Toyota joins hands with Mazda to develop electric car technology

Two Japanese car companies have partnered with fellow auto parts manufacturer Denso to establish a company specializing in developing electric car technology.

The trio of Japanese companies announced on September 28 that they have joined forces to create EV CA Spirit, a company dedicated to promoting and developing electric vehicles, according to Nikkei.Toyota will own 90% of the company. Mazda and Denso will split the rest equally.

Three leading names in the auto industry and components join hands to develop electric vehicle technology. Photo: Washington Post.

Last August, Toyota and Mazda announced a capital partnership, with each side investing more than $440,000 to develop electric vehicle technologies and corresponding control systems. The two automakers also agreed to spend $1.6 billion to build a new factory in the US.

The partnership with Denso will help speed up the development and production of electric cars, with Mazda and Toyota planning to launch these models in 2019 and 2020.

Also this week, Toyota Research Institute, a branch located in Silicon Valley (USA), introduced the latest version of the self-driving car, with better sensor and warning systems. Especially, there are 2 steering wheels to help humans control the car better, or prevent the possibility of robots taking control of the car.

The test vehicle is a Lexus LS600hL equipped with lidar technology, a series of radars and cameras - an upgrade from the first Toyota that debuted earlier this year. The company conducted many tests on both test tracks and public roads in Silicon Valley, Ann Arbor, Michigan, and Cambridge, Massachusetts.

The Lexus model is equipped with two steering wheels to prevent the robot from completely taking control of the car. Photo: Toyota.

The second steering wheel is built in to allow the human driver to take over the steering wheel during testing if necessary, if the car encounters an obstacle ahead. When Toyota researchers want to let the car drive itself without anyone in the driver's seat, they may feel a little worried that the car will wander off on its own or do something dangerous.

The two major trends in the global auto industry today are self-driving technology and electric cars. More and more automakers are saying they are researching and developing self-driving technology as more and more users show interest in features that allow cars to drive themselves.

Electric cars are becoming a "familiar" product line to many people due to pressure from reducing air pollution, especially when many places in the world are planning, and have even begun to limit gasoline and diesel engine cars.

According to VNE