Toyota Didn't Get the Memo On Electric Cars, Is Sticking To Its Hybrid Strategy

Moto News Today ^ | 09/30/2022

[Paal Gulli]

There was never any doubt but that the gasoline-electric hybrid (like the BMW i8) was the better option because you’ve still got electric motor torque (=ferocious acceleration) but the battery only needs weigh half as much and the charging station is in your trunk.

[Southern Magnolia]

What about the salt water problem? As in, when electric cars meet salt water, they blow up! Several hundred miles of cars backlogged because four or five Dem-bulbs bought an electric car that’s now on fire trying to escape a big hurricane is in our future.

[redcatcherb412]

Very true. For a rural user that lives 6 or 7 miles out of town a plug in 40 mile range hybrid is the way. I have a 2012 Volt plug in. I average 30 to 40 miles a day and the ev portion is used for almost all my needs
When I do go over the gas sipper 35mpg ice picks up the slack. Not a lie. Since May when I got it I have logged just over 3000 miles with gas purchase of under 3 gallons and 120 volt plug in charging overnight of about 8 or 9 kWh at .13 per kWh cost. It works great for me.

[Secret Agent Man]

Hybrids are the best solutions at the moment. Especially if they can recharge the battery driving as well as being able to plug in.

[Sparticus]

I read that Massachusetts residents are paying triple for electricity virtually overnight. Mark my words... EV adoption will cost everyone a ton of $$. It won’t be cheaper to charge your EV for long.

[madison10]

Who wants full electric cars? They are jokes.

Never owned a Toyota, but they are smart making the hybrids.

[Reno89519]

I bought a 2022 Toyota Corolla Hybrid LE in February. Perfectly timed purchase, got for sticker price. Driving a bit differently, more careful on the gas petal, I get 60+ MPG. Only complaint is that the Corolla is a bit noisy and also tiny. But as gas prices go up, it is great AND I am not tied to a charging cable or station!!!

If you can find a Toyota Hybrid, I'd recommend it.

As it is snowing outside, I'll be parking it soon and driving my Hummer H3 which gets 14/18 MPG when it runs. (Seems to require repairs every time I drive it but it does have 276K miles on it so I should be patient.

[SeekAndFind]

RE: I like Toyota’s plug-in hybrid strategy...short-range/short trip (40 miles or so) EV capability plus good old gasoline for those trips to Vegas! (RAV4 Prime & Prius Prime so far).

It’s not like Toyota does not have EV technology. THEY DO. They’re just not emphasizing it in their current marketing.

That might change in the USA as the governments ( e.g. California and New York and those other bluse states soon to follow ) FORCE them to advance the pure EV technology sooner.

[sushiman]

Can’t go wrong with a Toyota or Honda , especially if made in Japan . I have owned both exclusively since 1976 . Hybrids abound here in Japan . Also , hydrogen cars on the rise . Hydrogen station just down the street from me .

[Dr. Sivana]

people want electric cars, not hybrids.

Governments in all major regions are implementing mandates and incentives for electric vehicles

If people WANTED electric cars, the "mandates and incentives" would be unnecessary. There were no mandates for energy efficient LCD computer monitors. When the price dropped, they took over.

what happens if no one needs those other cards (machines)? Or, more importantly, if these cards are no longer available due to regulation?

Ah the regulations ARE more important. More's the pity.

If there is a way to make batteries with something other than Lithium and Cobalt, or if easily obtained large deposits are found, then Toyota might be temporarily behind, even as they continue to sell where they are ALLOWED to vend their highly desirable vehicles.

Maybe Toyota doesn't see the battery technology as mature enough. They ARE spending money on battery research. Sometimes it is NOT best to be first to the party. Apple was VERY late to the MP3 player game. There were dozens of different models. I had a nifty little SANDISK that allowed me to swap out SANDISK memory sticks with MP3s on them. Ingenious, simple little device, and it still kind of works. But Apple blew the doors open because they WAITED for the right technology and design. They did the same with phones, they were VERY late to the party. Back then, it was assumed that Nokia and Motorola would be duking it out. Toyota is smart, and thank God they don't rely mostly on the US and China for all their sales.

[Dr. Sivana]

If you can find a Toyota Hybrid, I'd recommend it.

Personally, I don't like ICE engines dragging around heavy batteries nor electric motors having to lug around a heavy ICE engine, though Toyota has proven that complex setup can work for a long time for a lot of people.

I am satisfied with my Avalon's mileage, and wouldn't give up the V6 just to get a hybrid. Besides, the Avalon itself was under-supported, unwanted, and is going away. Too bad.

[Cobra64]

Toyota is the only one with common sense. They are not going all in on all electric cars. They know there aren’t enough natural resources on the planet to support electric cars, further, there is not enough infrastructure nor grid to support the demand. They are hedging their bets.

[Cobra64]

Huh?

[Cobra64]

Yup.

[ConservativeMind]

The author is an idiot and thinks he speaks for the world, but it’s only for a tiny minority of people who love short distance vehicles.

[Cobra64]

Yup. When the lights dim, Toyota will still be in the automobile business.

[Olog-hai]

It seems like that Toyota still doesn’t get it: people want electric cars, not hybrids …

It seems like the anonymous cowardly “user” at Moto News Today still doesn’t get it: people don’t want electric cars, and only a tiny fraction want hybrids.

Never mind Moto News Today first going online back in June 29, 2022. Yup, this year. And they demand to be taken seriously, I presume.

[Olog-hai]

Solutions to what?

[ExGeeEye]

I don’t even want a hybrid.

But if it’s a choice between all-EV and hyrid,

hybrid it is.

****

Tesla makes some pretty good cars. Rip out the 2000-ton $26,000 battery and the motor it supplies and put in a 20-gallon tank and a decent V-6, it would be a Really Great Car.

[ExGeeEye]

CORRECTION: 2000-lb.

1-ton.

Thank you.