- General
- July 20, 2019
- 4 minutes read
Toyota To Develop EVs With China’s BYD
A Toyota fuel cell bus image: Toyota Just after inking a supply deal with Chinese EV battery manufacturer CATL, Toyota…
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| A Toyota fuel cell bus
image: Toyota
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Just after inking a supply deal with Chinese EV battery manufacturer CATL, Toyota has announced an agreement to develop electric vehicles with Chinese automaker BYD. Both companies have agreed to jointly develop electric sedans and low-floor SUVs alongside the batteries that’ll be used to power them. The aim is to launch the jointly developed vehicles in China in the first half of next year. The vehicles will be launched under the Toyota brand.
BYD was one of the earliest entrants into the hybrid electric vehicle market and is currently the world’s largest electric car manufacturer [paywall]. Although it sells the most EVs, its brand isn’t widely recognized outside China, in comparison to rival Tesla which commands much more fanfare. Likewise, Toyota was an early entrant into the electric vehicle scene, with a first foray into the market in 1997.
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| Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda
image: Toyota
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BYD is a top seller of both fully electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid models. The company does significant in-house production of core EV parts like batteries, motors and power electronics. Tying up with Toyota provides the Japanese automaker with much EV expertise to leverage. Although both are rivals, partnerships and joint works may be an essential part of the EV industry given the continual occurrence of such initiatives.
Toyota and BYD are seeking to reduce CO2 emissions by promoting the use of electric vehicles. There’s also money to be made given China’s status as the world’s largest market for electric vehicles.
