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• Up to 314 miles of manufacturer-estimated range (XLE, FWD Plus model), an increase of 25% over the outgoing model (previously rated at 252 miles)
• Equipped with North American Charging System (NACS) port for access to thousands of DC fast charging stations, will also have the convenience of Plug & Charge capability
• Up-to 50% more horsepower, with 338 combined system net hp on AWD models, up from 214 combined system net hp on prior AWD model
• Restyled exterior, with front-end design changes to fascia and lighting, with newly available color-matched overfenders for a sleeker look
• New instrument panel design with a larger 14-inch Toyota Audio Multimedia touchscreen and customizable ambient lighting
• Available in XLE and Limited grades, both in a choice of Front- or All-Wheel Drive (FWD or AWD)

Toyota bZ All Electric SUV Adds Range, Charging,...

https://insideevs.com/news/758587/volvo-trucks-sales-tesla-semi/

I hope the Tesla semi isn't be coming like the Toyota fuel cell car, where they promise tens of thousands to be on the road really quickly and then it becomes a goose egg.
.

Scientists make surprising finding that all electric vehicle drivers should hear: 'Has been largely overlooked until now'

South Korean scientists decided to study the process of charge depletion in batteries. Surprising them were the effects of running your battery down to near depletion and found damage to the cathode. The damage is caused by oxygen combining to lithium, forming lithium oxide, at around 3 volts. This then causes the cell to swell when interacting with the electrolyte. This effect seems to be exacerbated in nickel enriched lithium batteries, like NMC (Nickel Manganese Cobalt) or NCA (Nickel Cobalt Aluminum) more so than others, like LMO (Lithium Manganese Oxide) or LFP (LiFePO4 - Lithium iron phosphate).

For those who want details, like me or @bwilson4web here’s the original study:...

What is that tune? FOUND IT!
Sorcerer's Apprentice - Fantasia | Disney Video

YouTube version:


Bob Wilson

A proposal in the big bill is to start annual federal fees on cars. $200 for EVs, $100 for hybrids, and $20 on all others. The last won't start until 2031, but the rest are immediate.

https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2025/04/29/congress/house-transportation-reconciliation-text-gas-tax-00315222

Previous thread on this topic was bloated, so started new.
Death to EV bills | PriusChat

https://www.autoblog.com/news/toyotas-chairman-shared-this-controversial-opinion-about-ev-sports-cars

Bare-bones Slate EV pickup under US$20,000 with rebates - Reviews | Driving

https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a64564869/2027-slate-truck-revealed/

@Mendel Leisk Not even a touchscreen!

Source: https://www.transportation.gov/briefing-room/trumps-transportation-secretary-sean-p-duffy-unveils-new-automated-vehicle-framework

I'm speculating that the challenge of fitting a battery of sufficient capacity inside a Prius will eventually be met with structural batteries:


Battery improvements have been incremental and small, therefore I think it will be a long time before we see batteries with a similar energy density equivalent to combustible fuels.

Source:

• pulse width modulated heating
• 1 MW peak charging rate
• refrigerant cooling

This brings EV charging into the 5 minute range. So long Tesla lead.

Bob Wilson

Wow!
Who saw this coming?



Full details here:
Warren Buffett Acquires Elon Musk's Tesla for $1 Trillion in Cash | GOBankingRates

Mike

https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/dude-wheres-my-car-toyota-buyers-face-long-waits-amid-hybrid-boom-2025-03-31/

Source:


My first car was a 1966 VW MicroBus with a 1500 cc, air cooled engine and 6 V battery. Sad to say, the engine overheated when I was over seas and I got to rebuild it in a week. Nothing like taking a broken engine apart, fixing it, and putting it back together again to make you appreciate VW when they do the job right. That is what Munro found with the VW motor.

This VW motor is optimized for power in a small package with strong torque and low noise. It has a very efficient drive train and other than a few 'opps' (my MicroBus also had some,) clearly superior design where it counts. I don't know if they make them in Chattanooga but if not, I won't have to worry about getting one . . . unless some arrived before we taxed ourselves out of the VW market.

My recent 1,140 mi trip in a 2017 BMW i3-REx has demonstrated that absence of Full Self Driving is not a hard requirement. The cost mile of the 2017 BMW i3-REx compares equal to my 2019...

Source:


Professor Kelly and Munro do similar things, take cars apart. Munto to calculate the cost of parts and labor to make a car. Kelly does it to teach mechanics how to take it apart and it back in working order.

This 2024 traction battery is much improved over the one in my former, 2017 Prius Prime. Given what I've learned from Munro, it could be designed better but there have been much worse.

• BEST
  • Direct thermal management instead of air flow
  • Conformal underbody part
  • Direct refrigerant for cell cooling
• COULD BE BETTER
  • Colocate all possible power electronics with the battery
  • Even number of modules so all power terminals on one end
  • Cooling from a single spot leads to thermal gradients inside the cells

The Toyota lead engineer needs to hold a 'conference' with everyone designing, making, and fixing the battery with this goal:

• Reduce parts count

Bob Wilson

Source:


Both of my cars were bought after a Munro review like this and I'm thinking about replacing the 2017 BMW i3-REx. It is still doing what I want and there are more things to learn about the newest Model Y but I had found a 2022 Model Y for what had been a good price. I will take a look at it next week.

This morning, I got a note from the seller and I responded:


Bob Wilson

The new Corolla is arriving as early as in 2026, and it will have the revolutionary Toyota super-lean-burn engine, which will increase the thermal efficiency to near 50%. It could have an EPA fuel economy of as high as 70+ mpg. There will also be a PHEV version. We will see if TSS will be upgraded to 4.0 as well.

2027 Toyota Corolla could launch next year with a plug-in hybrid option | Carscoops

Articles:

• World debut of the all-new battery electric Toyota C-HR+
  
• https://www.motortrend.com/news/2026-toyota-c-hr-plus-ev-first-look-review/
• Toyota gets serious about EVs with new all-electric C-HR+ | Electrifying.com
• https://www.roadandtrack.com/photos/g64163068/new-electric-vehicles-toyota-and-lexus-revealed-europe/
• Toyota debuts two all-new EVs, facelifted BZ4X -...

Toyota's also a partner in iONNA,
EVgo and Toyota launch new fast charging stations in CA
IONNA | Juicin' Up North America One Rechargery at a Time

InsideEVs has an article I know many people will agree with.
https://insideevs.com/news/752720/ev-12-volt-battery-problems/

The 12V battery has shown to be a big issue with Hyundai Ionic 5, Kia EV6, Rivian R1S, and Rivian R1T. The article suggests it may be how engineers are not using the DC-to-DC converter correctly or even fault the DC-to-DC converter itself. I did a quick search on this forum and got 100 posts with 12V battery dead.

I can relate with past experience. All my past Prius suffered from dead 12V batteries within 2 or 3 years, my 2017 Prius Prime's 12V died within the 1st year from a shorted cell. The 12V in my Lexus NX 300h took 5 years before it died but while the article opines it may be the DC-DC converter, I have to disagree, somewhat. It's not the battery location either. The 12V batteries in my 2nd gen Prius and 1st gen Prius Plugin were in the rear, the Prius Prime's was located in...