Tesla..... I mean Toyota Supra

[hj-45]

This hit the car webs today.

Supra successor may be all-electric sourced from Tesla; MR2 returning too?

[Rifleman]

A friend of mine stopped in at a Tesla store a few weeks ago, and said that the sales person said that Tesla is going to be making a new Supra for toyota. I just assumed he was confused, and that he was actually talking about the Rav4. Looks like he might have been right.

[ElSupreme]

I think a new MR2 would just directly compete with their new 86/FRS/BRZ joint car with Subaru. Maybe they would use the MR2 as a EV brand, but I doubt it.

The Supra on the other hand seems about ideal for a Gen III sports coupe. It is surely too small to leverage the Model S skateboard/platform. The MR2 would be even smaller.

I wonder if this is really a hint that Tesla may share their platform with another car manufacturer. Versus selling a motor/inverter, and a battery pack. I could really see a HUGE advantage to sharing a platform with Toyota. Tesla can have Toyota front a bunch of capital for equipment for a Gen III line, and Tesla can produce platforms even without huge demand for their car (I think it will take a few years for Gen III Tesla to get to 100,000 a year by themselves). Tesla could give the bottom tier battery, and performance to Toyota for an EV Midsized car. They could give up a medium tier battery, and performance to Toyota for a Supra. And they could keep for themselves a Supercar tier.

This makes sense as a Supra would most likely not truly in the Porsche 911+ level we expect the R to be in.
The Tesla performance mid-sized sedan would have Supra like performance.
Toyota would get a small battery lower powered EV drivetrain, put into a low end trim car.
Tesla would get bigger batteries (thus better performance) in their high end trim car.

I see this sort of platform sharing really dovetailing between Tesla and Toyota. I hope it ends up Toyota is buying Tesla stuff, not Tesla incorporating Toyota stuff. And Tesla may very well be against sharing a 'platform' because they would be giving away their big advantage.

[TEG]

I am probably the perfect target customer for such a vehicle.

I had become a "Toyota Loyalist" before becoming infatuated with EV drive-trains.
I still own a Supercharged MR2 & Lexus IS300 (sort of a 4 door Supra) as my long distance trip ICE cars.

Of all possible brands to pick, Tesla and/or Toyota would be tops on my list, so if either one comes out with something IS300 sized that uses a Tesla (Model S style) drive-train, I am ready for that to be my next car.
If it approaches 300 mile range, offers DC/QC/Supercharging, and has sports car like performance, I will likely get rid of everything else (MR2, IS300, LEAF) and finally just have one car again.

Come 2015, it would be a nice dilemma to have... Do I get the Test BlueStar GenIII, or the electric Toyota Supra?
If they have shared DNA, it might come down to styling/features/pricing/...

[Jason S]

Pretty cool idea. It could work very nicely, could even be produced at Tesla's plant.

[vfx]

I'm not a fan of the angular looks these days.

[Trixie]

I've been a fan of the Supra since I destroyed my uninsured Porsche, oh so many years ago...

I'd gladly be a TEV owner and get rid of my Prius for the Supra.