Toyota teams with Suzuki to bring EVs to India by 2020

Firms to study ways to widen acceptance, spur ‘popular use’ of electric vehicles

A journalist holds a battery recharging plug for a Toyota's electric vehicle in the works based on the iQ ultra-compact car during a press conference in Tokyo Thursday, Nov. 18, 2010. Toyota is planning to sell a plug-in hybrid car in the U.S., Japan and Europe in 2012, targeting sales of 50,000 vehicles a year at 3 million yen ($36,000) each without subsidies, as the automaker strengthens its green lineup to keep pace with growing competition. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)

Japanese automakers Toyota Motor Corp. and Suzuki Motor Corp. on Friday said they had agreed to ally to introduce electric vehicles (EVs) in India by around 2020.

As per the pact, Suzuki would produce EVs for the Indian market and would supply some to Toyota, while the latter would provide technical support. In a statement, the two majors said they “have concluded a memorandum of understanding on moving forward in considering a cooperative structure for introducing EVs in the Indian market [by] around 2020.”

The agreement stems from an MoU signed in February this year between the two firms to explore a partnership. Post this, they began discussing, among other topics, the dissemination of vehicle electrification technologies in India, the carmakers added. The firms said they intended to conduct a comprehensive study of activities for ensuring widespread acceptance and popular use of EVs in India.

The activities “encompass the establishment of charging stations, human resources development that includes training for after-service technicians employed throughout [the] sales networks and systems for the appropriate treatment of end-of-life batteries.” the companies said.

Unit for batteries

Suzuki had earlier said it would invest $180 million (about ₹1,150 crore), along with partners Toshiba and Denso, for a separate unit to manufacture lithium-ion batteries at its Gujarat plant.

“As envisioned by the agreement, in addition to lithium-ion batteries, “electric motors and other major components would be locally procured for the production of EVs in India, helping the Indian government fulfil its ‘Make in India’ initiative, even in the field of EVs,” the two companies said.