Toyota, Mazda, Denso unite for EV expansion

TOYOTA Motor Corporation, Mazda Motor Corporation and Denso Corporation have combined forces to accelerate electric vehicle (EV) development, forming a new company called EV Common Architecture Spirit (EVCAS).

New vehicles produced by the joint venture will range from light cars and passenger vehicles, to SUVs and light-commercial trucks, and is expected to be built on a revised version of the Toyota New Global Architecture (TNGA) platform.

At this stage it remains unclear when the first production vehicle born from the joint venture will materialise, or if the tie-up is simply to develop shared EV components.

According to Toyota, which has a 90 per cent stake in the joint venture, the pooling of resources will enable efficient development and quicker production of EVs as different markets, including China, adopt increasingly stricter emissions regulations.

“With EVs yet to find widespread market acceptance, the huge investments and time required to cover all markets and vehicle segments is a pressing issue for individual auto-makers when responding to the widely varying demand for vehicles around the world,” said Toyota in a statement.

“The new company aims to innovate the development process by combining the strengths of each company, including Mazda’s bundled product planning and prowess in computer modelling-based development, Denso’s electronics technologies, and the Toyota New Global Architecture (TNGA) platform.”

Mazda and Denso each have a five per cent share of EVCAS, which will be headquartered in Nagoya, Japan and employ around 40 people including engineers from all three companies headed by Toyota chief officer of EV business planning department Shigeki Terashi.

The formation of EVCAS comes months after Toyota bought a five per cent share of Mazda in August and announced plans for a joint production facility in the US, as well as sharing EV technologies and connected vehicle systems.