Toyota And Mazda Work Together On Long-Range EV Tech

Toyota, one of the biggest critics of long-range EVs and a huge proponent of fuel cell vehicles, is working on a secretive EV. It has help from Mazda and Denso, a large automotive parts supplier. The three are working on “structural technologies” for EVs.

This is big on many levels. First off, it means Toyota, arguably the leader in automotive research and development, is jumping into the fully-electric game. Remember, this is the company that figured out how to get people into hybrids in big numbers. Tesla and everyone else should be concerned.

Second, Mazda has been limited in its ability to play the EV game. This should turn things around, so we may see more Zoom Zoom in EVs. That’s great, because too many fully-electric vehicles are boring to drive, other than the immediate torque delivery.

As part of this new alliance, the three companies are forming the EV Common Architecture Spirit Co. Weird name, for sure, but it’s supposed to leverage the best capabilities of each company. The technologies created by it will apply to a whole range of vehicles, from the smallest subcompact to the largest SUVs.

Already, Toyota has said it will launch a long-range EV by about 2020. But it doesn’t sound like the automaker will stop there. From the press release, it actually sounds like Toyota is ready to unleash a whole range of EVs, maybe even pickups and off-roaders. Mark my words, this is a huge development, bigger than all the fanfare surrounding Volvo’s electrification announcement.