Toyota Motor for the first time will share its technologies for hybrid and fuel-cell vehicles under a planned alliance with Germany’s BMW, sources said on June 25.
The two automakers hope the deal will allow them to take the initiative in creating an international standard for those technologies as global demand for “cleaner’’ vehicles is expected to grow, they said.
Toyota will also provide BMW with its know-how on plug-in hybrid vehicles, which can be charged from electric power sources at the users’ homes.
BMW will share its technologies to reduce the weight of the vehicles using carbon fibers, the sources said.
Toyota plans to put on sale by 2015 fuel cell-powered passenger cars that are called “supreme eco-cars” because their power sources are hydrogen and oxygen and they emit only water.
In December 2011, Toyota and BMW concluded a memorandum of understanding on mid- and long-term cooperative relations on environmental technologies.
Under that agreement, Toyota will receive a supply of diesel engines from BMW in Europe, and the two automakers will jointly conduct research on lithium-ion batteries, which are expected to become the core of environmental technologies.
The two companies agreed to look for other fields of cooperation after concluding the MOU.
In Europe, environmental regulations are becoming stricter, including those on vehicle exhaust emissions, prompting automakers to form alliances to reduce the costs for developing eco-friendly cars.
