So much for Toyota's reluctance to get involved with all-electric vehicles. On the heels of its decision to release a new RAV4 EV model in 2012, Nikkei reports that the carmaker will soon be selling plug-ins in China as well.
Through a join venture with China's FAW Group, Toyota will reportedly market a battery electric vehicle based on the Vios, a subcompact sedan sold in China and several other Asian markets. Tianjin FAW Toyota Motor Company (as the collaboration is called,) has already developed a prototype for the vehicle.
What isn't yet known is where the battery and powertrain technology for this car will come from. Was it adapted from existing FAW or Toyota designs or was it developed in Tianjin specifically for the joint venture? Will it depend on outside technology leased from a third carmaker?
The reason that these questions are of interest (and perhaps the only implications that this story has for drivers outside of China,) is that Toyota has long studied lithium ion batteries—even before it had any intention of releasing its first fully electric vehicle. (That vehicle will depend on Tesla's battery technology, not work that Toyota has done in-house.)
But could the new Vios-based plug-in be a peek into Toyota's past or future designs, even if those designs haven't yet been approved for vehicles sold under the Toyota brand?
The company had said in the past that it was in no hurry release EVs in China because of that country's insistence upon gaining access to foreign carmaker's technologies. Either Toyota has caved on this issue or their new EV will rely on designs that aren't related to the company's main electric vehicle development program. We're likely to find out which soon.
