Posted on 01/10/2023 8:24:08 AM PST by SeekAndFind
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Does Honda go along with this stupidity?
If so, Toyota, here I come.
I will not buy any vehicle made by the UAW.
EVs, especially hybrids, are going to make up an increasing percentage of the vehicles on the road. Hybrids are the most practical and can make a significant market penetration.
There are just some segments of the market that EVs and even hybrids cannot meet the needs.
I like EVs in the 20% of total cars range. Any more than that and I am afraid that this lemming cliff jump of the car makers is going to have devastating impacts on parts and service down the line for ICE vehicles. I foresee lots of stranded motorists in the future.
This forced EV adoption is not going to end well.
Toyota makes a great vehicle - I have two of them (older) and if I buy a truck it will probably be a Toyota.
I could sure go for a fresh model of the 1969 Volkswagon bug, or van, or both, or a choice of one of the other cheap cars that used to be on the market.
I just want a simple, cheap car, pay a few thousand, start it and go, roll up the windows, get out to raise the antennae, replace the water pump myself.
RE: If so, Toyota, here I come.
I’ve owned nothing but Toyota’s all my life.
Camry, Lexus, and now Prius. Each of these cars have served me for at least 15 years ( one 250,000 miles ). Two of them made in America ( yes, I said made in America. In Kentucky specifically). Only the Prius was made in Japan, but why complain when that car is reliable and gives me 50 miles to the gallon?
I own 2 Chevy Volt plug in hybrids. Been great cars, but they are like a screwdriver to me, they just get a job done. All my fun cars are gas powered and But changing all production at once to electric cars without substantially changing our power grid seems like a terrible idea. If I saw nuclear power plants being built and new dams being built I would feel better about this.
The American way of doing this would be to make them available enough to satiate demand. I would even accept some government push, in the way of gas taxes. But mandating that no more gas motors be built is draconian and bound to be an expensive failure.
Toyoda is correct - these aren't 'electric' cars - they're BATTERY cars...
Toyota is still working on new technology. I hope the ICE never goes away. But maybe hydrogen powered vehicles will have a place, and not as an inefficient money pit like EV’s.
I would expect to see the big three put political pressure on increasing subsidies and ultimately making efforts to curtail the retail gasoline distribution business as a way of giving electrics a push.
My sense is that Ford is the most at risk from this all-in commitment to electrics. They may be heading for Chapter 11.
Once again, Toyota will kick the stuffings out of US automakers.
The big miss was the Elio. If that was an electric car it would have sold extremely well. I know they would have sold one to me. The market is ready for a 3 wheeled 2 person commuter car and there isnt one on the market.
And not only that, but an EV with a kill switch.
Mess up your social credit score, and guess what?
It's a "fad" that will subside in 7-10yrs, and the worldwide automakers will be stuck with TRILLIONS of dollars in closed manufacturing plants, and enormous inventory, sitting in fields.
EV's started in 1895 and went out in 2015, pushed to extinction by Stanley Steamer etc steam-powered vehicles, and Ford's Model As, plus Duryea and other mfgrs.
“What’s sadder still is that the Japanese seem to understand American car buyers better than the execs in Detroit. Honda and Toyota were the first to recognize that people wanted more fuel-efficient cars when gas prices more than tripled in the 1970s.”
Wrong. Toyota and Honda ONLY made small fuel efficient vehicles at that time. American car makers made both gas hog luxo-boats, gas-hungry muscle cars AND small fuel efficient cars. Mavericks, Pintos, Vegas, Novas were all in production then.
If fact, Ford introduced the Falcon in 1960 model year and Chevy had the Corvair at the same time. A decade and a half before the energy crisis of 1974
The next and perhaps final vehicles will most likely be Toyota products. I have bought American for nearly 60 years for the reasons given by the author but no more.
Toyota builds a consistently quality product. My sister and BIL have driven them for a long time and just keep buying the same brand for the reason of quality, dependability and performance. An old Tacoma pickup is just about as good, maybe better, than a new one.
I had a 1969 VW van, but fortunately I never had to change the water pump.
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