What is the cultural conflict between the two companies that ended the relationship between Toyota and Tesla that made an electric shock alliance

ByToyota UK

In 2010, we now have the world's top car salesToyotaAnd an emerging car manufacturer based in the USA · Silicon ValleyTeslaCollectively electric vehicles (EVWe agreed to develop and sell it. Two years later, the EV based on Toyota's existing car "RAV4 EV"Was released and it attracted a lot of attention, but in 2014 TeslaEnd collaborative projectWe announced that. The details of what kind of problems existed between the two companies and the tie-up was resolved have been clarified.

How Tesla-Toyota Project Led to Culture Clash by Opposites: Cars - Bloomberg
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-08-07/how-tesla-toyota-project-led-to-culture-clash-by-opposites-cars.html

In 2010 he will serve as Chairman and CEO of Tesla Motors.Earlon maskMr. Akio Toyoda, president of Toyota, will be sold by the companyTesla RoadsterI enjoyed the drive of. It was an episode that symbolized Toyoda's light work of footwork, but both of them were spirited up at once. A few weeks later the partnership between the two companies was announced, Toyota invested 50 million dollars (about 4.5 billion yen at the time) against Tesla, a joint venture between Toyota and General Motors, which was supposed to be closed wasNUMMIFor about $ 42 million (about 3.8 billion yen).

In addition, the two companies sold the Toyota RAV 4 electric vehicle equipped with Tesla's EV technology "RAV4 EV"We jointly develop and sell it. Attempts by automotive industry giants to develop vehicles through hands with startup companies that are among the most new in the automotive industry were of interest. Although RAV4 EV jointly developed by two companies actually will run in the town, as a result, the partnership between Toyota and Tesla is not necessarily called "success".

ByToyota UK

The sales target set by the two companies at the time of tie-up was 2,600 units, whereas the actual sales amount was about 1,900 units, which is less than 2000 units. It is said that the price of 50,000 dollars (approx. 4.5 million yen) which is about twice as high as the usual RAV 4 was attached, and that the sales area was restricted to California province was a cause of slump It is.

However, those who are familiar with the circumstances at that time point out that the actual facts were the friction that existed between the engineers of the two companies pointed out the fact that the dreamful alliance program went off rapidly. From this one issue, Toyota will put a distance from the development of EV, and Mr. Mask shows a shift towards fuel cell vehicles that are questioned.

◆ Collision of corporate culture
Ashvin Chotai, Managing Director of Intelligence Automotive Asia for this case, said, "Even if two companies working together succeed each other, that partnership will not be successful as well In a case where someone who threatens the current situation in the industry appears and is trying to form a hand with that bigger hand, the partnership is destined to face various complicated problems. " , We talk about the difficulty of cooperation between companies.

As a result of the partnership between the two companies, weak points that both sides highlighted were highlighted. Toyota was trying to learn the sense of speed as Tesla's company but it can not be said that things are progressing as expected, and as the pace of new car development in the next few years will remain at the same speed as in the past It is thought. Also, Tesla is to show weakness of production capacity indispensable for future growth.

ByToyota UK

When the partnership between the two companies was announced in 2010, Tesla's mask CEO expressed this affiliation as a "historical" event, and President Toyoda said that "the future wind is blowing". What Tesla got for this partnership was "production factory purchased at an unexpected price" and "creditworthiness of alliance with the industry's largest", or "money". On the other hand, Toyota had a chance to regain its momentum in North America, which had declined its performance due to the recall issue, and the shares that were $ 50 million (about 4.5 billion yen) at the time of affiliation are now more than ten times more than $ 700 million (About 70 billion yen), and it seems that the partnership itself has ended poorly, but as a result it has become fruitful.

"When President Toyota decided to join forces with the mask CEO," This is not just a problem of battery (EV) but entrepreneurs who enter the automobile industry, "said Jim Lentz, who oversees Toyota's North American operations. I thought that it was a collaboration with a small start-up company due to "I thought that," I will look back and talk about that time.

However, the conflict between the two companies will soon begin to show up. According to the person who knows the development at the time, there was a big lack in the proposal design of RAV 4 EV Tesla submitted to Toyota. In a car equipped with an automatic transmission, there is always a "claw" that forcibly stops the movement of the gear, so that when locking the lever into the "P", lock the gear to prevent the car body from moving , But from the design of Tesla it turned out that this mechanism was missing. The Tesla development team immediately aims to solve the problem, but we decided that it was difficult as it was, and proposed an electromagnetic type claw which was also installed in the Tesla Roadster, but Toyota finally adopts normal claws I decided in particular.

ByToyota UK

Toyota also rejected the design of the under panel for battery protection proposed by Tesla and has made a decision to secure safety by strengthening the body rigidity.

ByToyota UK

◆ "Black Box" problem
The more decisive issue was the integration problem of the vehicle control system that both companies called "black boxes" to be out of the door.

When you release the accelerator while driving a Tesla car, the regenerative brake is activated and the battery is charged. At this time the car body will "shimmer" and cause a small shaking, you may need a little accustomed. However, Toyota did not make this behavior okay and decided to make improvements, but since both companies did not disclose the control system owned by them, the road seems to have been extremely difficult. Toyota did not release his own source code, but also Tesla. At that time each other's reasons were said to be "This is a black box".

ByToyota UK

In addition to the above problems, a very strict deadline was set for the REV4 EV project. After the announcement by President Toyoda and Mask CEO in 2010, there was a period of two years from the start of sales in 2012, but in the automobile industry which generally takes five to seven years to develop a vehicle The time was very short.

REV4 EV, whose actual sales have remained at 1902 units against the target sales volume of 2,600, has a problem requiring a recall or a kind of encounter that was encountered at PriusUnited States Department of TransportationAlthough there was never done an investigation by the person, there are not many people who complain about dissatisfaction among users.

Tony Williams, residing in California / San Diego, who purchased REV 4 EV in 2012, looked back on the vehicle and said, "It was like a terrible nightmare." Williams says Williams who was waiting for replacement parts for more than 30 days due to a breakdown of the motor still seems to be riding the RAV 4 EV,LEAFI would like to switch to.

ByNISSAN MOTOR CO., LTD.

On the other hand, Toyota's spokesperson John Hanson said, "We are not aware that there are problems commonly occurring in vehicles, which is unique to RAV4 EV," there is a big problem in the vehicle itself I told you that it was not.

◆ Prospects of future companies
While the joint development project by Toyota and Tesla is about to end, the companies are already showing a move to start a different path. Tesla has a strong salesModel SIn addition to 2015 will be a new modelModel XIn 2017, we plan to release a small sedan "Model 3It is scheduled to follow this.

Model X | Tesla Motors


One Toyota generates electricity using hydrogen as a fuel and runsFuel cell vehicle(FCV) As the nucleus of the next generation and is proceeding with development. It is FCV that fuel can be easily replenished by making hydrogen fuel which generates energy, and if fuel is generated from sea water even if it is water, CO2 emitted from the vehicle is zero, but the system becomes complicated The disadvantage is that it is disadvantageous, and the mask CEO leaves a comment that seems to mock up "FOOL CELL (fool · cell)" by tampering "FUEL CELL (fuel cell)" meaning fuel cell.

FCV (Fuel Cell Vehicle) | Toyota


In response, Bob Carter, vice president of Toyota North America, commented, "Those who do not consider the possibility of fuel cells are laughing at the risk of their danger," commented, "Personally, I care at all I will not do. "

However, neither company is obsessed or hidden that it is not intended to eliminate the relationship forever. Masquerade CEO reveals that we have agreed with Toyota at the shareholders' meeting at the shareholders meeting that "we will put the project on the shelf and come back again in a few years". On one handAutoPacificAccording to Ed Kim, an analyst of the company, both companies are looking in a completely different direction, "It is unthinkable to say that Toyota who is not at the mercy of EV is forming a tag with Tesla again" There is also a view to do.

The movement of Tesla, which runs at the forefront of EV, which is also seen as Toyota and Hyundai's successor generation following the hybrid car, is also attracting attention in the sense that it dominates the leadership dispute of the future automobile industry It is likely to become.

ByToyota UK