Revenge 244
rated with pumpkins, skeletons, and fake blood. Everyone
thought Elon had finally gone crazy and now he would
ruin everything. Then, suddenly, Elon looked up with a
large smile. “I got you guys,” he shouted. Elon wanted to
reduce the tension everyone felt before they would meet
the president of the world’s largest car manufacturer.^210
Toyoda arrived with a convoy of Toyota Sienna mini-
vans and a Lexus limousine. Bodyguards stepped out of the
vehicles, followed by Toyota executives and Toyoda him-
self. Elon could see how Toyoda looked at a Roadster, so he
asked if Toyoda wanted to drive it. Toyoda was a certified
test driver and had competed in the 24-hour Nürburgring
endurance race in Germany. With ease, Toyoda drove
the Roadster around the hilly area around Bel Air. Elon
tried to focus on the conversation with Toyoda who said
he wanted his company to become more entrepreneurial.
Toyoda admired how Elon had managed to develop the
Roadster and he thought it seemed like a good car.^210
When they came back, they had a short meeting before
Toyoda decided to cancel his schedule for the rest of the
morning. He wanted more of the Roadster. Elon decided
to show him the SpaceX factory, so they took a Roadster
and drove there. At the factory, they watched rocket launch
videos while eating frozen yogurt.^210
Four weeks later, Toyota decided to invest $50 million
in Tesla. They wanted Tesla to develop the second genera-
tion RAV4 EV – the former competitor to the EV1 and loved
by the actor Tom Hanks. “It’s a great honor for Tesla to
work with a company like Toyota, which is really one of the