Posted on 03/20/2021 9:54:12 AM PDT by bitt
Depending on how and when you count, Japan’s Toyota is the world’s largest automaker. According to Wheels, Toyota and Volkswagen vie for the title of the world’s largest, with each taking the crown from the other as the market moves. That’s including Volkswagen’s inherent advantage of sporting 12 brands versus Toyota’s four. Audi, Lamborghini, Porsche, Bugatti, and Bentley are included in the Volkswagen brand family.
GM, America’s largest automaker, is about half Toyota’s size thanks to its 2009 bankruptcy and restructuring. Toyota is actually a major car manufacturer in the United States; in 2016 it made about 81% of the cars it sold in the U.S. right here in its nearly half a dozen American plants. If you’re driving a Tundra, RAV4, Camry, or Corolla it was probably American-made in a red state. Toyota was among the first to introduce gas-electric hybrid cars into the market, with the Prius twenty years ago. It hasn’t been afraid to change the car game.
All of this is to point out that Toyota understands both the car market and the infrastructure that supports it perhaps better than any other manufacturer on the planet. It hasn’t grown its footprint through acquisitions, as Volkswagen has, and it hasn’t undergone bankruptcy and bailout as GM has. Toyota has grown by building reliable cars for decades.
When Toyota offers an opinion on the car market, it’s probably worth listening to. This week, Toyota reiterated an opinion it has offered before. That opinion is straightforward: The world is not yet ready to support a fully electric auto fleet.
Toyota’s head of energy and environmental research Robert Wimmer testified before the Senate this week, and said: “If we are to make dramatic progress in electrification, it will require overcoming tremendous challenges, including refueling infrastructure, battery availability, consumer acceptance, .
(Excerpt) Read more at pjmedia.com ...
The total energy used by the transportation sector of the US economy is over ten times the total output of all the USA nuclear power plants combined that is 96 reactors at 59 plants. So to replace even half that with electric cars you would need approximately 500 new reactors. Not to mention where are all the batteries coming form and the lithium to make them? From the lithium fairy?
I recently came across some data on Tesla charging that I found interesting. There are 3 levels of Tesla charging. All this assumes the same model Tesla and a full charge from very low to full.
At other lowest level and cheapest to implement is a simple 110V extension cord in the garage. This takes about 20 hours.
The midlevel recharge system is again home based, more costly to implement and consists of a dedicated 220V circuit. This takes about 8 hours.
The high end, fast recharge is quite expensive, uses 440V electricity and will not be compatible with most residences. It will be limited to commercial charge stations. I've seen a few of these around town at shopping malls. It's a fat pylon with a charging cable and a credit card reader. The idea is to plug in, go shopping then return to a charged car. Recharge time is about 2 hours.
I'm going on a 900mi trip in a few weeks. If I had a Tesla, this would increase my pit stops for fuel by something like 50% or more each taking 1.5 hour as opposed to 10min gas stops. I often make this trip in 1 long day and sometimes overnight along the way. An EV vehicle will easily guarantee 2 full days.
My opinions....
About half of the general public voted for Biden and by definition half of the general pubic is below average intelligence. I see a correlation
while an 8 year old gas car is not even to its half life yet.”””
I’m driving a 23 yr old Pontiac FireBird. It passes inspection easily. Runs like a raped ape and can go 0-60 faster than the factory spec when new. When I went to Washington last Jan it did the 300 miles @ 70/85 mph, never lower, and got 30.50 mpg.
I expect to see problems with electric vehicles using the grid in 5-10 years from now. wita pointed out what happened in Texas so that’s a taste of what will be coming because we are not prepared for it.
The typical neighborhood infrastructure is not set up to handle even a slight majority of people all charging their cars overnight.
Tesla is ending the need for cobalt in EVs.
Utilities won’t be able to do that if the markets are regulated, but your local and state taxman will have all sorts of fun with EV’s.
I pay $225 Ad valorum tax just because they cannot collect gas tax on me.
“ there’s no question that advances in battery storage and charging time have been made in leaps and bounds in recent years. ”
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Hardly, leaps and bounds is the definition of exponential improvement. And, battery storage improvement is not that. Some of the early automobiles were battery powered. If you peg improvement back to that time period (100 years ago) improvement has been evolutionary at best. Furthermore, there’s no big battery storage leap or bound on the horizon. Sorry 😞....
Well, then they will run on Chinese coal because coal mining in USA is now taboo...
Maybe we can used cow chips.. No wait, cows are also about to become taboo.. (spit)
EV batteries are being built to million-mile specifications. By the time you need replace it, it will have paid for itself >2x over.
There are some very good options out there.
I remember renting the old GM Volt and I liked the fact that the battery charge was the first 50 miles used and then it went to gas. I think it only needed 6 gallons to fill it up completely and you could get 350 miles off of that.
Facts don't matter to white liberal elites...they want to pat themselves on the back for 'saving motha earf'.... again, and again, and again... So they'll mandate one more disaster...
Don’t get me started on the Texas electric market.
They did that to themselves and it could have easily been prevented.
Deregulated energy markets always cause problems. California and rolling blackouts are another example of it.
At $7/gal gas, a maxed out Tesla Cybertruck will pay for itself in about 160,000 miles ... and last >3x that.
That’s not deregulation.
I think you’ll see in the next few years that will change.
In GA there are 4 residential developers that I know of that install a level 2 charging station in every new home they build.
Infrastructure is a key piece to making it work.
Problem, what problem? It is the goal of the left to limit travel of the masses.
The point that EV batteries degrade below 90% is well after most gas vehicles have self destructed.
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