Report: Toyota planning manual electric sports car to compete with Tesla

Toyota 2000GT EV

Word on the street has it that Toyota is planning an all-electric sports car that will rival Tesla as a part of a new onslaught of performance models in the works for the coming years. Now, don’t forget that Toyota has a minor stake in Tesla so this won’t be a downright ‘in you face’ to Tesla since the Toyota model may end up using some Tesla components.

Either way, Naohiko Saito, Toyota’s handling guru, says the electric powertrain previewed in the Toyota 2000GT EV at the Goodwood Festival of Speed is ‘an early part of the development process involved in refining the technology.’

The production model could have a manual gearbox mated to an electric powertrain. Toyota’s advanced drivetrain engineering chief, Hiroyuki Ogawa, says there is a ‘a desire to use a manual gearbox in our electric and hybrid sports cars.’

We definitely agree with him.

Ogawa says that a production manual electric cars is still 3-years out.

– By: Omar Rana

Source: AutoCar