Seeing Future in Fuel Cells, Toyota Ends Tesla Deal

Toyota said on Monday that it would allow a battery-supply deal with Tesla
Motors to expire this year and would focus instead on building cars running on
hydrogen fuel cells, a next-generation technology that rivals Tesla’s all-electric
systems.

Toyota Motor invested $50 million in Tesla to acquire a 3 percent stake in the
Silicon Valley upstart in 2010, and signed a $100 million joint-development deal
in 2011 for a version of Toyota’s RAV4 crossover sport utility vehicle that carried
Tesla’s electric powertrains. At the time, the two automakers suggested that the
RAV4 electric vehicle could be the start of a wider collaboration.

But the electric RAV4 has sold poorly, despite low-cost lease and loan offers
Toyota introduced last year to promote sales. And Toyota has increasingly
signaled that it sees fuel cells as the most viable zero-emissions technology,
putting it at odds with Tesla, an evangelist for electric-vehicle technology.
Toyota is also the world’s biggest manufacturer of gas-electric hybrids.

Toyota said in an emailed statement that it was “re-evaluating” its RAV4 electric
vehicle, and that Tesla’s supply agreement for the model would “conclude this
year.” Toyota said that its contract had called for Tesla to supply 2,500 battery-
electric powertrains for the RAV4.

The Japanese automaker said its focus this year would instead be on its four-
door sedan powered by hydrogen fuel cells, which it plans to introduce in
California next year. The automaker will also focus on developing hydrogen
refueling stations to support fuel-cell technology, it said.

Tesla said Friday in a regulatory filing that it expected the supply deal to end
this year. Toyota said it would keep its stake in Tesla for now.

“It’s obvious Toyota doesn’t see a market for electric vehicles,” said John O’Dell,
green-car analyst at the auto-research site Edmunds.com. “They really see the
future of the zero-emission vehicle as the hydrogen vehicle,” he said.

“In partnering with Tesla, there might have been a message there that Toyota
was looking at the possibility” of a wider partnership with the Silicon Valley
manufacturer, he said. “But they can’t even give these cars away. Why continue
doing this?”

The winding down of the supply deal comes just four years after the two
automakers announced their partnership to much fanfare, in May 2010, when
Tesla bought an assembly plant in Fremont, Calif., that Toyota had closed.

The plant had been the site of a joint venture between General Motors and
Toyota. But G.M. ceased production there during its bankruptcy and
restructuring in 2009, and Toyota closed the factory a year later.

In return, Toyota agreed to buy $50 million of Tesla common stock and said the
companies intended to cooperate on the development of “electric vehicles, parts
and production-system and engineering support.”

That came as a surprise to analysts, as Toyota executives had long talked down
the all-electric car in favor of the company’s own gas-electric hybrid technology,
which cost the automaker millions of dollars to develop.

And yet as momentum built in recent years around all-electric powertrains,
Toyota was increasingly criticized for lagging behind in a crucial automotive
technology. In 2010, Nissan released the Leaf, which it billed as the world’s first
mass-produced all-electric car. General Motors followed with its plug-in
Chevrolet Volt.

Toyota, for a time, appeared to be hedging its bets. In a joint news conference
with Tesla in 2010, Toyota’s chief executive, Akio Toyoda, said the market had
not yet chosen the best low-emissions technology. He said the company was
preparing for all options.

“When customers do give us their answer,” Mr. Toyoda said, “I want the company
to be ready.”

Toyota introduced its own all-electric vehicle in 2012, a car based on its iQ
ultra-mini compact that the automaker developed independently. But Toyota has
limited sales of that car to fleet customers. At the same time, electric vehicles
have struggled to reach the mass market, hindered by consumer concerns over
their range and high cost.

Alec Gutierrez, senior analyst for Kelley Blue Book, said he did not see the deal’s
end as a tremendous blow to Tesla. The boutique automaker would just shift its
attention to the Model X sport utility vehicle, he said, which it is set to sell next
year. Still, it came as a disappointment, he said.

“There was a hope that this would have taken off and that Toyota would plan a
mass-market vehicle,” he said. “But now they’re heading in two different
directions.”


※ 修改:·sanesane 于 May 14 06:20:11 2014 修改本文·[FROM: 209.140.48.*]
※ 来源:·水木社区 http://www.newsmth.net·[FROM: 129.49.228.*]

修改:sanesane FROM 209.140.48.*
FROM 129.49.228.*