Featured Toyota research claims Australians aren’t ready for PHEVs

I think Australia needs to rebuild their automotive business without ‘help’ off continent.

Bob Wilson

 

I wonder if it's more because Toyota is having supply constraints with getting enough Primes out there to other markets that they're telling Australians that they don't need plug-in cars to ward off any complaints. They're probably not entirely wrong since I'm sure Australia's charging infrastructure is even more lacking than in the US.

A part of me also thinks what Toyota is saying here is a lot like Blockbuster Video telling us that nobody likes DVD-by-mail, or that fancy schmancy internet streaming because everyone has slow internet. Instead we should just go visit the local brick & mortar stores to get the latest and greatest movies. Because that's how we've always done it, and that's the way we likes it.

But if you want anything not mainstream, "tough luck, we don't have that, and you wouldn't want it anyway, trust us."

 

I guess Australian homes don't have driveways where they can pull in and plug in.

 

There's mention of Corolla Hybrid, interesting vehicle.

 

NA and China get their own Corolla sedan.
The Auris replaced the Corolla elsewhere.
Toyota Australia calls the Auris a Corolla.
So it is likely the Auris hybrid.

And Tideland beat me to it.

Without wasting time to doublecheck, the CT might be a Corolla hatchback.

 

Yeah the Australian Corolla Hybrid, aka Auris, looks to be a distinctly different car than North American Corolla: a hatchback for starters, and with four lug nuts instead of 5, a different weight class.

 

G'day,
Re the Corolla hydrid: I briefly looked at it here in Oz before buying a Prius c - but it ran on so-called 'Premium' fuel (just a higher octane rating fuel and always more expensive per Litre than lower octane rating, less finicky, 'Regular' fuel). This struck me as un-Toyota-like, more VW/European .
So, for me, the hybrid Corolla was too expensive to buy then run compared to a 'c', as well as being too big - when/if I need a truck/SUV, I'll hire one .
David S.

 

Just watching a Youtube rerun of a CBC MarketPlace show, regarding the need (or not) for higher octane fuel. One point made was that even if your Owner's Manual calls for higher octane, try a tank of regular, more than likely the car's computers will adjust timing, there will be no problems, pre-ignition and the like. And the car will run more-or-less the same, performance, mpg.

That said, a car spec'd for higher octane is a bit of a red flag to me too.

 

what do you think about PHEV for Oz?

 

^ Apologies for topic-drift

 

G'day wjtracy,

I'd agree with Toyota that, in their terms, we are not 'ready' for plug-in hybrids -
- no Government support at either Federal or state level for tax discounts to PHEV owners,
- our cities (where we live in the vast majority) are widely spaced (1000km apart order-of-magnitude) so range anxiety and slow recharge is a negative for country or inter-city trips ,
- traditionally we've grown up with and bought US-based cars (Ford and GM) so "petrol-heads" and "big engine" cars still rule our zeitgeist, despite the present Japanese/European market growth of more sensible and reliable vehicles
- and this history could limit the skills of our automotive shops if confronted by anything other than an internal combustion engine - I even worry about the Toyota dealers' service expertise in this context given the low percentage of hybrids they get in their showrooms but my experience with Toyotas is, so far, they "thrive on neglect" compared to alternatives

I see quite a few Priuses, lots of hybrid-Camry taxis, and even Teslas, where I live in Sydney but this is in an upmarket suburb - very few new vehicles anywhere in the populous outer suburbs, and in the country towns.

So I wouldn't see Toyota making much money, if any, from introducing plug-in hybrids here just yet.

Pity though.

David S.

 

Thanks...been to Sydney couple times, but its been a long time ago unfort

 

Modern cars have knock sensors. For performance and efficiency, they are pushing the envelope with even the octane they were designed to use, so knocking could happen with just summer temperatures without the sensors and ability to control ignition timing. This means that in most cases, premium fuel cars can run regular without issue; the manual will say that the higher octane is recommended.

The only cars, in the US, that premium is required are the very expensive, super cars, and Volt. In the case of the supercars, it is because we have crap gas in the US, our regular octane is lower than much of the world's. Their engines were designed for the Premium gas available in much of Europe and elsewhere, but is not at the corner station here. Our premium is the lowest octane their engines can adjust down too.

In the case of the Volt, it's a lie. GM was being over protective since how well the fuel will age in the gas tank out in the real world still had unknowns, and premium can last longer than regular on the shelf. Plus, it gave a slight bump to the fuel economy.

I assume the Prius c called for regular down under. Maybe, like the Volt, premium in the Auris resulted in a better number for the window sticker., or there is a legal loophole in which EU test results could be used for Australia, and the regular used for that equals premium in Australia.
Or there was a mistake made for Auris label. I swear I saw premium gas on the first Tundra's window stickers here.

If the engine was designed for the higher octane, there will be a drop in performance and fuel economy. The 1.4L in my Sonic was designed for Europe and higher octane, and fuel economy does improve with Premium. Just not enough to cover the price difference.

Moving to using just RON instead of AKI, and using a slightly higher octane for regular can resultin less fuel used in the US, and reduce manufacturer costs because that is what they have to design to for the rest of the world. Mazda had to lower the compression ratio of the SkyActiv-G in the US because our regular octane was too low.

It is for many people, and why my Sonic window sticker and manual says regular.

Range anxiety shouldn't be an issue with a PHEV, and Nissan does offer the Leaf there.
But I agree that this Toyota really saying they don't want to sell a Prius PHEV there. I remember they made statement about the electric grid being too dirty in some areas of Europe for the PiP to be sold in those markets.

 

Haha, this is a never-ending debate at the gm-volt forums and the Chevy Volt Owners page on Facebook. Erick Belmer, currently the owner of the highest mileage Volt, a 2012 with well over 400k miles, says he runs exclusively on regular gas. He also has to fill up every 3 days too though, because he has such a long commute, but I believe it's shorter now, 100 miles vs the 220 or so he used to have.

He often jokes that others tell him his engine will blow up any day now.

2012 Chevy Volt has now crossed 400,000 miles, range remains steady

 

I don't mind paying extra pennies for premium 'cause I do this a lot.

 

G'day,

Regarding the RON fuel for the Oz-available Toyota hybrids, it was only the Corolla hybrid (2016) that I noticed was "specced" for this expensive fuel - all other Toyota hybrids were recommended for "Regular Unleaded" (RON=91) and "10E Unleaded" (RON=94; adding up to 10% ethanol raises the RON slightly), fuels that are both around 15-20 cents per Litre cheaper than the 95+ RON fuels.

In listing in my previous post the Toyota hybrids I see commonly in Sydney, I forgot to include Lexus 'h' models which are a fair proportion of the Lexi around the place.

And heading back on topic , another issue re Toyota not wanting to sell PHEV models here in Oz could be that we drive on the 'better' side of the road (like Japan and many other island nations) - I suspect their initial PHEV markets are in those high-population continents that drive of the 'other' side of the road. Once successful there, then maybe we'll get a turn, or if PHEVs get popular in Japan to encourage Toyota making more RH-drive versions.

And regarding the perception of hybrids of any sort in the population-at-large, as another disincentive to introduce a PHEV Toyota here, wandering through the local Aldi yesterday, I was unsurprised that every car toy was a go-faster fuel-burning racing sedan. No mass-market, even at Christmas, for a Prius/hybrid toy car .

David S.