Toyoda Gosei, a manufacturer of plastic and rubber vehicle parts that is part of the Toyota Group, has acquired a stake in EV Motors Japan (EVM-J), a startup specializing in the development and sale of commercial electric trucks and buses.

The company said it acquired the stake in EVM-J “to learn on-site the entire series of processes from development to manufacture of EVs through personnel exchanges with EVM-J and through other collaborative activities, and expand its knowledge of new mobility.”

EVM-J says its vehicles will boast more range and longer battery life than its competitors’ vehicles, as well as smaller power losses when accelerating and decelerating, owing to the company’s high-efficiency motor control system.

EVM-J is also constructing a mass production assembly plant for commercial EVs in Kitakyushu City, Japan. The plant will be adjacent to the Zero Emission e-Park, an EV experience center that EVM-J says is “based on the concept of realizing a zero-emission society.” At the Zero Emission e-Park, visitors will be able to visit an EV museum, take test rides and test drives, arrange factory tours and stand in the middle of an EV assembly plant.

Source: Toyoda Gosei