Revolutionary range: Toyota drives Tesla straight to the car

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Yes, of course Tesla is by far the most important electric vehicle manufacturer, but Toyota is the world’s largest automaker. The Japanese company recently announced news that will make Tesla shareholders sit down and take notice.

New Toyota CEO Koji Sato is putting all-electric vehicles at the center of his planning, after the Japanese group has focused too long on tried-and-tested hybrid technology.

A special production platform will be developed to reduce the cost of new electric vehicles. In addition, a simplified, highly automated assembly process is planned that would make even the assembly line, which is the essence of automobile production, unnecessary. And at Toyota, the die-casting process familiar from Tesla will be used in the future, eliminating the need for costly welding of aluminum parts.

Breakthrough in batteries

But that’s not all. Last week, Toyota announced a technological breakthrough in solid-state batteries. Solid-state batteries promise longer range and faster charging. The Japanese automaker says its groundbreaking new batteries will hit the market in 2027 or 2028, giving electric cars a range of 1,200 kilometers on a 10-minute charge. For comparison: Tesla’s Model Y currently has a maximum range of 525 kilometers and a charge time of 25 minutes via Tesla’s Supercharger.

Vehicles with a range of 1,500 kilometers and a charging time of less than ten minutes will follow, according to Toyota. It is one of several advanced battery technologies that underscore the brand’s transition to electric vehicles.

Initially, solid-state batteries will likely still be quite expensive. That’s why Toyota protects itself with newly developed lithium iron phosphate batteries. It’s a cheaper alternative to the lithium-ion batteries used to power electric cars, especially in China, the world’s largest vehicle market.

Meanwhile, for the higher-priced market segment, Toyota has announced that it will produce an electric car with a more efficient lithium-ion battery that offers a range of 1,000 kilometers. Toyota’s share price reacted extremely positively to the news, initially rising 10 percent – but has since dropped quite a bit.

By contrast, Tesla’s share price did not react at all to the Toyota news. Fans of the US brand are already seeing titles over $400 again. Tesla is currently trading at $260, 36 percent below its all-time high of $407, but not only fans but also analysts are overwhelmingly positive: the one-year high forecast for the price is currently $335. Even a strategic attack by the world’s largest automaker will apparently do nothing to undermine overly optimistic expectations.

Source :Blick