Toyota president Akio Toyoda recently let it slip that Toyota is currently creating an electric car that uses a Tesla battery pack. The interesting tidbit came out while he was answering inquiries regarding the Tesla and Toyota relationship.
While Toyota currently has a joint venture with Panasonic who is building their larger car batteries, Toyoda indicated that they are definitely interested in seeing what they can do with the Tesla 18650-format cells that are generally the type of battery found in laptops. By way of example, the Tesla Roadster battery pack uses 6,831 of these cells to power the electric sports car.
The likelihood of seeing Toyota cars using Tesla battery packs will all depend on how well they perform in these prototype tests which will look at the their ability to function past large scale accumulated mileage and extreme weather conditions.
A previous report we brought you on how Tesla was teaming up with Toyota to build electric cars in California now needs to be slightly clarified. This recent update is based on a recent IPO statement from Tesla that states that although the two companies announced their intention to cooperate on Tesla Model S electric car development, they have not made any formal agreements to do so and may never at all.
While it still remains true that Tesla and Toyota will be sharing space at the NUMMI factory as well as some strategies, it definitely brings potential investors a dose of reality as Tesla prepares to be publically traded on the Nasdaq.
Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda, Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger held a joint press conference today in which they announced that Toyota would be teaming up with Tesla to produce the Model S electric car in California.
Tesla Model S production will take place in the recently closed NUMMI factory in Fremont. Toyota, the previous owner of the factory, will invest $50 million for a private placement of Tesla common stock and will a production system and possibly some of Toyota’s suppliers.
Schwarzenegger, for his part, offered a sales tax abatement to Tesla for all capital equipment expenditures in retooling the factory. Tesla estimates put the value of the abatement at approximately $20 million over the course of three years or so.
Tesla stated that the Model S production will likely see the return of about 1,000 of the former Toyota factory employees as they look to produce about 20,000 Model S electric cars per year. Tesla also hinted at the possibility of increasing production to a point of requiring 10,000 workers.
Another survey on the current state of the public opinion of Toyota’s reputation for quality in America indicates exactly what you might expect, things aren’t looking so good for Toyota.
Two years ago 80% of Americans saw Toyota as company that built quality cars, now, it’s dropped to 21.8% according to the most recent survey of Britt Beemer.
Not only have things looked bad since the Toyota recalls, denials and general negative media attention, but the public doesn’t seem to think its current opinion is about to change with only 31.8% of Americans stating that Toyota even has a hope of regaining its former respect.
It’s starting to sound like Toyota is getting the same reputation that the Ford Pinto had in the 70s. The question here is, do you think Toyota’s reputation is deserving of this level of distrust?
There’s probably no need to get into the problems that Toyota has been having lately with a PR nightmare that’s led to the recall of 133,000 Toyota Prius hybrids last month. The Toyota Prius brakes had been shown to cause a momentary loss in breaking power.
What most people don’t know is that 11% of the claims that led to the brake recall also mentioned that the 2010 Toyota Prius cruise control was faulty. Prius drivers complained that the cruise control wouldn’t always shut off after hitting the brake pedal like it should.
Toyota is taking a proactive approach to these latest complaints and is currently looking into them. Their initial assessment, however, is that most of the Prius cruise control complaints were caused by driver confusion over the Dynamic Radar Cruise Control, a feature that is only available in the top-rung Prius V trim of the 2010 Prius. Toyota’s explanation may account for some of the complaints but with the Prius V trim only accounting for 8% of the vehicles in the Toyota recall, things don’t quite add up completely.
Oh Ford. How can you possibly build a light-duty truck that gets worse gas mileage than the Hummer H2? Well, that’s precisely the case for the 2010 Ford F-250 Lariat which was recently credited by Consumer Reports for getting the worst mileage of all 2010 vehicles with a shocking 10 mpg in real world tests.
That’s right, 10 miles per gallon. Amazingly, it seems like the Ford F-250 Lariat engine is operating like an ancient dinosaur. Sure, you’re getting plenty of power, but at what cost? With current gas prizes and regular driving, it won’t take long for a Ford F-250 owner to have paid for the vehicle twice, not to mention the amount of greenhouse gases they will have pumped into the air.
The most fuel efficient vehicles in CR’s real world tests were the Toyota Prius at 44 mpg, the Smart Fortwo at 39 mpg and the Honda Insight EX at 38 mpg.
Bart Stupak, House Energy and Commerce Committee chairman, sent an 11-page letter to James E. Lentz III, president of Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A, that slammed Toyota for their response to the sticking Toyota accelerator problem.
The letter sates that Toyota was too quick to dismiss the possibility of their vehicles computer’s being the problem, that they made their conclusion based on flawed study, and then went on to mislead the public by stating that the fixes they were making would alleviate the pedal sticking problem.
Toyota has recalled more than eight million vehicles since late last year, with more than six million in the US alone.
A European patent filed by Toyota was recently uncovered by L’Automobile out of France.
The small engine compartment along with Toyota’s success in the realm of hybrid vehicles leads one to assume this concept is for a new Toyota hybrid. The lack of tailpipe and gas cap could be an indication of how rough the sketch is or that it’s for a previously unheard of electric Toyota.
L’Automobile speculates that this will be a new Lexus to be unveiled at the upcoming Geneva Motor Show. Is this the design
As the public magnifying glass zooms in on all the issues surrounding the Toyota recalls all Car manufacturers are probably getting nervous. As the amount of Toyota recalls rises, it’s becoming clear that the problem lies with the US Department of Transportation as much as anywhere else. Clearly there is a disconnect between consumer complaints and action from the government.
Hot on the heels of the Toyota Prius hybrid recalls due to brake problems, the Ford Fusion hybrid and the Milan hybrid are getting updates to their software to address a braking problem of their own.
Ford has started a repair program which will alert all known owners of Ford Fusions or Milan hybrids built before October 17, 2009. They will be directed to their nearest dealer regarding, their “Customer Satisfaction Program 10B13.”
In the meantime, the Toyota recall story continues to make headlines as it has now been revealed that Toyota has known for years that the Prius had break issues.
Stay tuned to Eco Auto Ninja for the latest on the Toyota recalls and breaking news on issues with the Ford Fusion.
US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood confused millions of American Toyota ownsers when he stated that the recalled Toyota vehicles should not be driven and then came out the next day and instructed Toyota owners to drive them their dealerships where they can be checked out.
What a PR nightmare for Toyota who now has the American public looking at their cars like they are some kind of time bombs ready to accelerate them into oblivion at any second.
