BYD, Toyota Launch BYD TOYOTA EV TECHNOLOGY Joint Venture to Conduct Battery Electric Vehicle R&D

[ssun30]

It's official, from Toyota global newsroom.

Toyota City, Japan, April 2, 2020―BYD Company Ltd. (BYD) and Toyota Motor Corporation (Toyota) announced today that preparations have proceeded since they signed an agreement for the establishment of a joint venture company to conduct research and development of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) on November 7, 2019, and registration of the new company has been completed. Operations are scheduled to commence in May 2020. The name of the new company is BYD TOYOTA EV TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD. (BTET). Hirohisa Kishi from Toyota will serve as chairman, and Zhao Binggen from BYD will be the chief executive officer (CEO).

New Chairman Hirohisa Kishi said with regard to the establishment of the company, "With the engineers from BYD and Toyota working together under the same roof, we aim to develop BEVs that are superior in performance and meet the needs of customers in China by merging the two companies' strengths and also through friendly rivalry."

Newly appointed CEO Zhao Binggen commented, "This joint venture company will focus on the research and development of battery electric vehicles with technology and know-how from both China and Japan. The company is committed to promoting and populating high-quality technologies that make battery electric vehicles more environmentally friendly, safe, comfortable, and intelligent. Our vision is to create a future customer-first mobility style, and a harmonious society for humans and nature."

BYD and Toyota will work together to meet the diverse needs of customers by researching and developing BEVs that appeal to customers and promoting their widespread adoption and also hope to contribute to improving the environment in China.

 

[ssun30]

BYD has had a couple of tough years since China started to pull back on PHV and BEV subsidies. They have been bleeding money causing major delays into their two flagship programs: the Han and Ming.

The Han was intended to be a hypercar capable of doing 0-100km/h in 2.9s with four-wheel torque vectoring while Ming would be world's longest range and most powerful electric SUV. The two models were originally planned to be released in 2016 and 2017. The two models would be half a decade ahead of their time. However, BYD overextended too much forcing it to refresh its older lineup and put the flagships on hold in order to stay afloat. Now its products are a bit stale compared to the competition especially with uncompetitive battery technology.

The problem has always been their poor quality control and high cost of plant operations. I've owned the BYD Qin and while its specs are absolutely fantastic, the fit and finish are dreadful. Toyota is in this for the safe battery tech, while BYD wants Toyota's expertise on efficiently making good cars.

 

[Ian Schmidt]

That makes sense. As I've mentioned before, four-wheel torque vectoring is absolutely something I want from EVs.