Toyota Shows Distain: Even for their Own RAV4-EV

i agree that lexus is concerned about losing sales to plug ins, and apparently, they don't intend to build one anytime soon. i suppose negative marketing is cheaper.

 

In Lexus's market, Tesla is the only BEV. With over 200 miles of range, the only situation to which the Lexus tagline pertains to is the person that has a 100 mile commute one way, and can't charge at work. This is a very small percentage of the population.

For the rest, the Tesla has enough range to get to and from work, and also then go out later without getting a second full charge. For day to day driving, the car is always ready to go for the majority. In the case of a long trip, the Tesla owner might have to wait a bit for a full range charge before heading off. On such trips with an ICE, the driver might have to stop for gas as soon as they leave, which means it really wasn't ready to go. Both are minor annoyances that come up infrequently. Personally, I'd rather sit at home for a little bit than have to get out of the car 5 to 10 minutes after starting off, and then truly start a drive that can 10 or more hours.

 

all i can figure is, toyota gets more government incentives for hydrogen r&d and production than plug in r&d and production. also, the long range bev home market might not be the best, and they seem greatly influenced by japanese demand.
if they eve get there, it seems it will only be kicking and screaming. i don't mind though, there are plenty of other players, fortunately.

 

I can't find a hybrid in the picture...

 

So for the millions of residents that don't have a garage to charge over night and don't have charging at work, what do these people do? This only works for the ones with a garage and/or charging at work. This is why Hybrid is better for the masses.

 

My understanding is that winter (coldness) reduce your battery output and lessens the miles per charge, so how much of an impact do you see in the colder months?

 

Again how is this negative, its stating a fact. Since we are all used to having to pump gas, the majority of us don't see this as a negative, just what is expected to drive a car. But many will view the charging of a vehicle as a delay in using an EV.

 

Chevy Cruze? Did not know that at $24K car is cheap, that may be considered expensive for many. Most will be parked outside.

 

Yes 3% is not a majority, but you are negative that Toyota is not offering anything for this 3% market share? Why invest now for such a small market share......Toyota has the technology and can join the party at anytime. Hybrids are what Toyota is good at and has the overall market share. Good for Toyota!

 

Why do you keep insisting anyone is saying EVs work for everyone? I haven't said that, and I don't believe anyone else has.

It does, about 30% on average.
So this is a very important part of selecting the correct plugin.
But the advantages of a preheated car, not needing to stand outside refueling in the middle of a blizzard, and never needing to worry about the battery due to the cold are huge and affect everyone in MN.
As long as you choose the right plugin when purchasing, the decreases range affects no one.

 

It appears to me that their is a mentality that unless its an EV, everything else is a lesser car. That EV is the future and the only way to go......

 

For them they'll have to wait for this: New ‘ultra-fast 350 kW charging stations’ for EVs to be deployed in Europe in partnership with Audi, BMW and others | Electrek

 

Lets take Hyundai, who over the past 20 years has made themselves one of the biggest car companies in the world. They have their sights on Toyota and aim to surpass them as the largest car company in the world. So with their size and funds, you would think they would be jumping into the EV market by now. Yet just this month they launched an attack against Lexus, Mercedes, BMW with the launch of Genesis. This is a two model line up, with V6 and V8 motors. No EV, no Hybrid, only big motors in big heavy cars.......what are they thinking, why not go after Tesla???