Tense Toyota-Tesla Relationship Causes Partnership To Fizzle

Those hoping the 2010 deal between Toyota and then-startup Tesla Motors would yield EVs at mainstream prices will be disappointed.

Toyota is said to be distancing itself from Tesla and moving on to pushing fuel cells, rather than trying to become a player in the electric car market with Nissan and others, according to a new Bloomberg report.

The four-year-old partnership’s main product is the Toyota RAV4 EV, which has only been available in California for roughly $50,000 retail price. Toyota purchased a stake in Tesla for $50 million and sold the former NUMMI plant in Fremont, Calif. to Tesla for $42 million, where the Model S is now made and the Model X is expected to start being produced next year.

Tesla announced in May it would stop delivering battery packs for the RAV4 this year.

The Bloomberg piece points more to a culture clash that kept the two companies at distance, Tesla being a challenger in the industry and Toyota known for its conservatism. So with Toyota criticizing Tesla for doing its own thing with its products and Tesla feeling constricted by Toyota bosses, the partnership was doomed.

And those hoping for a full range of Toyota EVs probably shouldn’t hold their breath.

By Zac Estrada