Tesla chief Elon Musk looks to further collaboration with Toyota
09 Sep 2014
With Tesla Motors and Toyota concluding an initial vehicle project that met with mixed results, Tesla chief Elon Musk said his company might sign up with the giant Japanese car maker in another venture, Bloomberg reported.
''If you look out maybe two or three years from now, I would not be surprised if there was a significant deal with Toyota and Tesla,'' Musk told reporters yesterday in Tokyo as the company delivered the first batch of the Model S luxury electric sedan in Japan.
The two car makers closed sales of the jointly developed RAV4 after the delivery of only 2,000 units since it went on sale two years ago.
After the project, both companies had taken separate paths, with Toyota now readying its first fuel-cell vehicle, a technology Musk had ridiculed.
Musk added, the deal involved higher volumes than the existing partnership but did not comment on the details of what the deal could involve adding there were no definitive plans.
A Toyota executive said no specific plans were in place. He however, added the two companies had not ended their relationship.
According to the executive, there were still possibilities in certain areas of their operations especially in North America where the companies might find common ground. He added the two companies had not severed their ties.
While Tesla and Toyota had no definite plans, according to Musk, he was considering a larger project than their deal for the RAV4 electric vehicle.
According to Barclays equity analyst Brian Johnson, Tesla planned to build the world's biggest lithium-ion battery plant to cut the cost of the cells used to power its electric vehicles.
A facility of the kind would provide an opportunity to supply other manufacturers as sales of its own vehicles ramped up, Bloomberg reported (See: Tesla selects Nevada for battery plant).
Tesla was working on plans for an autonomous driving system, with part of the technology to be introduced in three years' time, the Nikkei reported, citing Musk.