jspearman said:
I know this has been covered somewhere, but is the Gateway ECU a Toyota or Tesla part? I can't understand why there's not a recall yet.
Everything related to the EV system is Tesla, including the Gateway ECU. Toyota did the minor exterior body modifications (nose piece, different rear view mirrors, rear air "spoiler") and of course, left off the spare tire and roof rack.
Toyota also did the heater, which is why there are two separate coolant reservoirs. The pink one is Toyota coolant for the heater only, and the dark green one is G48 coolant for the Tesla drivetrain, charger, DC to DC, inverter, battery. There are actually two heaters on the car. One Toyota supplied one (Denso 6kW resistance) and another one supplied by Tesla for the battery heating using the G48 coolant.
It appears Toyota did all the dash "stuff"; the navigation screen is used in other Toyota/Lexus products. The dash display itself is likely all Toyota. Obviously, there is a lot of software that had to be written for both Toyota and Tesla.
Toyota also did the "reinforcement bar" on the bottom of the car to reinforce it for crash testing. It looks big and clunky because I'm sure that was the cheapest and quickest way to fix the problems.
Toyota also did the exhaust hanger mounts... oh, wait, we don't need those. But, if you ever decide to throw in the V6 oil burner, it shouldn't be that hard.
Toyota likely did the beefed up suspension, too. Power steering and brake boosters, probably Toyota. Air Conditioner pump, Toyota, since it's the cheapest answer to how to cool the cabin, and Tesla just taps into the system to borrow some cold refrigerant for the battery. Tesla uses a more expensive heat pump in their cars.
I'm hard pressed to find other modifications to the car. The wheels and interior have been in use since the 2009 model. Paint is the same as the oil burners from 2006 - 2012 maybe?
The charge port is likely just a Toyota purchased part from Yazaki, but I think Tesla physically builds the harness for it. Or Tesla could supply the whole thing from Yazaki (note: Tesla doesn't have Yazaki as a normal supplier, since they don't use J1772 on their cars... the prototype Rav4 EVs had Tesla Roadster connectors).
Let's see... the shifter is from the Prius. Anything I'm missing? The stuff that is just too bizarre for words, like the loud and distracting beeping in the car when you put it in reverse, but no noise outside to warn pedestrians; that's all Toyota. The fuel gauge that stops at 80%, Toyota. The low speed external "space ship noise maker sound" is obviously Toyota (again, from the Prius).