Featured Toyota apparently abandons the BEV market for now.

I don't watch TV much, but now and again I get it in my face (like in a hospital emergency room) and I saw a Toyota Hybrid ad once that touted the lack of a cord and plug, yet still being "electric" and charging itself without having to be plugged in. I could not believe my eyes and ears when I saw that. Still, I am glad them made Gen 2 car in the past with quality that makes them excellent used vehicles.

 

It doesn't matter as time waits for no one.

Bob Wilson

 

Did you push it up the hill?

 

He should test drive Tesla Roadster prototype or Rimac

 

oh he already knows .... didn't musk give him a Tesla? One of their higher up Mucky-mucks got one .
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the ceo and heir to toyota is not immune to paranoia. he may feel that toyota will lose all their advantage in a world of electric cars. and he may be right.
but i'm not sure how he figures sticking his head in the sand is going to stop the coming onslaught

 

I wonder how much excitement is embedded in every Toyota hybrid by his own marks.

 

That promotion angle, was a fundamental part of early Prius advertising.
And however it's still very applicable and true today. That's why I say the Hybrid Bridge has NOT been crossed.

I think especially in Prius Chat, we get a perspective that is maybe not aligned with the overall consumer perspective. I mean this as a compliment, but Prius Chat participants, and long time Prius Owners, have the consumer DNA of pioneers.
I think as a whole this community is looking for the advancement and promotion of full electrics, plug ins, more aggressively than the average population as a whole.

So it's disappointing to a lot of this population to read headlines that suggest Toyota is NOT leading the pack in this area.
But IMO Toyota is acting exactly as a large, world wide, leading automaker has to act.

It's also my opinion, that direct competition with Tesla, would be unwise, because it's unnecessary.
A potential problem for Tesla, with all due respect for the groundbreaking, pioneering work they have done in the production of their products, and the growth of an "electric infrastructure" , nothing Tesla has produced is really something that can't be reproduced. When, and I think it is a matter of when, Toyota decides to enter the full electric game? It wouldn't take a secret hidden project of complicated reverse engineering to make a Toyota electric vehicle that competed with Tesla.
And Toyota could jump into this battle, as an already established automotive giant. Advantage Toyota.
In the meantime? Tesla, full electrics still represent a minuscule portion of the consumer automotive market. Why not sit back and let Tesla do the heavy lifting of development and promotion? If the demand and market grows? Toyota can quickly and I think efficiently enter the battle.

And finally, I would suspect, that regardless of what some Toyota executives might say, or what the company line may be, that Toyota does keep a close eye on what is happening. I would speculate that with Toyota, it's not a case of electric vehicle abandonment, as it is just enjoying the luxury of being able to NOT produce an electric vehicle at this time.
Toyota at this point IMO would have little to gain. Any immediate entry would be compared against the laudable success of Tesla. The market IMO does not yet exist for a MAINSTREAM produced, higher end electric vehicle.
I support the advancement of alternative automotive options, Hybrid, Electric...etc, etc, but IMO at this point in time, Toyota shouldn't be too interested in dedicating a lot of production assets into creating a full electric product.

 

not the 1st time leadership didn't predict things well. Kind of reminiscent of General Doolittle.
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Or MacAurthur.

Bob Wilson

 

I haven’t read the entire thread, so I appologise if I repeat anything that’s already been voiced.

If anything, Toyota isn’t dumb!
20 years ago ethanol was all the rage; environmental, economical, ethical, etc... governments were pushing for, and subsidizing national networks of fuel pump distribution of ethanol, subsidizing purchasing of new ethanol vehicles, production of ethanol, car manufacturers offered ethanol alternatives, nada nada... Toyota said they didn’t agree with the whole argument for ethanol, and Toyota was right!

Early on Toyota said that battery electric is not the way to go for the transformation of the transport sector from fossil fuels, instead the future lies in hydrogen fuel cells with hybrid engines bridging the transition, and Toyota is right again!

BEV is a parenthetical sidetrack. Hydrogen is coming on strong and fast and not only in the transport sector.
If and when anybody is in the market to buy a new vehicle, then be smart: buy a fuel cell or a hybrid as a placeholder for your next vehicle, a fuel cell. The future is actually here in case you didn’t know that.

 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.kget.com/amp/news/top-stories/david-has-slain-goliath-4-billion-kern-heca-project-dies/388271413

And in the future it shall always remain

 

The problem is:

• hydrogen at ~$16/gal equivalent remains 3-5x more expensive than even expensive ~$5/gal gas and ~$2/gal electric per mile (km). These are California prices.
• BEV cars can be charged by home installed, photovoltaic arrays

I have no problem with demonstrator programs but eventually the subsidies run out. Tesla is leading the way in the USA and funnily enough, they still have backlogs.

Bob Wilson

 

Tesla will definitely be a player for years to come, but demand will shift as more players join. That's why diversification, like Model Y, is so important.

The market is still on the early stages. In a few years, everyone's subsidies will be used up. Then, this pregame will be over and the real game begins.

 

I’m not talking about “brown” or “dirty” hydrogen, that is reformed fossil fuels which is just an attempt by oil companies to continue doing what they do.
No, I am only considering “green” hydrogen from renewable sources. Look at what Nel Hydrogen is doing. Check out Nikola Motor. There is more to the world than just personal transformation too.

 

Today that may be the price of H2, however, that price will reduce significantly as the transition progresses. We will be seeing the rate.of progress increasing during 2019 and beyond.

 

the fool cell industry has been saying that hydrogen's expensive fuel cost will be coming down since the 1970s. Every decade their Spiel is, "in just 10 more years". So yeah, I'm sure it's true. Only - call me in 10 years because their last 10 years expired this year.

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