BYD Company Ltd. (BYD) and Toyota Motor Corp. (Toyota) signed an agreement to establish a joint company to research and develop battery-electric vehicles (BEVs). The new R&D company, which will work on designing and developing BEVs, including platform, and its related parts, is anticipated to be established in China in 2020, with BYD and Toyota to evenly share 50% of the total capital needed.
Additionally, BYD and Toyota plan to staff the new company by transferring engineers and the jobs currently involved in related R&D from their respective companies.
Ad Loading...
BYD was founded in 1995 as a battery business and has grown into a total energy solution company, manufacturing not only electrified vehicles but other products such as large-size energy storage cells. The company name BYD stands for “Build Your Dreams” and core parts for electrified vehicles such as batteries, motors, and power electronics are among the products that BYD develops in-house. In 2008, BYD became the first company in the world to sell mass production of plug-in hybrid electrified vehicles (PHEVs). Since 2015 onwards, BYD’s sales of BEVs and PHEVs have been ranked first in the world for four consecutive years.
Since Toyota launched the Prius, the world’s first mass-produced hybrid electric vehicle (HEV), in 1997, the company has become a pioneer of electrified vehicle development with a focus on HEVs. Toyota has sold more than 14 million electrified vehicles worldwide and has accumulated extensive knowledge concerning the development, production, and sale of both HEVs and their related core components.
Also, based on the thinking that electrified vehicles contribute to the society only when its popularized, Toyota is initiating electrification globally. In China, Toyota is also working on spreading electrification and also developing vehicles which meets Chinese customer’s needs in collaboration between Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing (China) Co. Ltd. and the R&D centers established at Chinese joint-venture companies with China FAW Group Corp. and Guangzhou Automobile Group Co. Ltd.
With the newly established joint R&D company, Toyota and BYD aim to work together to further develop BEVs that are attractive to Chinese customers, and by further promoting their widespread adoption, aim to contribute toward environmental improvement.
In this conversation, TBC’s Executive Director Ed Redfern, President Corey Aldridge, and Washington Representative Joel Rubin outline the coalition’s key policy priorities, the challenges facing transit agencies, and how industry stakeholders can work together to strengthen the voice of bus transit at the federal level.
CALSTART’s latest Zeroing in on ZEBs report shows continued nationwide growth despite supply-chain challenges. The group’s Deputy Director of Transit, Mike Hynes, talked to METRO about how agencies are adapting procurement strategies, fleet plans, and more.
Even amid shifts in federal funding, California continues to advance its zero-emission agenda, enforcing and funding its regulatory framework despite federal obstacles.
Mountain Line selected BetterFleet’s charge-management and fleet-operations platform to support its nearly all-electric bus fleet and future electrification plans.
See how the county’s Chesco Connect system is replacing its buses with propane autogas to cut costs, reduce emissions, and support high-demand paratransit operations.
Rolling out in electric yellow and seafoam blue, the first battery-electric buses purchased from GILLIG will begin serving riders in south King County on February 2.
The introduction of hydrogen fuel cell buses represents a significant step forward in reducing emissions while maintaining reliable, high-quality transit service.
