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> but imagine white Toyota or Honda could do with Tesla’s battery/platform technology. Sit on it and do nothing, to preserve their ICE business? The rest of t

by imron 8y ago

> but imagine white Toyota or Honda could do with Tesla’s battery/platform technology. Sit on it and do nothing, to preserve their ICE business? The rest of the auto industry is being dragged very reluctantly into the EV market.

dingaling 8y ago
Both Toyota and Honda ventured into hybrids and battery technology long before Tesla was founded. Nearly a decade before, if you trace back to the Prius program initiation. Tesla was formed to design hybrids to compete against the Prius and Insight and only later pivoted into pure EV. They were actually the market-follower at inception, not the innovator. I don't see how those Japanese companies can be accused of sitting on technology.
- imron 8y ago
  > Both Toyota and Honda ventured into hybrids and battery technology long before Tesla was founded. Exactly! So how come they are so far behind. If they had been serious about it, they could be far ahead of where Tesla is now, instead, the opposite is true. > I don't see how those Japanese companies can be accused of sitting on technology The 'sitting on it' was in reference to the post I was replied to which was talking about a hypothetical situation where these companies had Tesla's technology, and the thing is, they could have had it if they were serious about it. They're not sitting on it in the nefarious sense, they're just not particularly interested in developing EV compared to the ICE side of their business.
  - EADGBE 8y ago
    > they're just not particularly interested in developing EV compared to the ICE side of their business. The ICE business has a lot of cronies that come with it too. I'm sure they're getting kickback for going full-bore with ICE development: you've got the oil dependency, the gas dependency, and the ICE maintenance and component dependency (the more techy and hybrid drivetrains are just a promise for high maintenance costs once things start to break). Throw in the fact that it's super cheap to develop a more efficient gas engine compared to an electric motor/battery combo; and it's pretty easy to see why none of these companies push for it like an outsider without these vested interests. In fact, I could see these outside interests being all for an EV with minuscule range (35-50 miles or whatever the big manufacturers tote now) because they know all and well that the majority of US drivers can't hang with that as a daily driver.
Spooky23 8y ago
No. They are moving incrementally. Hybrid power trains are available up and down the product line. Both companies have an electric only vehicles that are real cars... not compliance cars. They move in steps to get the process and supply chain built, and to maximize their capital investments. They also are giving customers what they want — few consumers want electric.
- imron 8y ago
  > They also are giving customers what they want — few consumers want electric. In words often attributed to Henry Ford “If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.” And your comment proves my point. Existing manufacturers are more interested in their existing ICE business than in fully electric, and will be until it's too late. Yes they 'have' electric vehicles, in the same way the Microsoft had phones and has a search engine, but it's not where they are focusing their business engergies (compared to Tesla).

by imron 8y ago

dingaling 8y ago

Both Toyota and Honda ventured into hybrids and battery technology long before Tesla was founded. Nearly a decade before, if you trace back to the Prius program initiation. Tesla was formed to design hybrids to compete against the Prius and Insight and only later pivoted into pure EV. They were actually the market-follower at inception, not the innovator. I don't see how those Japanese companies can be accused of sitting on technology.

imron 8y ago
> Both Toyota and Honda ventured into hybrids and battery technology long before Tesla was founded. Exactly! So how come they are so far behind. If they had been serious about it, they could be far ahead of where Tesla is now, instead, the opposite is true. > I don't see how those Japanese companies can be accused of sitting on technology The 'sitting on it' was in reference to the post I was replied to which was talking about a hypothetical situation where these companies had Tesla's technology, and the thing is, they could have had it if they were serious about it. They're not sitting on it in the nefarious sense, they're just not particularly interested in developing EV compared to the ICE side of their business.
- EADGBE 8y ago
  > they're just not particularly interested in developing EV compared to the ICE side of their business. The ICE business has a lot of cronies that come with it too. I'm sure they're getting kickback for going full-bore with ICE development: you've got the oil dependency, the gas dependency, and the ICE maintenance and component dependency (the more techy and hybrid drivetrains are just a promise for high maintenance costs once things start to break). Throw in the fact that it's super cheap to develop a more efficient gas engine compared to an electric motor/battery combo; and it's pretty easy to see why none of these companies push for it like an outsider without these vested interests. In fact, I could see these outside interests being all for an EV with minuscule range (35-50 miles or whatever the big manufacturers tote now) because they know all and well that the majority of US drivers can't hang with that as a daily driver.

Spooky23 8y ago

No. They are moving incrementally. Hybrid power trains are available up and down the product line. Both companies have an electric only vehicles that are real cars... not compliance cars. They move in steps to get the process and supply chain built, and to maximize their capital investments. They also are giving customers what they want — few consumers want electric.

imron 8y ago
> They also are giving customers what they want — few consumers want electric. In words often attributed to Henry Ford “If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.” And your comment proves my point. Existing manufacturers are more interested in their existing ICE business than in fully electric, and will be until it's too late. Yes they 'have' electric vehicles, in the same way the Microsoft had phones and has a search engine, but it's not where they are focusing their business engergies (compared to Tesla).