In EV battle, Toyota bets on new technology and old-school thinking

By David Dolan

TOYOTA CITY, Japan (Reuters) – At factories in Japan’s industrial heartland, Toyota has turned to self-propelled assembly lines, massive die casting and even old-fashioned hand polishing as it aims to make up for lost ground in battery electric vehicles.

The world’s top-selling automaker believes it can close the gap with Tesla and others by combining new technology with the famous lean production methods it has used for decades to wring inefficiency, including excess costs, out…