Toyota & Tesla are now two weeks into their partnership (in which Toyota purchased a $50M stake in Tesla), and it’s rumored that their first joint-project will be converting a Lexus RX to a full electric prototype:
Tesla said July 10 that it will deliver two prototypes vehicles to Toyota this month without identifying the models. While Toyota also aims to test an electric Corolla compact car, the RAV4 and RX light trucks are better suited to the weight of Tesla’s battery pack, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the vehicles haven’t been announced yet.
The target for a model developed with Tesla would be for a car that costs about $40,000 with 150 miles (240 kilometers) of driving range per charge, the person familiar with the plans said.
“Toyota and Tesla engineering teams have made a lot of progress in a short amount of time,” JB Straubel, Tesla’s chief technology officer, said in a July 10 e-mail message.
It may not be a vehicle as exciting as Tesla’s own Roadster, but with the RX already engineered to support a battery pack with its hybrid version, it’s a natural choice to be prototyped using the Tesla electric platform.
Even more than the models chosen, I’m surprised by the speed of this partnership — I wouldn’t have expected an announcement so soon, never mind the possibility that we may see a full-electric Lexus prototype before the year is out.
http://lexusenthusiast.com/2010/07/12/tesla-building-electric-lexus-rx/
Showing posts with label toyoda. Show all posts
Showing posts with label toyoda. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
The US Agrees with Toyota:No Electronice Defects in Toyota products
Let's see if this gets as much press and a congressional hearing:
Federal regulators have yet to find any electronic defects in Toyota vehicles, a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) official today told a scientific panel appointed to study potential causes of unintended accelerations.
Some members of Congress, consumer advocates and product-liability plaintiff lawyers have said that electronic-throttle control systems may be responsible for reports of unintended acceleration. Toyota has said its rigorous testing has not found any electronic defects that would cause unintended acceleration. Instead, the company has identified unsecured floor mats and sticking accelerator pedals as two causes.
"We have not actually been able to find a defect of electronic-throttle control systems" in Toyota vehicles, NHTSA’s Dan Smith told the National Academy of Sciences panel. He added that NHTSA has identified the same two causes – floor mats and sticking pedals – as Toyota.
The head of NHTSA, David Strickland, told the panel that the problem of unintended acceleration is an industrywide issue. "Complaints of unintended acceleration are not – repeat not – exclusive to Toyota."
Federal regulators have yet to find any electronic defects in Toyota vehicles, a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) official today told a scientific panel appointed to study potential causes of unintended accelerations.
Some members of Congress, consumer advocates and product-liability plaintiff lawyers have said that electronic-throttle control systems may be responsible for reports of unintended acceleration. Toyota has said its rigorous testing has not found any electronic defects that would cause unintended acceleration. Instead, the company has identified unsecured floor mats and sticking accelerator pedals as two causes.
"We have not actually been able to find a defect of electronic-throttle control systems" in Toyota vehicles, NHTSA’s Dan Smith told the National Academy of Sciences panel. He added that NHTSA has identified the same two causes – floor mats and sticking pedals – as Toyota.
The head of NHTSA, David Strickland, told the panel that the problem of unintended acceleration is an industrywide issue. "Complaints of unintended acceleration are not – repeat not – exclusive to Toyota."
Federal regulators have yet to find any electronic defects in Toyota vehicles, a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) official today told a scientific panel appointed to study potential causes of unintended accelerations.
Some members of Congress, consumer advocates and product-liability plaintiff lawyers have said that electronic-throttle control systems may be responsible for reports of unintended acceleration. Toyota has said its rigorous testing has not found any electronic defects that would cause unintended acceleration. Instead, the company has identified unsecured floor mats and sticking accelerator pedals as two causes.
"We have not actually been able to find a defect of electronic-throttle control systems" in Toyota vehicles, NHTSA’s Dan Smith told the National Academy of Sciences panel. He added that NHTSA has identified the same two causes – floor mats and sticking pedals – as Toyota.
The head of NHTSA, David Strickland, told the panel that the problem of unintended acceleration is an industrywide issue. "Complaints of unintended acceleration are not – repeat not – exclusive to Toyota."
Federal regulators have yet to find any electronic defects in Toyota vehicles, a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) official today told a scientific panel appointed to study potential causes of unintended accelerations.
Some members of Congress, consumer advocates and product-liability plaintiff lawyers have said that electronic-throttle control systems may be responsible for reports of unintended acceleration. Toyota has said its rigorous testing has not found any electronic defects that would cause unintended acceleration. Instead, the company has identified unsecured floor mats and sticking accelerator pedals as two causes.
"We have not actually been able to find a defect of electronic-throttle control systems" in Toyota vehicles, NHTSA’s Dan Smith told the National Academy of Sciences panel. He added that NHTSA has identified the same two causes – floor mats and sticking pedals – as Toyota.
The head of NHTSA, David Strickland, told the panel that the problem of unintended acceleration is an industrywide issue. "Complaints of unintended acceleration are not – repeat not – exclusive to Toyota."
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Meet The Man who will make the Difference
Akio Toyoda Profile
Some quotes from the article in Automtive news:
[...]Toyoda embarked on a quest to become one of the company’s top certified test drivers and its top car critic. That challenge and journey combined to forge Toyoda’s management priorities, ones that now are reshaping Toyota in a time of crisis.
By getting behind the wheel and scrutinizing product, the 54-year-old Toyoda believes he is living out the company’s guiding principle: “Genchi, Genbutsu” — Japanese for “go and see for yourself.”
“Growth in itself is not bad if you can cultivate the human resources to keep up,” Toyoda said. “But I don’t want to be the largest company in the world. I want to be the best.”
Also in a related article in the same issue on the LFA race team at Nurburgring:
With 15 minutes left in the race, the crews of all teams crowd the outer pit wall to cheer on their drivers. In front of the Gazoo Racing pit, shutterbug Akio is standing on the roof of the team’s signaling booth, snapping photos and waving his support.
A jubilant President Toyoda leads his team to the infield — breaking into sprints at times — and begins passing out Warsteiner beers and posing for team pictures. Then it’s back to the pits, where the entire team proceeds to shower one another with more champagne and beer. In a year of observing and chronicling Toyoda, I’ve never seen the president laugh, let alone smile, so much.
“We started from nothing just four years ago, and here we are today,” Toyoda said before being drenched in beer. “Our people are stronger; our cars are stronger. Our team really did a great job.”
And as the Lexus Enthusiast says:
There’s something so refreshing about President Toyoda’s passion — it’s so clear in everything he does, and it’s that sincerity that makes me so excited about the future of both Toyota & Lexus.
http://lexusenthusiast.com/2010/05/31/akio-toyoda-profile/
Some quotes from the article in Automtive news:[...]Toyoda embarked on a quest to become one of the company’s top certified test drivers and its top car critic. That challenge and journey combined to forge Toyoda’s management priorities, ones that now are reshaping Toyota in a time of crisis.
By getting behind the wheel and scrutinizing product, the 54-year-old Toyoda believes he is living out the company’s guiding principle: “Genchi, Genbutsu” — Japanese for “go and see for yourself.”
“Growth in itself is not bad if you can cultivate the human resources to keep up,” Toyoda said. “But I don’t want to be the largest company in the world. I want to be the best.”
Also in a related article in the same issue on the LFA race team at Nurburgring:
With 15 minutes left in the race, the crews of all teams crowd the outer pit wall to cheer on their drivers. In front of the Gazoo Racing pit, shutterbug Akio is standing on the roof of the team’s signaling booth, snapping photos and waving his support.
A jubilant President Toyoda leads his team to the infield — breaking into sprints at times — and begins passing out Warsteiner beers and posing for team pictures. Then it’s back to the pits, where the entire team proceeds to shower one another with more champagne and beer. In a year of observing and chronicling Toyoda, I’ve never seen the president laugh, let alone smile, so much.
“We started from nothing just four years ago, and here we are today,” Toyoda said before being drenched in beer. “Our people are stronger; our cars are stronger. Our team really did a great job.”
And as the Lexus Enthusiast says:
There’s something so refreshing about President Toyoda’s passion — it’s so clear in everything he does, and it’s that sincerity that makes me so excited about the future of both Toyota & Lexus.
http://lexusenthusiast.com/2010/05/31/akio-toyoda-profile/
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