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I get what Toyota is doing here. Going full EV isn't a fully thought out or well planned approach. The lack of charging infrastructure for one. Most of the wor

I get what Toyota is doing here. Going full EV isn't a fully thought out or well planned approach. The lack of charging infrastructure for one. Most of the world and as Texas has shown even the US sometimes lacks reliable and clean electricity supply. With warming related increase in demand things will get even worse. Then there's the question of how world's electricity is generated and how that contributes to pollution. Besides, Toyota is doing the right thing with their suppliers in not saying screw you no more ICE - they're taking a more humane approach by doing a longer transition from ICE to hybrid to EV or hydrogen. There is a reason they can still find enough chips when almost all of their competitors are struggling - good supplier relations and investment. This also gives them time to work with say Panasonic to improve battery tech to their standards. In the meanwhile if their hybrids offer great mileage and prime offers 40 mile full EV range that's much greener already.

jrsj 5y ago
Subsidizing hybrids and PHEVs in addition to EVs absolutely makes sense and would make a bigger impact in short term emission reductions. Other companies aren’t lobbying for this because they sell very few hybrids (and often don’t even have a decent viable hybrid platform) & are betting big on EVs and want to recoup some of that investment as quickly as possible. And without a big tax credit attached to it, nobody wants to buy their EVs at the prices they can sell them at. A lot of manufacturers chose to improve their fleet fuel efficiency ratings by just making engines smaller and adding GDI, turbocharging, and more complex transmissions instead of investing more seriously in hybrid technology. So they don’t even make vehicles at an affordable price point that can get anywhere near the efficiency of what a hybrid can get. Toyota isn’t really the bad guy here and in terms of improving the fuel economy of their entire lineup they’ve done quite well.

jrsj 5y ago

Subsidizing hybrids and PHEVs in addition to EVs absolutely makes sense and would make a bigger impact in short term emission reductions. Other companies aren’t lobbying for this because they sell very few hybrids (and often don’t even have a decent viable hybrid platform) & are betting big on EVs and want to recoup some of that investment as quickly as possible. And without a big tax credit attached to it, nobody wants to buy their EVs at the prices they can sell them at. A lot of manufacturers chose to improve their fleet fuel efficiency ratings by just making engines smaller and adding GDI, turbocharging, and more complex transmissions instead of investing more seriously in hybrid technology. So they don’t even make vehicles at an affordable price point that can get anywhere near the efficiency of what a hybrid can get. Toyota isn’t really the bad guy here and in terms of improving the fuel economy of their entire lineup they’ve done quite well.