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BYD, Toyota Partner Up For New Electric Vehicles

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While BYD has been working on electric vehicles for many years now, the Chinese company’s most public EVs - especially in the U.S. - have been its zero-emission buses. This might change - in China, at least - with today’s announcement that BYD and Toyota will establish a new joint venture focused on researching and developing battery electric vehicles.

The two companies said that the new JV will be set up in China some time in 2020 with each company contributing half of the investment needed. The JV will design and develop all-electric vehicles, including new platforms and “related parts.” The resulting BEVs will be destined for BYD’s home country, as they are supposed to be made in such a way as to be, “attractive to Chinese customers.”

Today’s news follows an announcement in July that Toyota and BYD were considering working together on all-electric sedans and low-floor SUVs. That release said that the batteries that the two companies would develop for the sedan and SUV models they’re building together would also be used in other vehicles.

Today, BYD and Toyota gave more details about how the new JV will be staffed, including by transferring Toyota and BYD engineers and other workers from related R&D jobs in their respective companies to the new JV. In the statement announcing the new JV, Toyota says that “electrified vehicles contribute to the society only when ... popularized,” so it is initiating a global electrification strategy. Toyota has other electrification manufacturing and research centers in China, including other Chinese joint-venture companies with China FAW Group Corporation (FAW) and Guangzhou Automobile Group Co., Ltd (GAC).

BYD is also no stranger to working with other companies to further its electric goals. The company recently announced it would work with AMPLY Power as its preferred partners for setting up with charging infrastructure for fleet operators that need to charge EV for groups like transit agencies, shuttle bus operators and schools. BYD continues to roll out big announcements regarding deployment of its large electric vehicles, including 183 zero-emission BYD K9 buses that went to Chile in October and 50 electric vans that were delivered to the Bahamas in September. BYD was also part of the first all-electric Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) service in the U.S., which launched in Indianapolis in September. IndyGo's rapid Red Line bus service uses 31 BYD buses, as well as other vehicles, on its route.

At the Shanghai Auto Show in April, BYD showcased six new electrified vehicles, including the Song Pro MAX, E1, E2, S2, and E-SEED GT hybrid concept.

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