A Humble 3-Wheel Electric Vehicle Lands Toyota in Federal Court

A lawsuit filed in California last month offers a modern-day David-versus-Goliath tale that casts the world’s largest automaker, Toyota Motor, in the role of the giant battling against a shoestring operation in Africa — but with a twist.

The legal fight is not about some top-secret new automotive technology or significant sums of money. It is about a humble three-wheeled electric vehicle designed to help poor African farmers transport their wares to the market. The lawsuit comes after Toyota has been criticized by environmentalists for being slow to embrace electric vehicles and for lobbying U.S. lawmakers to ease emissions regulations.

In the case, filed in federal court, an organization called Mobility for Africa asserts that Toyota Mobility Foundation, a nonprofit created by Toyota and managed by its executives, stole its technology and plans for the three-wheeled vehicle and handed it to a for-profit company operating in Kenya. The Toyota foundation’s conduct, the lawsuit says, has made it difficult for Mobility for Africa to raise money and expand its vehicles beyond Zimbabwe where it operates.

Both projects in Africa are tiny by the standards of the global auto industry — Toyota last year sold more than 11 million vehicles. Mobility for Africa’s project in Zimbabwe has just 322 vehicles, and the Kenya project it claims is using its technology has just 70 vehicles, according to its website.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/20/business/toyota-africa-electric-vehicles-lawsuit.html