the emerging electric car industry.

Under the agreement, Toyota, the world's largest automaker, will invest $50 million in Tesla, which will buy the NUMMI plant for an undisclosed sum. The joint venture was unveiled by Akio Toyoda, Toyota's CEO, who flew in from Japan for the announcement,

Read more: http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_15127946?nclick_check=1

And we could use the jobs around here.

"We do know, from our source, that Tesla will be using much of its $465 million loan from the U.S. Department of Energy to make the buy"

http://www.allcarselectric.com/blog/1045334_confirmed-tesla-to-build-electric-vehicles-with-toyota-at-nummi-plant

:thumbsup:

:hi:

:hi:

But good for Toyota.

Maybe one day Tesla can even engineer a car of its own!