That's kind of a wild question, when you think about it. What could the biggest automaker in the world learn from a company that barely existed 20 years ago?
A whole lot, as it turns out. We write a lot around here about how Tesla (and now China's automakers) got a wide lead over established car companies when it comes to software. How it leads on charging experience and over-the-air updates. How it's reached economies of scale for electric vehicles that the legacy auto players can only dream of.
But Tesla also schools Toyota in another unlikely way—the actual nuts and bolts of designing EVs. My co-host Patrick George and I discuss that and more on this week's episode of the Plugged-In Podcast.
Much of our conversation was inspired by an enlightening Bloomberg Businessweek story from this week. It argues that Toyota's most basic production systems and ways of thinking aren't built for the EV era. Tesla and innovative Chinese companies like BYD have become electric-car juggernauts by fundamentally rethinking how cars are made and relentlessly focusing on vertical integration. Toyota, meanwhile, depends on designs honed over decades in the combustion-car business and lots of outsourcing.
Can it learn to thrive in the EV era, and on what timeline? That's the big question. Because Chinese automakers are wasting no time as they gobble up market share pretty much all over the world. Oh, and Toyota isn't alone here; other old-school automakers need to wake up too.
Also on today's show, we talk about the new Model Y and Patrick's recent road trip in a Rivian R1T. Spoiler alert: He broke it. But Rivian fixed it quickly, and the truck continued to impress.
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Contact the author: Tim.Levin@InsideEVs.com
