Report: Tesla CTO confirms building two mules for Toyota

Sam Abuelsamid — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 15:35:00 EST

AutoblogGreen had the rare opportunity on Friday to chat with Toyota CEO and president Akio Toyoda. During the conversation, he revealed that a prototype vehicle with a Tesla electric drive unit was under construction. Tesla's Chief Technology Officer, J.B. Straubel, has confirmed this to CNN Money, saying that the Silicon Valley company is indeed preparing two mule vehicles for Toyota. Tesla battery packs, power electronics and motors are being installed into Toyota bodies.

Straubel expects to deliver the vehicles to Toyota by the end of of this month. Toyota officials told ABG that the initial plan is to just test the performance and durability of the Tesla packs to determine whether they meet Toyota standards. If Toyota proceeds with a production program using a Tesla-style battery (employing small laptop-type cells) it will be for a new vehicle, not the iQ-based EV arriving in 2012.

[Source: CNN Money]

Report: Tesla CTO confirms building two mules for Toyota originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 11 Jul 2010 15:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Toyota already building EV prototype with Tesla battery pack?

Sam Abuelsamid — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 10:29:00 EST

Filed under: Hybrid, Japan, Technology, Toyota, Tesla, Electric

During a interview with a group of American media this afternoon in Nagoya, Japan, Toyota president Akio Toyoda revealed that his company is already in the process of building a prototype electric vehicle with a Tesla battery pack. The statement came in response to questions about the relationship between Toyota and Tesla. As time ran out, we did not have an opportunity for further follow-up or clarification.

However, both Toyoda and executive vice president Shinichi Sasaki both indicated that Toyota was interested in comparing Tesla's battery configuration against their own internally developed battery. Toyota has a joint-venture with Panasonic that is building larger format automotive batteries that are similar to those used by most other manufacturers. By comparison, Tesla uses commodity 18650-format cells that are typically found in laptop computers. The Roadster's pack contains 6,831 such cells.

The long-term durability of the Tesla approach is still very much in question as few Roadsters have accumulated high mileage especially in harsh conditions that more mainstream cars would experience. We may or may not ever see a Toyota car with a Tesla battery pack publicly, as it all depends on the results of this study.

Toyota already building EV prototype with Tesla battery pack? originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 09 Jul 2010 10:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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