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Toyota To Produce First Fully Electric Vehicle In Europe
- Written by Andrea Miliani Former Tech News Expert
- Fact-Checked by Sarah Frazier Former Content Manager
Toyota announced on Wednesday that it will build its first fully battery-electric vehicle (BEV) in Europe. The world’s largest automaker will produce the new model at Toyota Motor Manufacturing Czech Republic (TMMCZ), located in the city of Kolin, in Czech Republic.
In a rush? Here are the quick facts:
- Toyota announced it will build its first fully battery-electric vehicle (BEV) in Europe
- The new model will be produced in the city of Kolin, at Toyota Motor Manufacturing Czech Republic.
- The facility will be expanded to accommodate the production of the vehicle and the battery.
According to the official announcement , Toyota held a ceremony along with the Government of the Czech Republic to provide more details about the proyect. The automaker explained it will expand its plant in the city of Kolin, from 152,000 to 173,000 square metres, to accommodate the facility for the production of the new EV model and the batteries.
“The new BEV, the first to be produced in one of Toyota’s European plants, is a significant milestone for both the company and the Czech Republic,” wrote the company. “For Toyota, this decision signals a further roll-out of its multi-pathway strategy designed to achieve its objective of carbon neutral operations in Europe by 2040.”
Toyota will invest approximately €680 million for manufacture and the Czech government up to €64 million for the battery assembly plant.
The automaker currently produces other hybrid models such as the Aygo X and Yaris—at an annual capacity of 220,000 vehicles—, but the new BEV will will enable the facility to expand production to additional models.
“The introduction of BEV production increases potential of the plant capacity of multi-pathway production and will lead to incremental direct employment with similar benefits for the supply chain as the majority of parts volume will be sourced in the Czech Republic,” states the document.
Toyota did not disclose further details about the model, the production timeline, or its market release.
Other automakers are also increasing their bets on electric vehicles. A few months ago, Nissan, Honda, and Mitsubishi announced a strategic merger for 2026 , focused on electric vehicles and innovation in intelligence.
Photo by Sasun Bughdaryan on Unsplash
Judge Allows Google to Keep Chrome, Orders It to Share Data With Rivals
- Written by Andrea Miliani Former Tech News Expert
- Fact-Checked by Sarah Frazier Former Content Manager
A federal judge ruled on Tuesday that Google can keep its Chrome browser during the ongoing antitrust battle, in what is considered a win for the tech giant. However, the company has been ordered to share the data it uses to improve search results, granting competitors access to information that was previously private.
In a rush? Here are the quick facts:
- A federal judge denied the DOJ’s request to force Google to sell its browser Chrome or Android operating system in the ongoing antitrust case.
- Google has been ordered to share the data it uses to improve search results, allowing competitors to access previously private information.
- The impact of artificial intelligence has played a centric role in the judge’s decision.
According to CBS News , U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta denied the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) request to force Google to sell parts of its business , such as its browser Chrome or Android operating system, as a remedy for its search monopoly.
This comes just months after U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema ruled in April that Google had violated antitrust laws , stating that the tech giant had been “willfully acquiring and maintaining monopoly power.” The latest hearing, however, took a different approach.
In a 226-page opinion issued in Washington, Judge Mehta explained that the rapid development of technologies such as artificial intelligence is reshaping the search industry and affecting general search engines (GSEs).
“Today, tens of millions of people use GenAI chatbots, like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Claude, to gather information that they previously sought through internet search,” states the document. “These GenAI chatbots are not yet close to replacing GSEs, but the industry expects that developers will continue to add features to GenAI products to perform more like GSEs.”
Judge Mehta added that this case is unusual because a decision cannot be based solely on historical facts: “The court is asked to gaze into a crystal ball and look to the future.”
Instead of requiring Google to sell parts of its business—such as Chrome, which already had buying offers such as Perplexity’s $34.5 billion bid —, the judge ordered the company to share the data gathered for users’ trillions of queries, used by the tech giant to optimize searches.
“Today’s decision recognizes how much the industry has changed through the advent of AI, which is giving people so many more ways to find information,” wrote Google in a recent statement on its website . “This underlines what we’ve been saying since this case was filed in 2020: Competition is intense and people can easily choose the services they want. That’s why we disagree so strongly with the Court’s initial decision in August 2024 on liability.”
