BYD, Toyota's Hino team up on electric commercial vehicles

BEIJING -- Electric vehicle maker BYD is partnering with Toyota Motor Corp.'s Hino Motors truck unit to develop electric commercial vehicles, as BYD deepens electric collaboration with Japan's top automaker.

The partnership will focus on electric buses and trucks, in addition to BYD and Toyota's joint development on electric passenger cars.

Shenzhen-based BYD, which is backed by U.S. investor Warren Buffett, has been building electric commercial vehicles including London's electric double-decker buses and electric road sweepers in Beijing.

Hino is developing battery electric trucks but has not marketed a fully electric model.

Hino makes trucks in China with Guangzhou-based GAC, which is also a partner of Toyota.

Toyota, which expects to achieve half of its vehicle sales from electrified models by 2025, has been developing its own EV batteries and has been tapping new suppliers to avoid a shortfall in supply as demand for electrified vehicles is expected to increase in the coming decades.