Featured Lexus Self-Charging (no plug)

You recommend a hybrid that doesn't need to be plugged in. Stop bashing electric cars! (just kidding)

 

Normally, without subsidies, that would be more expensive, have less room, and be needlessly heavier than a non plug in Prius.

 

My reasoning is that I since I never know what my future holds, I may have access to overnight charging eventually. Plus L2 charging will become more and more that will allow me to take advantage of a Prime. Again, this is only if a Tesla is out of the question, which is only the case for a very small percentage of the population (charging-wise, not price-wise).

 

I figured a BMW i3-REx (no longer available in Germany?) was overkill.

Bob Wilson

 

But maybe you can understand why some people would rather not invest in something that they can not effectively use presently, with uncertain future usefulness. They would like an EV, but what would the next best thing for them be?

 

Maybe rent/lease a hybrid. In 2-3 years the charging availability will be vastly better and many EU car makers will have EVs on the road.

There are no fast charger 24 hours stations anywhere near me.

 

Aha! A hybrid instead of an all electric car! Like from Lexus, who boasts that you don't need to plug it in. Are you now also trashing BEVs? (kidding again)

edit: P.S. BTW, I happen to be a Model 3 reservation holder.

 

My perception of the Lexus ads is that they are saying: If a plug-in car doesn't work for you, a hybrid Lexus is the next best thing.

 

curious Fred ..... what part of Germany do you live in? Because when I load my plugsharecom app - to look at Chargers in Germany (your avatar say that's where you are), not counting Tesla's infrastructure, I don't have enough cash to load all the public chargers that there are in the country on my poor little phone, yet the country is literally covered with charging spots. Can't hardly see the country, for all the chargers.

 

Why would that be their message when they don't have a plug-in available?

 

because you can't imagine a manufacturer having such an impure motive?

.

 

I can, but it seems like Fred is struggling with that idea.

 

I live near the edge of the Ries crater. But I was talking about a hypothetical person. I already have a spare three phase 16A connection in the fuse box in the shop. Just need wiring to the garage. I'm planning on my Tesla in about two years.
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We, Lexus, don't have plug-ins, but we have the next best thing: hybrids. Please buy them before Tesla puts us out of business.

 

Companies try not to advertise their product as the next best thing.
The Lexus ads are trying to say a hybrid is better than a plug in while muddying the water between what an electric and electrified car is.

 

They try.

third person effect

 

if I recall, Germany is roughly 800 miles north to south. Even with the still-growing Tesla infrastructure, my Tesla app shows you won't be hurting for a spot to supercharge at all


.

 

Lexus (Toyota) will keep marketing their hybrids this way until their solid state batteries show up in a few years.

After being quite late to the party, they will proclaim that we are now ready for plug-ins with batteries and Toyota is the place to be.

Gotta love marketing.

 

Yes, I have already carefully studied all my usual routes. Of those, there are only two routes that I occasionally drive, where on a cold day I might need to make a ten minute detour to stop at supercharger that is not exactly along the way.

 

@mikefocke please send me this source when you have a moment. Again, I absolutely don't deny that it exists. I simply want it for my own future arguments with anti-EV people and/or pro Koch bros people.

 

You could just google "koch bros anti-ev". Here's one such sampling:

The Kochs Are Plotting A Multimillion-Dollar Assault On Electric Vehicles | HuffPost

Here's another one that's been making the rounds on the web attacking EV's:

The good news is that lately people are becoming aware of these anti-ev videos/ads claiming that EV's are somehow worse than oil and gas is for the environment so it's less effective than it would've been even 10 years ago.

I recall seeing a video a while back that claimed EV's were worse for the environment than oil was. I loved seeing comments from people that questioned why the video didn't take say, stationing of US troops in the Middle East to keep that oil flowing as a hidden cost to taxpayers into account. Not to mention that refineries use that same "dirty coal" to turn oil into gas, and how destructive fracking and tar sands can be to the environment, and oil spills. Plus the plain ol' greed of Big Oil and OPEC manipulating prices at the pump.

Obviously we still have a ways to go, but it's also nice at the same time seeing people increasingly defending EV's, especially after decades of pillaging our wallets at the pump.

Hybrids or plug-in hybrids would work fantastically for people who want to save at the pump and currently don't have access to a reliable charging spot, such as apartment dwellers and people who only have side street parking.

While the Prius and Prius Prime are the most obvious choices here, there's also the Chevy Volt and Malibu hybrid, Hyundai Ioniq, Kia Niro, Ford C-max and Fusion hybrid and plug-in energi (though sadly these have been discontinued in the US), Honda Insight and Clarity plug-in hybrid. I'm sure there's lots more that I didn't mention here, but the fact is that consumers now have a lot more choices if they want fuel efficient vehicles.

Obviously a hybrid may work better for them, but a plug-in hybrid shouldn't necessarily be ignored simply because you can't plug them in. They still have the tax credit that will help bring the price down to be more comparable to a loaded non-plug in hybrid. Plus if you ever do get the opportunity to plug in, then it's also nice. And in some states, plug-in cars qualify for a HOV stickers to allow a solo driver to drive in the carpool lane.

While they might be fine with a regular ol' gas guzzler, I would at least mention they should watch some videos on hybrids and plug-ins, and take them for at least a test drive. You can talk about how awesome an electric car is, but it's a totally different scenario to have them experience driving them firsthand or at least taking a ride in one. "Butts in seats" I think is the best terminology here.