Can Someone Explain Toyota’s Lethargy in the Electric Vehicle Space?

I often wonder what caused Toyota to invest $50 million in Tesla. Obviously they deemed it important in expediting their introduction of electric vehicles.  But doesn’t a company the size of Toyota have a considerable gaggle of engineers who know their way around EVs, after a decade of tinkering with the Prius? 

Perhaps Toyota is so wrapped up in engineering and PR problems that it wanted to get some of the R&D workload in electric vehicles off its plate.  Or maybe they figured that Tesla’s nimble management style might be able to make faster progress.  And note that currently, Toyota is not only a stockholder, but a customer as well; it placed an order for 35 electric conversions of the RAV4 EV, the competitor to the Ford Escape, Honda CRV, and Chevy Equinox, all small sport utility vehicles.

I know others also struggle to make sense of some of the auto behemoths’ decisions, but I find Toyota’s behavior in the EV space to be especially mysterious. After the homerun they hit with the Prius, it seems otherworldly that they haven’t done a better job in advancing electric transportation. They claim to they have no fewer than 10 EV models “under development,” and I suppose that could be true. But why on Earth would you wait while other folks take the lead and render you an afterthought in a strategic part of the industry?

Here’s a theory: it’s obvious that the car companies have gone into the EV age kicking and screaming. But resisting this change, while it was certainly in their interest, was not within their power — and now their hand has been forced. My guess is that Toyota misread the timing of the pressure they would receive from Nissan and the others. Now, they’re playing catch-up — and under horribly adverse circumstances – part of which is the damage they sustained recently to their supply chain, with numerous vendors wiped out by the tsunami.

Nothing else can explain their lethargy in this space, and announcements of totally lame products, like the Prius V. Here we are in mid-2011 and the new Prius still has no plug?

Sorry.  No plug?  No deal.