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America’s Hugely Popular Toyota RAV4 To Finally Go Electric In 2026

I just bought my first Prius--a 2014 Prius C- and I reconditioned and serviced thd battery. Love the car, and now I'm looking for a 2017 to 2019 model.
Are the Lithium battery packs in the newer models rebuildable?
I'm thinking that you can only recondition and tweak and extend the NIMH battery packs and replace individual cells but you can't do much with Lithium cells...
Is my thinking incorrect? Should I really be looking at Gen 3 years instead of later generations?
Thanks

The National Electrical Code is updated every 3 years. They are proposing mandating a 5mA GFCI on all (hardwired & plugin) 240 volt circuits, Any reser would likely be located in the electrical panel, perhaps in a locked room.

There should be a carveout for L2 chargers because they have their own GFPE (Ground Fault Protection of Equipment), which is intended to protect equipment and is permitted to trip at values larger than 5mA, often in the 15–20mA range.

https://www.motortrend.com/news/national-electric-code-revision-threatens-ev-charging/

Good news for EV rebates and tax credits. It looks like he won’t be able to get rid of the existing EV rebates and tax credits.

https://insideevs.com/news/748170/trump-ev-tariff-china-cm/

I have always seen the usual OCC setups

All with different locations but leading to the same PCV location.

I recently have been looking around and stumbled on a few images that seem to show an entirely different setup.

The first two images are of the ZVW30

The other images are of the ZVW50

My question is...will running this setup be the same as the other setup going to the PCV

Seems much easier to work with and remove if needed.

Sheesh you can even run both setups and be double protected.

While the lithium-ion battery technology is advancing, clearly more is needed on the safety side.

Flare-up at massive Northern California lithium-battery-facility fire raises new concerns—CBS San Francisco

The top electric cars in this winter range test will surprise you | Electrek

Done in Sweden and using the European testing methodology the loss from rated range at 37F/5C varied from 5% to 31% for a wide selection of 25 EVs. Not every model from every maker was tested.

The Tesla model 3 long range lost a surprising 24%.

Because they lease it instead.

...

From what I hear and see, dealerships are now charging double for the OEM hybrid battery pack for the Prius. Anyone know why? Also I remember I had a link from Panasonic's website to brand new individual Toyota NiMH cells but I can't seem to find it now. Does anyone have that link?

E.V. Demand Leads Automakers to a Strong 2024 Finish - The New York Times

It's probably bugging sales Critters no end as they're justification of, "no one wants them" crumbles to pieces

After current inventory clears out, and switch over to NACS happens, our older plugins may be ready to trade in
.

The negative bZ4X feedback seems to be mostly about price, which Toyota has fixed, and range.

It seems to be a good car overall though.

https://insideevs.com/news/746469/toyota-ces-bz4x-ogawa/

A $100k BEV was announced by Sony–Honda Mobility.

It will be end-to-end autonomous based on Qualcomm's chips.

Preorders are being taken in California now—availability next year.

News—01.06.2025 | AFEELA

I have no doubt that Toyota will eventually be the leader in self-driving technology. TSS 4.0 coming in a couple of years should be based on the Nvidia supercomputer and operating system.

Toyota’s next-generation cars will be built with Nvidia supercomputers and operating system | TechCrunch

Toyota, Aurora, and Continental join growing list of NVIDIA partners rolling out next-generation highly automated and autonomous vehicle fleets

Excellent must-read information by Consumer Reports on how leasing can save you many thousands of dollars over buying when you get a new BEV or PHEV.

The Prius PHEV qualifies for a $4,500 lease credit.

How to lease a BEV or PHEV with a $7,500 tax credit—Consumer Reports

I remain a fan of Sandy Munro and this latest YouTube show why:

• Rivian has gone KISS on their current generation
  • reduce electrical wiring and controllers
  • simplified suspension
  • casting battery pack parts
• Next year version is another clean sheet design
• Sensible self-driving
  • cameras and radar
• Sensible, car focused CEO

I'm likely to hold off on replacing my 2019 Model 3 and continue my 'Bob's Jobs' enhancements. I'm making it into the car I want, well beyond (and different) from what ordinary folks put up with. But the current Rivian deserves a second look and the 2026 model sounds a whole lot better.

On the theory of buy low and sell high, I may put a little 'mad money' into Rivian stock. I like the CEO, their technical direction, and practicality.

Bob Wilson

US Gas Car Sales Down 1% While Electric Car Sales Up 8%
US Gas Car Sales Down 1% While Electric Car Sales Up 8% - CleanTechnica

For New Years, my Tesla is driving me and the dogs, 6 hours to Riverwalk Casino, Vicksburg, MS:

Full Self Driving (FSD) does all the work from my driveway to each SuperCharger parking lot. Then I choose the charging lane and the Tesla self parks.

While the Tesla does the driving, I will be listening to music, radio, enjoying the dogs, and the trip:


This video shows examples of how FSD works:

Seven minutes long, you might want to speed it up. Not shown in this video, FSD also alerts me to deer and critters on the road at night. The navigation system alerts me to traffic jams and blockages to detour well in advance.

Recently, Tesla sent me a $8,500 trade-in estimate. But the $6,000 I paid in 2019 makes FSD more valuable than the battery. The battery aged, EV range is now 200 miles but the growth of DC chargers has been faster than the battery lost range. Plus, I can now charge at CCS-1...

Toyota Launches Alphard and Vellfire PHEV Models in Japan | Toyota | Global Newsroom | Toyota Motor Corporation Official Global Website


73km (45 miles) range on WLTC. Likely 50km on the EPA if it was ever tested here.

2025 Toyota bZ4X BEV Electrifies with Lower Price and New Nightshade Edition - Toyota USA Newsroom