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Toyota to Sell All-Electric Car in 2012

6 points by jsm386 17y ago

houseabsolute 17y ago
Unless it is very cheap, few people will buy it, it will be a commercial failure, and there'll be another half-decade of people complaining about GM killing the electric car before somebody tries again.
- jcnnghm 17y ago
  It depends on the range. Personally, I think the sweet spot is 80 miles of range with a 8 hour charge. Electric cars should be very cheap to operate. The volt is expected to cost $32,500 after a federal rebate, which doesn't seem excessive.
  - houseabsolute 17y ago
    Meh? Not excessive? I could buy two Honda Civics for that price, or operate one for a hundred and sixty thousand miles. Of course, maybe it is a higher quality car, but it doesn't seem to offer a serious value proposition. It's a charitable luxury, basically.
    - ugh 17y ago
      Huh? What kind of cars do americans buy? My parents aren’t exactly super rich and they just bough a run of the mill, middle of the line Mercedes for $10,000 more (30,000€). I know quite a few people who would be comfortable spending that amount of money on a car. That’s not luxury, that’s a standard car for your middle class dads and moms in their fifties.
      - houseabsolute 17y ago
        Heh, my wife and I bring in a lot more than the average middle class family. But I still consider $30k a luxury, especially for a car that'll have trouble getting you from here to sf and back.
        ugh 17y ago
        Well, it depends. Your average European will probably need to travel shorter distances. 80 miles would probably be enough for my parents for maybe 330 days in the year. That’s not bad at all. But you are probably right that this pesky month when you really need to drive farther and really don’t have any time to wait for the battery to recharge will kill it. And buying a second car for $30,000 is probably a bit too much. I guess that all goes to show that some sort of way to just change batteries (and not charge them when driving long distances) really would be a good idea. (Psst, we are on the internet. Didn’t know if you noticed. I have no freaking idea where your “here” is :)
        houseabsolute 17y ago
        Here is Palo Alto. ;)
jsm386 17y ago
Some more info: Toyota, the leader in hybrid car sales, plans to have a battery-powered compact car called the FT-EV on the market by 2012 - a lightweight four-seater, modeled on its gasoline-powered iQ, that will have an all-electric range of 50 miles. http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/toyota-to-build-all-electric-car-by-2012-5494/ http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/toyota-to-build-...

6 points by jsm386 17y ago

Unless it is very cheap, few people will buy it, it will be a commercial failure, and there'll be another half-decade of people complaining about GM killing the electric car before somebody tries again.

jcnnghm 17y ago
It depends on the range. Personally, I think the sweet spot is 80 miles of range with a 8 hour charge. Electric cars should be very cheap to operate. The volt is expected to cost $32,500 after a federal rebate, which doesn't seem excessive.
- houseabsolute 17y ago
  Meh? Not excessive? I could buy two Honda Civics for that price, or operate one for a hundred and sixty thousand miles. Of course, maybe it is a higher quality car, but it doesn't seem to offer a serious value proposition. It's a charitable luxury, basically.
  - ugh 17y ago
    Huh? What kind of cars do americans buy? My parents aren’t exactly super rich and they just bough a run of the mill, middle of the line Mercedes for $10,000 more (30,000€). I know quite a few people who would be comfortable spending that amount of money on a car. That’s not luxury, that’s a standard car for your middle class dads and moms in their fifties.
    - houseabsolute 17y ago
      Heh, my wife and I bring in a lot more than the average middle class family. But I still consider $30k a luxury, especially for a car that'll have trouble getting you from here to sf and back.
      - ugh 17y ago
        Well, it depends. Your average European will probably need to travel shorter distances. 80 miles would probably be enough for my parents for maybe 330 days in the year. That’s not bad at all. But you are probably right that this pesky month when you really need to drive farther and really don’t have any time to wait for the battery to recharge will kill it. And buying a second car for $30,000 is probably a bit too much. I guess that all goes to show that some sort of way to just change batteries (and not charge them when driving long distances) really would be a good idea. (Psst, we are on the internet. Didn’t know if you noticed. I have no freaking idea where your “here” is :)
        houseabsolute 17y ago
        Here is Palo Alto. ;)

jsm386 17y ago

Some more info: Toyota, the leader in hybrid car sales, plans to have a battery-powered compact car called the FT-EV on the market by 2012 - a lightweight four-seater, modeled on its gasoline-powered iQ, that will have an all-electric range of 50 miles. http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/toyota-to-build-all-electric-car-by-2012-5494/ http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/toyota-to-build-...