Toyota to pay Tesla $60 million for battery-powered RAV4

Toyota RAV4 EV
At the 2010 LA Auto Show next month, Toyota will debut an electric-drive RAV4 that will feature batteries, motors and other parts from Tesla Motors. The Japanese automaker will pay its new partner Tesla around $60 million to develop the parts.

In a regulatory filing yesterday, Tesla said that the terms of the deal were complete on October 6. Toyota bought a $50 million stake in Tesla earlier this year with a goal of collaborating in batter-powered vehicle production.

Also, earlier this month Tesla took over Toyota”s former joint-venture NUMMI plant in Fremont, California.

No word on the technical specs of the Toyota RAV4-EV but we do know that it will hit markets in 2012.

– By: Omar Rana

Source: Bloomberg