The Japanese Government's Bet Against Tesla

06-30-2014 • slate.com

On Tuesday, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said his administration would begin providing additional support to the country's fuel-cell vehicle industry, as part of his overall growth plan. It's something of an unusual move, given that Japan is the world's second-largest market for plug-in vehicles.

We recently wrote about the burgeoning civil war in the renewable fuels world between charge-batteries and fuel cells. Tesla CEO Elon Musk called them "fool cells" at the company's annual meeting earlier this month. This announcement is the latest chapter in that struggle, and it coincides with news out of Toyota that it would be releasing a Camry-sized hydrogen fuel cell in Japan for next year.

The new sedan will be priced at $69,000 (or ¥7 million)—exactly $1,000 lower than the price of a Tesla Model S.