Featured BYD, Toyota Agree to Establish Joint Company

That is one risky move by Toyota. BYD had a few driving around here ½ decade ago & they were just so darn old fasion blah looking ... not there is anything wrong with the look of a 1988 Corolla .... but decades ago, that was the look. But in 2012? not so much. Then there were the safety issues & the related crash of sales;
Car maker BYD shares fall after fatal taxi crash - MarketWatch
they quickly went byebye over here.
there wasn't anything inherently wrong with their traction pack & thermal management. Yes, when it comes to EV's, these 2 companies will really benefit from each other. It will give BYD better safety & reliability, & Toyota will get a source for their supply constrained battery packs. Whether Toyota ever sells outside China? That's anybody's guess. And why should they sell them here, when this is the new land barge coveting generation.
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Compared to what?

There aren't very many suppliers capable of supplying Toyota with the scale of what they’ll need. Looks to me like they’ve found something reasonable.

 

BYD is back in the US.
AUTO - BYD USA

That E6 manages a shocking 72mpge.

 

contrast - our plug-in minivan gets 84 mpge - & it's configured in 7 and 8 seaters & has cavernous storage capacity. Maybe the 'shocking' word refers to it being shockingly low?

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Reminded me of the Coda EV when I first learned of it.

 

yea - same paltry epa rating - same Antiquated looks;
Maybe between the highly techno bizarre futuristic Japanese styling and the epitome of mediocrity styling of the Chinese cars, they can reach a pleasant looking product ...... tho we may never see it here.

Yea Toyota's playing it risky ....

not risky regarding their need for Supply constrained batteries, but the following;
1st ~ the ASUS phone example. It's a perfect way to spy on users. Not good to find a boat load of these - potentially being used in the DOD. It's way more economical to fraudulently steal others ideas whether it's a Rolex, a BMW, technology, high-end clothing, or government secrets. They have history. Just sayin'
2nd ~ failing to manufacture your own stuff means you rely heavily on others, which can put businesses in precarious positions, not to mention thousands of lost jobs, and the economy that those job's economy create, in turn, in & of themselves.
3rd ~ quality .... let's just use this week's latest, as an example. 1.3 billion judgment because your Chinese company is making fake rabies vaccination? No problemo, just declare bankruptcy! Suckers!
Chinese vaccine maker fined $1.3 billion after scandal
Yeah, that's a bit risky.
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BYD has produced 44,000 electric buses so far, there is a good chance this joint-venture to suceed for Toyota...

 

That’s fair.

You’re suggesting that they should build a factory and go big on importing raw materials to build their own battery factory instead? That doesn’t sound like a bad idea at all, but maybe it’s going to take too long for their current sensibilities. Even then, they would still be 100% dependent on foreign sources for those raw materials. Buying ready-made battery components for a few years gives them some maneuvering room and also ties up some capacity that their competitors might've wanted.

Toyota has both succeeded and failed where it comes to sourcing quality componentery for all their earlier cars, and I think they’ve mostly got the hang of it. I acknowledge the risks you cite, but I like their chances.