Toyota Doubts WideSpread Acceptance of Plug-In Hybrids

Other than the cost of the batteries which is a considerable there are major infrastructure problems compared to gasoline:

- There are gas station at every corner

- A tank of gas which takes 5 minutes to fill will take you 400 miles

When batteries take 10 minutes to recharge and improve your mpg to 100 mpg things will change

 

At the risk of stating the obvious...

I don't think Toyota's "doubts" have anything to do with plug-ins and their acceptance.

Consider this - Toyota just released the 3rd gen Prius. It is in their best interest to play down the PHEV hype in order to drive 3rd gen sales.

How many of us Gen II owners are trying to decide whether to go for the Gen III or whether to wait to the "just around the corner" PHEV Prius?

IMHO this has nothing to do with the merits of PHEV. It's all about Toyota marketing trying to focus attention on the HERE and NOW. I'm willing to bet that, as soon as they launch a PHEV, they will change their tune and "explain" how receptive consumers are.

Note that I'm not saying Toyota is "anti PHEV" - not by a long shot. But the message they are driving home today is that you should go for a Gen III. Once they have a PHEV the message will probably be about ditching these "obsolete" hybrids for "the real thing".

This is about marketing, messaging, and positioning. I wouldn't read too much into it. Esp. since we know they ARE working on a PHEV, and will release one in the next 2 years or so. I doubt they have real doubts...

 

Sounds like toyota is taking an act from apple's playbook. Soak their devotees THEN feed from the mainstream. Nothing wrong with that. It's called capitalism. But if they aren't careful they risk other players sneaking in to steal their wind and possibly usurp their position of dominance. Not today, not tomorrow, but it can happen, just ask GM.

 

An inductive type charger, installed in your garage floor, may be the trick. A pickup underneath the car intersects an oscillating magnetic field thereby charging the battery. You just park and the charging is taken care of automatically.

Similar technology is being investigated for use in South Korea. Here they plan to actually install it into the road surface. While you're waiting at a traffic light, your car can top up it's battery from the inductive power system.

 

Doesn't that take way way longer than a direct connection? - at least my toothbrush does.