Posted on 12/19/2022 11:37:12 AM PST by SeekAndFind
BURIRAM, Thailand—Toyota Motor Corp. President Akio Toyoda said he is among the auto industry’s silent majority in questioning whether electric vehicles should be pursued exclusively, comments that reflect a growing uneasiness about how quickly car companies can transition.
Auto makers are making big bets on fully electric vehicles, investments that have been bolstered by robust demand for the limited numbers of models that are now available.
Still, challenges are mounting—particularly in securing parts and raw materials for batteries—and concerns have emerged in some pockets of the car business about the speed to which buyers will make the shift, especially as EV prices have soared this year.
“People involved in the auto industry are largely a silent majority,” Mr. Toyoda said to reporters during a visit to Thailand. “That silent majority is wondering whether EVs are really OK to have as a single option. But they think it’s the trend so they can’t speak out loudly.”
While major rivals, including General Motors Co. and Honda Motor Co., have set dates for when their lineups will be all-EV, Toyota has stuck to a strategy of investing in a diverse lineup of vehicles that includes hydrogen-powered cars and hybrids, which combine batteries with gas engines.
The world’s biggest auto maker has said it sees hybrids, a technology it invented with the debut of the Toyota Prius in the 1990s, as an important option when EVs remain expensive and charging infrastructure is still being built out in many parts of the world. It is also developing zero-emission vehicles powered by hydrogen.
(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
Over the past few years, Mr. Toyoda said, he has tried to convey this point to industry stakeholders, including government officials—an effort he described as tiring at times.
Auto executives like Mr. Toyoda say the uptake on EVs could be uneven for some time, and that gas-powered models, along with hybrids and plug-in hybrids, will endure for many years to come.
“The coastal areas, the East and West Coast, that’s electrifying much quicker than the interior of the country,” said Jim Rowan, chief executive of Sweden’s Volvo Car AB. Mr. Rowan said plug-in hybrids serve the purpose of providing buyers with an option if they aren’t ready to go full electric and are important to warming them up to the technology.
Ryan Gremore, an Illinois-based dealer, who owns several brand franchises, said he gets a lot of customers inquiring about EVs, in part because of limited supplies.
That might give the impression of robust demand, but it is unclear how it will materialize when inventory levels at dealerships normalize, he added. “Is there interest in electric vehicles? Yes. Is it more than 10% to 15% of our customer base? No way,” Mr. Gremore said.
Hybrids should have the natural progression.
Instead they jumped right to evs..which are a long ways off from being practical..not to mention affordable.
Hybrids should have BEEN the natural progression.
Instead they jumped right to evs..which are a long ways off from being practical..not to mention affordable.
Its admirable to see a corporate leader to speak TRUTH to the public that goes against the stupid propaganda/government narrative.
The EV glow is fading. Except for glow from the fires.
The infrastructure to support the increased demand for electricity, to include flyover country, must exist before even perfectly designed EV could begin to seriously compete for market share.
This is what happens when the free market is subverted by government. I will have zero to do with EVs. I don’t want people think that I am some kind of anti-science communist sympathizer. By the way, that’s what I think of people who drive EVs. Quite simply, you didn’t pay for it. Taxpayers partially paid for your EV. That’s shameful.
The industry can’t speak out because the establishment owns them.
“how quickly car companies can transition”
The transition is completely impossible. It cannot be done.
We are going to have a low temp of -5F and a high temp of -3F on Thursday. It’ll be interesting to see how many EVs are on the road then. Maybe they’ll be good for a 1/2 mile run to the QuikStop for milk.
I’ll take a hybrid, minus the big battery.
I read an article this morning about the 2024 Toyota MR2.
This is a new version of the 2 seat mid/rear engine car that first came out in the late 80’s.
The second version(1991-96) is the one that everyone wants now. It was a four cylinder turbo charged.
The article states the 2024 will be available in your choice of an EV, a Hybrid and the V6 ICE.
Lambslave: The infrastructure to support the increased demand for electricity, to include flyover country, must exist before even perfectly designed EV could begin to seriously compete for market share.
Chase Bank/Polaris office complex in Columbus Ohio recently put solar panels over the 15 acre parking lot. 10,000 person office staff. The panels produce enough electricity to supply 80% of the building needs. They want it tosupply 100% in the next 5 years. It also charges employees ev’s.
Employees love it because the panels act as a car port protecting their cars from the sun, rain and snow. A win win situation. More of this type of energy production will be adapted as time moves on and ev’s will become more mainstream.
Smart man. Toyota is ahead of its time by being behind the EV times. They have mastered the technology of the half a loaf hybrid with no range anxiety and they eventually will progress to non fossil fuel hydrogen with zero emissions, no range anxiety and a quick fueling stop. Even Elon has said Tesla will produce its first hydrogen Tesla in 2024 and that EVs will not be ruling the road come 2030.Other technologies will.
We are making a big mistake building an EV fueling infrastructure when that technology will be the old technology in the 2030s.
Hybrids sound great unless you are designing and building cars. Making a car with two power sources takes a lot more engineering and a lot more cost.
Plug in hybrids IMHO make the most sense from an all around perspective.
You can charge it at home for those little around town/errands drives. Maybe even charge it at your office.
The hybrid motors run it in the city when you are sitting in traffic.
The ICE engine gives you the ability to drive it across country.
The high torque electric motor makes it into a high end sports car.
The union of government and private industry - fascism.
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