Posted on 11/01/2022 9:25:13 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
It seems like that Toyota still doesn’t get it: people want electric cars, not hybrids. Despite all the evidence pointing to the inevitable rise of electric vehicles in the automotive industry, Toyota insists on sticking with hybrids, saying: “It’s our strategy and we’re sticking to it.” Well, Toyota, you may end up being left behind as nearly every other automaker, nation, and organization moves toward sustainable, all-electric vehicles.
Toyota is one of the few automakers that hasn’t yet realized what the future holds. Electrician called for the transition to electric cars to happen much faster than most predicted, and so far the pace of electric car adoption continues to accelerate.
Few industries are experiencing as rapid growth as electric vehicles. In 2021, sales of electric cars doubled to a record 6.6 millionaccording to the International Energy Agency, claiming almost 10% of the market!
By comparison, nine years ago, only 120,000 electric cars were sold worldwide. More than that are now being sold every week, and the pace is only expected to accelerate from here.
The latest data reveals that the electric vehicle market was valued at $287 billion in 2021 and is expected to reach $1.3 trillion by 2028, growing at a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 24.3%.
Governments in all major regions are implementing mandates and incentives for electric vehicles to help reduce carbon emissions and protect the environment. For example, the US aims for a 50% electric car market share by 2030, while Europe has proposed a total ban on fossil fuel cars by 2035. California — and now New York – does. Despite this, Toyota maintains its hybrid strategy going forward. Toyota Dealership Source: Toyota
Even with all this information, Toyota has been much slower to adapt, and for this reason ranks last in terms of its decarbonization effort.
A a recent study from Greenpeace found Toyota ranked last in the top ten automakers after failing to generate even 1% of sales in zero-emissions vehicles, not hybrids.
More importantly, the study found that Toyota had the least developed supply chains to support a sustainable future. A climate activist from Greenpeace Japan even stated:
The time of hybrids, I think, is over.
And in this they are right. Hybrids are only good as a bridge to fully electric cars. In my opinion, they are inefficient and not optimized for either gas or electricity. However, that being said, since then, Toyota has started mass-producing hybrids releasing the Prius in 1997.
U an interview Speaking to reporters Thursday, Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda reiterated the automaker’s strategy of keeping hybrids and fuel-cell vehicles in its lineup, likening the company to a department store.
The Japanese automaker’s leader also weighed in on new zero-emissions mandates and called for an end to sales of gas-powered cars, saying it would be “quite difficult” to achieve, saying:
Playing to win means playing all the cards in the deck, not just the selected ones. So that’s our strategy and we’re sticking to it.
Fair enough, but what happens if no one needs those other cards (machines)? Or, more importantly, if these cards are no longer available due to regulation?
Toyota claims, “We don’t want to leave anyone behind,” but they may end up being the ones left behind.
This is the same record repeated with Toyota. After growing to become the world’s largest automaker by offering hybrid technology, the company doesn’t want to conform. They wholeheartedly believe in their hybrid strategy.
Meanwhile, technology has come a long way in that time, and companies like it Tesla prove that the future belongs to all-electric vehicles.
Exclusively selling electric cars, Tesla claims it’s the Model Y on his way will bring in the most profit of any car this year and will likely be the best-selling car next year.
Almost every other automaker you can think of, both new and legacy, is planning an all-electric lineup. Will Toyota come? As the industry (and the world) continues to move toward a clean, sustainable future, Toyota may soon be rethinking its hybrid strategy.
Thank you!! It took 11 posts to get a winner!
This author did so little research that it didn’t know that you PLUG IN your Prius, or your Ford Esacape, or Chevy Volt ... all available as plug in hybrids.
We figured this out 8 years ago when we bought a 2015 Ford Fusion Energi. It’s lifetime MPG is 49.3 MPG and that includes a lot of long distance trips from GA to Texas that would have been so unpleasant in an all EV.
Nowadays my wife’s Energi only goes about 13 miles a day- to/fr work. All electric. If we take it to church or shopping, yeah we burn some gas.
But we get to go where we want to without issues.
REM: before I bought the car I asked about battery replacement costs, so we could figure that in to our planning. 132,000 miles later, the big EV battery is at about 45% of original charge, so we are considering replacing it for about $4000 turn key.
In my opinion Toyota has it right. And so do the other automakers who still offer plug in hybrids. It may shock (punny) a lot of the EV haters on FR to know you can get a plug-in hybrid F-150. It will likely replace the Fusion someday.
“I don’t trust full electric cars, especially up here in the North.”
Wisdom that escapes many.
Thanks for confirming my supposition. 👍
This author is just another clone carrying the water for the globalists.
If one is inclined to buy any type of car that requires a huge battery for it’s main source of propulsion, the hybrid model is the best. Yes it runs on a battery but a small ICE keeps the battery charged and can double as an assisting propulsion unit in an emergency.
Toyota has the right idea.
Smartest thing I’ve read on this topic in a while.
If Supply and Demand is a real thing and we all haven’t been lied to for the last 330 years, if Electric cars were to magically take off so EVERYONE owns one (and they are powered by Unicorn farts or whatever Greta mandates), Gasoline will get cheaper, not more expensive.
Gasoline Demand goes down, supply stays the same (Saudi’s got to keep the A/C on)... Price goes down.
Formula 1: Hybrid
Le Mans 24h: Hybrid
IMSA: Hybrid (and ICE, depending on class)
Way back when in sane-land racing tech was used to vet and prove features that then came to regular cars. That was before the globalist goal to limit personal mobility.
And not the drivel in the article. The Toyota decision. If everyone is against it it must be right.
Hybrid is the best way to go.
Gas engines can run very efficiently at a constant (cruising) speed. Acceleration is where they suck up a lot of juice.
Electric engines are much more efficient at acceleration/deceleration.
Gas engines are not designed (currently) for the most efficient constant speed, because they have to accelerate . They can be designed better.
Electric engines can not only accelerate better, they can RECOVER electricity on deceleration.
Hybrid is best, and we wont have to put up charging stations all over. At all.
I’m on my third Lexus and this one is a hybrid. I have no plans to change - love my car.
CD player 🤣
“Diesel-Electric locomotives case in point.”
Absolutely, and no batteries required. We should have moved this direction 80 years ago.
That is the only way that EV will take over any market, gummint regs.
They got the memo and said gasoline isnt going anywhere for awhile. So they have a full hybrid lineup and a couple of plugins. Thats called beinv pragmatic.
I work for Toyota. Id beg to differ that everyone wants EVs. This is just a save the planet hit piece on the innovators of green automotive technology. Strange flex but whatever.
.
Funny - I don't - not at all.
Oh, that's right - I am only an 'individual person' - not 'people'.
So I guess that my opinion doesn't matter.
But I would hazard a guess that when I go to buy a vehicle,
my money might matter. Probably a good bit...
“Despite all the evidence pointing to the inevitable rise of electric vehicles in the automotive industry”
Globalists would not be BANNING gasoline/diesel cars if they thought the rise of electric cars was ‘inevitable’.
“Well, Toyota, you may end up being left behind as nearly every other automaker, nation, and organization moves toward sustainable, all-electric vehicles.”
Who keeps moving towards something that’s just an idea , there’s no such thing as sustainable , all-electric vehicles ?
Two words. Range anxiety. Until this issue is resolved with electric cars, Toyota will be in the drivers seat with hybrid. The hybrid tech is advanced and Toyota is the best in the world at it. They have repeatedly referred to range anxiety and lack of global infrastructure right now for electric car travel and they are absolutely correct. When the electric tech resolves the range anxiety issue and puts in place the tech for a fast charge that is as fast as filling the tank with gas, Toyota will be there. Until then, they will rule the hybrid market when the consumer gets anxious about fuel prices and rushes to double their mpg with hybrid.
And economy. I just finished a roundtrip from Nashville to Oklahoma City -- 1340 miles. I spent about $75 on gas. :-)
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