Toyota Motor Corp. Said To Be Ramping Up Its House Assembly Line

Soon to join the I-didn't-know-that file comes a story published in the Wall Street Journal regarding Toyota Motor Corp.'s increasingly bold home-building plans.

That's right. The automaker is also a homemaker. It's got a prefabricated-housing division and everything.

According to the Journal, Toyota has been building steel-frame houses designed to withstand earthquakes and typhoons for 33 years. But with the Japanese government calling for sturdier home construction, Toyota is shifting its prefab-housing division into high gear.

What's more, the carmaker is testing an electricity-monitoring system in its homes that could charge plug-in electric vehicles during off-peak hours to keep utility bills low, while the car's battery can serve as an electrical backup, powering the home during blackouts.

The Journal says Toyota engineers are also experimenting with using solar panels as house siding and powering homes with fuel cells, which combine hydrogen and air to produce electricity.

It's got to be only a matter of time until Toyota offers a house as a Prius accessory, or vice versa.

Scott Doggett, Contributor

Posted by

Scott Doggett July 8, 2008, 11:09 AM

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Batteries, Emissions, Fuel Cell, Fuel Economy, Hybrid, Hydrogen, Plug-ins and Electric, Solar, Toyota