Toyota reimagines its electric vehicle lineup, and Tesla is to blame

The electric car market is in constant flux. New technologies are joining existing ones, and manufacturers want to earn more money from each unit produced and sold in order to make their investments pay off. Toyota has found that, although it led the development of hybrid technology, it has fallen behind when it comes to EV technology.

The Japanese brand has found that Tesla earns almost eight times more profit on each car sold, which makes it far more profitable. This has led Toyota, like other brands, to rethink its electric vehicle production system. This could cause serious delays in the launch of new models, scheduled mainly for the next three years.

The costs of Tesla are noticeably lower than those of Toyota and, as a result, its prices sit below the offers from Toyota. In addition, the profitability per unit manufactured is also lower. Another issue is that the Toyota bZ4X, the brand’s flagship electric model, falls short in performance and features compared with those of other brands.

Toyota has begun talking with suppliers to try to reduce manufacturing costs for its cars. One of the first steps could be the elimination of the e-TNGA platform, which serves as the basis for the bZ4X and the Lexus RZ 450e. This was developed to be used both for electric vehicles and for those with combustion engines. Thus, the new platform that Toyota will use will be dedicated exclusively to electric vehicles, which will increase its performance and reduce costs.

But abandoning the e-TNGA platform will cause delays in the launch of the new bZ3X model and the electric models of Lexus. These changes will also come in the form of a new temperature management system, a more powerful electric powertrain and a silicon carbide-based inverter that could help increase efficiency and reduce production costs.

Apparently, and according to Reuters, this new planning of Toyota’s electric vehicle strategy is being led by Shigeki Terashi, a 42-year-old executive who was responsible for the agreement with BYD, the Chinese multinational, which gave rise to the Toyota bZ4X.