Toyota Isn’t Sold on the Tesla Hype

Toyota loves hybrids and plug-in hybrids, but the Japanese automaker still isn’t convinced electric vehicles are the way of the future.

While some automakers are investing heavily in fully electric vehicles, Toyota remains hesitant on mass producing EVs in the near future. Speaking to German publication Der Spiegel, Toyota’s Takeshi Uchiyamada said, “Tesla is not our enemy and not our role model. I think it’s the German manufacturers that rather see Tesla as a competitor.”

That makes sense since Toyota doesn’t have any fully electric vehicles in its portfolio now that the Toyota RAV4 EV is no longer produced. And even then, the RAV4 EV used an electric powertrain from Tesla.

SEE ALSO: Toyota has no Plans of Sharing its Game-Changing EV Batteries

But that doesn’t mean Toyota is giving up on electric vehicles. It has formed a relationship with Mazda on electric vehicle development and is currently working on solid-state batteries that will store more power and can be recharged more quickly than current lithium-ion units.

Uchiyamada, who is known as the father of the Prius, did acknowledge the solid-state batteries and their development but confirmed it will still take time. “We expect mass production in four to five years.”

Meanwhile, Tesla is continuing to burn through cash as it ramps up production for the Model 3. Bloomberg reports Tesla is going through nearly half-a-million dollars every hour or about $8,000 a minute. If it continues at that pace, the American automaker will run out of cash by August 6.

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[Source: The Drive]