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Yea, it's reminiscent of Toyota's complaints. Tesla, GM, Ford, Volkswagen, Hyundai/Kia, BMW, and Renault/Nissan have put some weight behind electric vehicles as

by mdasen 4y ago

Yea, it's reminiscent of Toyota's complaints. Tesla, GM, Ford, Volkswagen, Hyundai/Kia, BMW, and Renault/Nissan have put some weight behind electric vehicles as their future. Toyota, Honda, and Stellantis are the large auto companies that haven't invested in EVs as much - and finding themselves as the odd three out in an industry that increasingly sees EVs as its future as countries start putting timelines on how long they'll allow combustion-engine vehicles. Stellantis merged together the 8th and 10th largest auto companies to make the 5th largest and they're staring down a future they haven't invested in. Toyota has been lobbying to stall EVs having bet hard on hydrogen vehicles which have never really gotten off the ground (https://arstechnica.com/cars/2021/07/toyota-bet-wrong-on-evs-so-now-its-lobbying-to-slow-the-transition/ https://arstechnica.com/cars/2021/07/toyota-bet-wrong-on-evs...). It is possible that EVs won't be the future of the auto industry, but I wouldn't bet on that at this point. Most of the major players are moving to EVs and while the transition might seem slow to some people, it's looking somewhat inevitable. Toyota's investment in hydrogen cars hasn't paid off and their reluctance to pivot has put them behind. Stellantis seems to be in a similar position.

_fat_santa 4y ago
Toyota could potentially become a leader in the space if their R&D in to solid state batteries pans out. The way I see it, EV's are currently in their "2nd generation". The 1st gen was the Tesla Roadster and a bunch of other proof of concepts. Now we are in the 2nd gen making cars with rather inefficient and heavy battery packs. In order for the world to electrify, we need to move to the "3rd generation" or EV's that will hopefully solve the issues around batteries.
Animatronio 4y ago
I don't know about Ford, since you mention them. "First of all, batteries are the constraint here," Ford CEO Jim Farley told Yahoo Finance. "Both lithium and nickel are really the key constraining commodities. We normally get those from all over the world — South America, Africa, Indonesia. We want to localize that in North America, not just the mining but the processing of the materials." Seems to me he's saying pretty much the same thing as Tavares. It's kinda strange, considering they're competitors.
ssharp 4y ago
I'm assuming Toyota and Honda are hedging more than the other companies because they have the luxury of doing so. They both have well-earned reputations for making the most reliable ICE vehicles on the road. Ford, GM, Nissan, and BMW have the opposite reputation. Maybe the don't see this generation of EVs as a worthwhile investment and/or feel they can catch up rapidly when the need is greater and not need to invest so much before that point. Stellantis is in the odd group who is well-behind the EV curve and makes unreliable ICE vehicles.

by mdasen 4y ago

_fat_santa 4y ago

Toyota could potentially become a leader in the space if their R&D in to solid state batteries pans out. The way I see it, EV's are currently in their "2nd generation". The 1st gen was the Tesla Roadster and a bunch of other proof of concepts. Now we are in the 2nd gen making cars with rather inefficient and heavy battery packs. In order for the world to electrify, we need to move to the "3rd generation" or EV's that will hopefully solve the issues around batteries.

Animatronio 4y ago

I don't know about Ford, since you mention them. "First of all, batteries are the constraint here," Ford CEO Jim Farley told Yahoo Finance. "Both lithium and nickel are really the key constraining commodities. We normally get those from all over the world — South America, Africa, Indonesia. We want to localize that in North America, not just the mining but the processing of the materials." Seems to me he's saying pretty much the same thing as Tavares. It's kinda strange, considering they're competitors.

ssharp 4y ago

I'm assuming Toyota and Honda are hedging more than the other companies because they have the luxury of doing so. They both have well-earned reputations for making the most reliable ICE vehicles on the road. Ford, GM, Nissan, and BMW have the opposite reputation. Maybe the don't see this generation of EVs as a worthwhile investment and/or feel they can catch up rapidly when the need is greater and not need to invest so much before that point. Stellantis is in the odd group who is well-behind the EV curve and makes unreliable ICE vehicles.