Get the 15? Or wait for a 16?

i went buy a dealer and they were saying September for the generation 4 release. TMC won't say a word because they want to clear out all the dealer inventory. if Toyota is going with a new rear suspension and making room for more trunk space then both the regular and eco plus model will have lithiium. The gen 3 was going to have a lithium battery,but Toyota made the wrong bet on lithium technology back in 2009 so it would be foolhardy to keep Nickel Metal Hydride in the Gen 4

 

...sounds interesting...what do you think was wrong bet about NiMH decision for Gen3? Seems like it was not a bad decision at the time.

 

Not sure. "C" has NiMH battery (actually both 12v and traction) under rear seat (you literally sit on top of it).


I would expect similar arrangement in Gen4, with either lower trims getting NiMH or smaller/cheaper LiION. Either way charges would have to be optimized for both set ups

 

the NiMH batteries are heavy. To increase gas efficiency by 10% that means a weight savings. The batteries are an obvious choice to cut weight and increase overall MPG. There is an eco plus option available. so that just might have a larger lithium pack. All the new Volts, Tesla, leafs etc. have lithium. The Toyota execs would shoot themselves in their collective feet to make a 2016 model with old technology. This is a cur for the future, while lithium is a car for the future.

 

...well they tell me the Mirai has NiMH

 

Interesting. Hard to believe a fuel cell car would have old batteries.

 

...that's exactly what I said, some replied that there may be advantages to NiMH eg; in cold weather.

 

I couldn't believe it either, but it's also on Wikipedia: Toyota Mirai - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Interesting!