Toyota To Use Tesla Technology To Launch Own Electric Car Line

Tesla is currently on the cutting edge of electric car technology. Toyota seems to recognize as much as it will use Tesla Technology to launch its own electric car line.

The Tesla-Toyota relationship started off like a blind date with all the awkwardness one typically experiences. Toyota had a political problem. They were the owner of the only auto plant in California, but didn’t want it. Tesla had its own problem – it needed money to stay in business and go public. Throw a politician or two into the mix and suddenly you had a date. Toyota would kick in $50 million to Tesla and Tesla would agree to take of the auto plant.

The deal between the two car companies was the proverbial win-win. It was an estranged relationship from the outset, however. Toyota went out of its way to make clear that this was a hands off deal with Tesla and that it would never being doing anything jointly with the company. Elon Musk is the primary force at Tesla and rubs many people the wrong way. He hardly seemed like a good match for the Japanese, which seemed to be the reason for the announcement.

Well, it can now be said that the second date between the companies apparently went off better than anyone could have imagined. The awkward moments have been replaced by an apparent affinity to start a family of sorts. Well, as much a family as can be seen in the auto world. For the first time in recent memory, Toyota is going to essentially borrow the drive train technology of another company to build a line of vehicles.



What will the Toyota electric cars look like? Nobody knows. News is scant. What is apparent is they are coming quickly. Again, this is a win-win situation. If it wasn’t for bad news, Toyota wouldn’t have any. It needs something positive and the launch of an electric car line would be that. Tesla, in turn, still needs cash. Leasing out its technology is a good way to raise it, particularly since Toyota will probably sell a bundle of the cars given the rampant loyalty of is Prius owners.

While the Toyota-Tesla relationship has warmed up, it is difficult to tell what the future holds. One suspects the idea of Toyota simply buying Tesla will be visited at some point. Whether it actually happens is anyone’s guess at this point, but it is worth watching the relationship development.

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