NAGOYA, Japan (Reuters) - Toyota Motor Corp is working to develop a prototype electric vehicle with Tesla Motors as it continues work on a battery-powered small car the Japanese automaker plans to launch in 2012, senior executives said on Friday.
"We're at the stage of working toward a prototype and once that's completed and we've reached that milestone, I'd like to announce more about what we're working on together," Toyota President Akio Toyoda told reporters.
Toyoda said Toyota was interested in experimenting with Tesla's approach to using lithium-ion battery cells developed for the electronics industry as a potential alternative to developing batteries tailor-made for its own vehicles as it had been doing.
"We'll see which better meets the needs of consumers. We're taking a multifaceted approach," Toyoda told a group of U.S. reporters invited to tour Toyota's facilities this week.
Toyota Moves Ahead With Tesla, Open to New Tie-Ups - ABC News
"We're at the stage of working toward a prototype and once that's completed and we've reached that milestone, I'd like to announce more about what we're working on together," Toyota President Akio Toyoda told reporters.
Toyoda said Toyota was interested in experimenting with Tesla's approach to using lithium-ion battery cells developed for the electronics industry as a potential alternative to developing batteries tailor-made for its own vehicles as it had been doing.
"We'll see which better meets the needs of consumers. We're taking a multifaceted approach," Toyoda told a group of U.S. reporters invited to tour Toyota's facilities this week.
Toyota Moves Ahead With Tesla, Open to New Tie-Ups - ABC News