Toyota Motor Corp. and electric sports car maker Tesla Motors Inc. are teaming up to co-produce electric vehicles in California, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
The project was expected to be announced Thursday at a press conference being called by Tesla executives in Palo Alto, Calif., where the company is headquartered.
The newspaper attributed information about the Toyota-Tesla link-up to California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Tesla has been producing low-volume electric sports cars that sell for more than $100,000, using bodies supplied by Lotus Engineering. Last year, the U.S. Department of Energy provided Tesla with a low-interest loan of $465 million to support a plan to produce a mass-market electric family sedan called the Model S.
The company is preparing to construct a factory to produce the Model S. Last year, Tesla hired former Toyota executive Gilbert Passin to head up its new manufacturing operations.
Toyota has so far steered clear of electric cars, unlike rival Nissan Motor Co., which will launch the electric Leaf sedan in the United States this year. Toyota’s efforts have centered heavily on hybrid-drive vehicles, including the Prius, which use both an electric motor and a gasoline engine for power.
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