Toyota and BYD to introduce an affordable EV sedan collaboratively – Is it a good strategy by Toyota against Tesla

BEIJING, Dec 3, 2021 – Toyota Motor Corp is all set to introduce its all-electric decent-sized yet roomy and affordable sedan late next year in China.

As per the reports received from insiders, people who have the knowledge of this upcoming project have described the sedan as an “electric holy grail” for Toyota Motor Corp as the company has struggled for a long time to produce a small sedan Electric Vehicle without compromising on comfort in affordable prices.

The sources further revealed that the breakthrough was mainly down to BYD’s light LFP Blade batteries and its efficient engineering knowledge – a complete table-turning moment for a Chinese manufacturer who produced F3 Saloon inspired by the 2005 Toyota Corolla.

Less popular outside China, car manufacturer BYD made the headlines back in 2008 when the American business investor Warren Buffett bought 225 million shares of BYD, and since then, the manufacturer has saved its spot for the top new energy vehicles producer in the world.

The new Toyota EV which is coming next year, will be slightly bigger in size than the conventional compact corolla, the best selling car even today. A source described it as “a Corolla with the bigger back-seat section”.

The vehicle will be introduced as a concept car in 2022 April at the Beijing auto show and will probably be placed in Toyota’s latest all-electric bZ series. However, initially, the vehicle is planned to launch only in China.

“The car was enabled by BYD battery technology,” one source revealed. “It has more or less helped us resolve challenges we had faced in coming up with an affordable small electric sedan with a roomy interior.”

What battery technology will the new car possess?

According to initial reports, BYD has planned to use Lithium Iron Phosphate technology which sounds interesting. The technology is being increasingly used to revive old Prius models.

What will be the price range?

Toyota revealed in a statement that their new car would cost around $30,000, which is quite affordable for a four-seater EV sedan.

On the flip side, the progressively growing company Tesla has announced its EV at $18,000, though it cannot compete with the bandwidth of Toyota.

Since the company is establishing more manufacturing plants, the $18,000 mark does not seem impossible.

Toyota is playing a safe card by launching its all-electric car first in China. Once it has made its name in that market, the rest of the world won’t be tough to take over.