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GM is selling two sub-30K EVs right now. And, IMHO, one of them is an excellent machine at that....the Chevy Bolt EUV, which starts at $27,800. I have driven both the EUV ad the Tesla Model 3, and, unless you want dragster-type torque, which the Model 3 has up the Wazoo, the EUV is a much nicer machine in almost every way. The regular Chevy Bolt starts at $26,500, but IMO is not as nicely-done as the Bolt EUV.
You have to create a mystique to sell an EV - it has to look different, the buyers are drawn to that. The photo above looks like a Buick Encore.
Toyota should spin off a new brand to sell EVs, give the cars some individuality, some persona. If they just go head to head with Tesla, they are going to lose. And that's with Tesla selling just two volume models - the Model2 is really going to shake things up further.
Better and faster public charging is the most practical current solution to the apartment problem, and the 500,000 public chargers included in the Inflation Reduction Act is intended to help kickstart the expansion in public charging and provide a platform for the market to continue the build out. Current and new entrants to the charging business can access funds to grow the public charging network and/or increase access to their existing network (like Tesla is now doing).
As for Toyota, they have taken a more extreme position than pretty much all the other mainstream industry leaders by not just being slow to embrace BEVs but actively pushing and investing in an alternative in fuel cells. So if the middle ground "dip a pretty big toe in the BEV market" option taken by most of their competitors is off the table, there are really only two possible ways to view Toyota's position:
Are they playing an elaborate game of 4D chess, taking a more nuanced and measured response to the BEV segment than others and are consciously letting others test the waters before deciding whether or not to dive in; or
Or have they simply missed the boat, placing big bets on the wrong technology and are likely years behind their industry peers let alone BEV-only entrants like Tesla and are going to struggle to play catch up?
In my view, it's increasingly clear they went through door number 2. They have misjudged the market and become sidetracked with their obsession with hydrogen. I had a hydrogen car, a Mirai, so speak from experience on how that particular option has worked out for them.
I hope you’re right. I love my Lexus LS. It’s similar to the one you had. But unfortunately even though toyota might not be going anywhere, their customers certainly are and I very well may be one of them. I’ve decided that my next car will be an EV. I like the EQs sedan but the rear seat is cramped. I love the interior of the BMW i7 but the exterior is ugly. I love the Tesla model S but the interior is not luxurious enough for me. The Chinese cars are very impressive but I haven’t seen one in person to know for sure. And Lexus doesn’t offer anything sedan EV. In fact I had read somewhere that they may be coming out with a fuel cell LS (hydrogen I assume) and that’s a definite deal breaker for me. I’d love a Lexus LS with a Tesla plaid powertrain and screen but with the luxuriousness of my LS600hL.
I hope you’re right. I love my Lexus LS. It’s similar to the one you had. But unfortunately even though toyota might not be going anywhere, their customers certainly are and I very well may be one of them. I’ve decided that my next car will be an EV. I like the EQs sedan but the rear seat is cramped. I love the interior of the BMW i7 but the exterior is ugly. I love the Tesla model S but the interior is not luxurious enough for me. The Chinese cars are very impressive but I haven’t seen one in person to know for sure. And Lexus doesn’t offer anything sedan EV. In fact I had read somewhere that they may be coming out with a fuel cell LS (hydrogen I assume) and that’s a definite deal breaker for me. I’d love a Lexus LS with a Tesla plaid powertrain and screen but with the luxuriousness of my LS600hL.
You don't have to hope. Toyota is a huge company with incredible resources and brand recognition.
As for Toyota, they have taken a more extreme position than pretty much all the other mainstream industry leaders by not just being slow to embrace BEVs but actively pushing and investing in an alternative in fuel cells.
The real problem is that the industry itself may be going the wrong way with EVs. Toyota was actually correct in trying to develop fuel-cell vehicles, because millions of people do not have access to outdoor or garage-recharging-plugs for EVs. It would be much easier for them to simply drive to a hydrogen-refill station....assuming those stations were built and we had an infrastructure for them. And what has ALWAYS concerned me the most about EVs...as the number of EVs on the road continues to outpace our ability to profile enough power for them from the country's electrical grids, it could (?) lead to brownouts or blackouts from excessive electrical demand, particularly if millions people are trying to recharge their EVs at the same time they are trying to heat or cool their home, with electric furnaces/AC units in extreme temperatures. That possibility is simply being overlooked in the mad rush to convert the industry.
In the end, Toyota may have been correct in resisting the push to EVs....particularly if we sit around in hot or cold homes without any power.
The real problem is that the industry itself may be going the wrong way with EVs. Toyota was actually correct in trying to develop fuel-cell vehicles, because millions of people do not have access to outdoor or garage-recharging-plugs for EVs. It would be much easier for them to simply drive to a hydrogen-refill station....assuming those stations were built and we had an infrastructure for them. And what has ALWAYS concerned me the most about EVs...as the number of EVs on the road continues to outpace our ability to profile enough power for them from the country's electrical grids, it could (?) lead to brownouts or blackouts from excessive electrical demand, particularly if millions people are trying to recharge their EVs at the same time they are trying to heat or cool their home, with electric furnaces/AC units in extreme temperatures. That possibility is simply being overlooked in the mad rush to convert the industry.
In the end, Toyota may have been correct in resisting the push to EVs....particularly if we sit around in hot or cold homes without any power.
😂😂 if easier to refuel at a gas station was the incentive then gas cars would not be ceding their sales to EV’s. Yet they are. So more hydrogen stations isn’t the answer, ev’s are winning simply because from every measure they are just a better car. So good infact that even Consumer Reports stated that the Tesla model S was the HIGHEST SCORING CAR it has ever tested. Even in California where hydrogen stations are centralized and tree huggers are everywhere hydrogen cars pale in comparison to their gas counterparts, while EV’s are surpassing them both. EV’s are safer, handle better, are quicker, quieter, have a frunk and more. The fact that it’s emission free is just a bonus in many buyers minds. You even have hard core muscle car enthusiasts going ev and it’s not because they were sold on zero emissions. 😂😂😂
So trying to sell someone on a hydrogen car because it’s green and that there will eventually be more stations built is no more effective today than it was 20 years ago. The sooner toyota realizes this the better.
The real problem is that the industry itself may be going the wrong way with EVs. Toyota was actually correct in trying to develop fuel-cell vehicles, because millions of people do not have access to outdoor or garage-recharging-plugs for EVs. It would be much easier for them to simply drive to a hydrogen-refill station....assuming those stations were built and we had an infrastructure for them. And what has ALWAYS concerned me the most about EVs...as the number of EVs on the road continues to outpace our ability to profile enough power for them from the country's electrical grids, it could (?) lead to brownouts or blackouts from excessive electrical demand, particularly if millions people are trying to recharge their EVs at the same time they are trying to heat or cool their home, with electric furnaces/AC units in extreme temperatures. That possibility is simply being overlooked in the mad rush to convert the industry.
In the end, Toyota may have been correct in resisting the push to EVs....particularly if we sit around in hot or cold homes without any power.
MM, no one with an ICE car has a gas station at home either... And just as it was with ICE cars since time immemorial, the key to wider EV adoption is accessibility and simplicity through the deployment of more public charging (accessibility) delivering faster charge times and easy ways to pay like plug and charge (simplicity).
I actually ran a hydrogen car for three years, and it's not the solution. The car was great, the infrastructure not so much. Toyota placed the wrong bet.
Is Toyota losing sales to Tesla and legacy automakers producing EV's? Sure, but Toyota isn't going anywhere at all. They may have been late to the party, but that's possibly a smart strategy. In the grand scheme of things, it's still early as hell in the EV era. Rather than rush into something, Toyota is taking a different approach and their sales numbers speak for themselves.
Is Toyota losing sales to Tesla and legacy automakers producing EV's? Sure, but Toyota isn't going anywhere at all. They may have been late to the party, but that's possibly a smart strategy. In the grand scheme of things, it's still early as hell in the EV era. Rather than rush into something, Toyota is taking a different approach and their sales numbers speak for themselves.
I have to disagree with you. Toyota's bread and butter Corolla and Rav4 lost their number one sales position to the more expensive Model Y, that has to be concerning for them. Is Toyota finished? No, of course not. But they are not in a good position right now with their Toyota Crown now following the same sales demand slump as the Avalon. But saying they are finished, that's a bridge too far
