Tesla and Toyota are said to have joined forces to develop a compact electrically powered SUV. This may be the cheaper ‘entry-level Tesla’ that will be offered under the Model 3 and Model Y.
Rumors about Tesla’s collaborations with other car manufacturers are common, but now the Japanese reports Chosun that Tesla has found a partner in Toyota. The American company would work with the Japanese on a Toyota-based small SUV. For Tesla, that can only mean one thing if it is indeed the case: that will be the compact, lower-level model that Tesla CEO Elon Musk has hinted at several times. Tesla would use this mainly on the European market. For Toyota, it would then be one of the fully electric newcomers that it announced earlier this year. Between patent sketches surfaced by Techzle was also a compact crossover (pictured).
Toyota delivers according to Chosun the platform, logically a variant of the e-TNGA basis. Tesla, in turn, would take responsibility for the powertrain and batteries, as well as the car’s software. After all, those are the things that distinguish Tesla from Toyota. That way, Toyota can also take advantage of Tesla’s autonomous driving developments and over-the-air updates. Musk stated during Battery Day last year that Tesla’s new entry-level model should hit the market in 2023 and will cost roughly $ 25,000 (€ 22,000).
Although it is still a rumor, a collaboration between Tesla and Toyota is not new and therefore certainly not inconceivable. After all, there was already a short-term collaboration that led to an electrically powered RAV4, among other things. At the time, Toyota did not see a sufficiently stable partner in Tesla to continue the cooperation and withdrew its interest in Tesla. The relationship between CEO Akio Toyoda and Elon Musk would nevertheless still be good, although Toyoda handed out a slice at the end of last year. Then the Japanese stated that ‘Tesla has a recipe, but Toyota really makes dishes’. Who knows, Toyota will now ‘cook a dish according to Tesla recipe’ and can combine its position as an experienced manufacturer with things that put Tesla one step ahead.