I didn’t realize solid-state batteries were anywhere near commercializable for vehicles. I suppose that getting a supply chain running by 2028 is conceivable. What range are consumers no longer...
I didn’t realize solid-state batteries were anywhere near commercializable for vehicles. I suppose that getting a supply chain running by 2028 is conceivable.
What range are consumers no longer “anxious” about? Is it necessary to have 932 miles? Can we get away with 400? Surely the focus has to shift from maxing out specs to decreasing cost if EVs are to see wide market adoption.
I’m a little surprised Toyota is spearheading this considering how unequipped Japan’s electrical grid infrastructure is for heavy load increases. I thought for sure that they were going to go all-in on hydrogen. I suppose foreign markets can be lucrative.
Anecdotally, since I got my electric I have had a lot of these conversations. People will not stop being anxious about the range ever. I get asked things like "What if you need to drive across the...
What range are consumers no longer “anxious” about?
Anecdotally, since I got my electric I have had a lot of these conversations. People will not stop being anxious about the range ever.
I get asked things like "What if you need to drive across the country?" when that is not a problem that happens to most people and alternatives exist. Nonetheless, people feel like they need to be able to take all of their vehicles arbitrary distances with no notice.
People do not care that they drive less than ~100 miles a day over 99% of the time. If they need to drive 1000 miles for some reason even once during their vehicle's lifetime and they have to be slightly inconvenienced during that trip, it is an absolute failure of the vehicle.
People have (generally) never had to plan ahead for trips from a fuel standpoint before and they are not okay with the "regression" to adding one item to their list of considerations.
Thanks for sharing your perspective. I don’t own an EV and the longest drive I’ve taken in one (~200 miles) was, for the most part, in a heavily populated region (on I-95). We stopped once to...
Thanks for sharing your perspective. I don’t own an EV and the longest drive I’ve taken in one (~200 miles) was, for the most part, in a heavily populated region (on I-95). We stopped once to charge and get a sandwich and that was that. My friend did indeed consciously think about choosing a station, but it was only like 30 seconds.
I just don’t understand how range anxiety is a problem even if you do want to drive across the country. Looking at this interactive map of EV charging stations nationwide, it looks like a pretty robust network. I see how you could intentionally take a route through rural Montana that would eventually leave you stranded, but as far as realistic transportation is concerned I just don’t get it. How do you need to carefully plan for this when there are so many chargers? Especially when the car’s computer will calculate where to stop for you?
Like, if you’re taking the interstate, I don’t think there’s a single stretch of highway anywhere in the US where you’re more than 200 miles from an EV station, according to this map. Even on state roads, the only real gap I can see is near Havre, Montana. I imagine not all of these are the super fast chargers, but surely those exist on most busy routes. Is this really different than planning which hotels you’re going to sleep in on a road trip?
Is it your experience that the charging infrastructure really is lacking in any route you’d otherwise want to take? Or do people have additional unspoken qualms about EV reliability that they can’t express?
Personally I just don’t see the technology as practical for me yet. I rent, so I have no where I can charge an electric vehicle on my own property currently. And then, even if I did, the cheaper...
Personally I just don’t see the technology as practical for me yet. I rent, so I have no where I can charge an electric vehicle on my own property currently. And then, even if I did, the cheaper and more affordable (though still far more expensive than a used ICE) EVs still have a range of less than 300 miles. Which for many people may be fine. But I regularly (daily) drive over 100 miles, and several times a week drive well over 200. And that still may be enough range, but I live in an area where it gets very cold in the winter, which depending on weather and traffic conditions can reduce the range between 25% and 50%.
It would be wildly inconvenient to do my daily commute, then go stop to charge my car on the way home every day.
Don’t get me wrong EVs can be great, and the tech is really exciting, but I don’t think it’s something that is gonna work for everyone yet.
This is the #1 thing that has to be legislated for EVs to become truly mainstream. When you can charge at home, you most likely don't need to use a public charge in your day to day life ever...
I rent, so I have no where I can charge an electric vehicle on my own property currently
This is the #1 thing that has to be legislated for EVs to become truly mainstream.
When you can charge at home, you most likely don't need to use a public charge in your day to day life ever again. And it's not like you need some multi-kilowatt megacharger, 2kW is perfectly enough to give you a good 100km of range overnight at the very least. That's about the same an Airfryer uses, so it's not a technical issue.
This sounds like a problem that can be at least partially addressed by adding charging stations in residential parking garages. The government could incentivize property owners to install such...
This sounds like a problem that can be at least partially addressed by adding charging stations in residential parking garages. The government could incentivize property owners to install such facilities with a tax credit or similar. As overnight chargers, they also don't have to be particularly fast, which means they don't have to be particularly expensive.
In Finland this has already been legislated. Any "major improvement" to the parking areas MUST contain a certain number of parking places that can be wired up for level 2 charging. Currently...
In Finland this has already been legislated. Any "major improvement" to the parking areas MUST contain a certain number of parking places that can be wired up for level 2 charging.
Currently apartments can also apply for government assistance if they decide to add charging to their parking spaces, the only condition is that they need to add enough of it. Just one power plug won't do it.
I have been to multiple public charging stations around Vancouver and could not charge my EV: "Free" Flo Level 2 charger at a high school (requires sign up). BC Hydro Level 3 charger near a Real...
I have been to multiple public charging stations around Vancouver and could not charge my EV:
"Free" Flo Level 2 charger at a high school (requires sign up).
BC Hydro Level 3 charger near a Real Canadian Superstore (requires sign up).
AddEnergie Level 2 charger at Tsawwassen Mills (requires sign up).
Honk Level 2 charger at a University of British Columbia parkade (requires sign up).
Bonus: Most Tesla stations (no adapters available, probably requires sign up).
There are other reasons that, in practice, can result in range anxiety:
Are the chargers in good working order (you won't know until you arrive)?
Are they available, or will there be a line up (you won't know until you arrive)?
Will there be a compatible charger, or an available adapter?
Is it a safe location?
The Kona EV can list charging stations on its OSD based on the car's GPS location. Unfortunately, the list lacks the ability to sort or filter by charging level and connector type, making the list fairly useless in practice.
Then there's the notion that you need to go on a date before you can actually charge at most public stations. And you don't necessarily know until you arrive. In other words, why do some charging stations need my phone number and contact information before letting me charge while others don't?
We own a chevy bolt, gets ~200 miles a charge, and I will say that south dakota is another no-go zone, or at least was a couple years ago, as the only charging stations around were tesla chargers.
We own a chevy bolt, gets ~200 miles a charge, and I will say that south dakota is another no-go zone, or at least was a couple years ago, as the only charging stations around were tesla chargers.
In my specific scenario, they are right. My car gets like 90 miles to a charge, and that isn't at highway speeds. I bought it to replace a beater specifically for use in and around my city....
In my specific scenario, they are right. My car gets like 90 miles to a charge, and that isn't at highway speeds. I bought it to replace a beater specifically for use in and around my city.
Driving this across the country would be impractical at best and impossible at worst.
But that is okay because there are tools suited for that job that I can rent for significantly less than the difference in cost between my vehicle and a higher range vehicle on the rare occasion that I would need to. More practically, I live in a two car household and one still burns fossil fuels so I would just take that until a more practical option arrives.
I do have an EV. You have to know full well that 250 miles a day makes you a statistical outlier. The extreme majority of people do not drive even a fraction of that and could easily charge their...
I do have an EV.
You have to know full well that 250 miles a day makes you a statistical outlier. The extreme majority of people do not drive even a fraction of that and could easily charge their daily drive in a 110 circuit with no special equipment.
You are an obvious case of the current technology not being applicable.
Not to undermine your whole point but you can slow charge your car overnight on a standard 120v three prong wall outlet. You don't really need the $1000 wall plug. It's nice to have but not necessary.
you wouldn't believe just how difficult it is to charge if you can't afford the ~$750–1000 tech (plus labor) to install the charging equipment at home
Not to undermine your whole point but you can slow charge your car overnight on a standard 120v three prong wall outlet. You don't really need the $1000 wall plug. It's nice to have but not necessary.
As someone who takes road trips that are hundreds, sometimes over 1k miles, at least once per year, having an EV with a battery range under 300 miles is just a non-starter, especially with the...
As someone who takes road trips that are hundreds, sometimes over 1k miles, at least once per year, having an EV with a battery range under 300 miles is just a non-starter, especially with the current infrastructure and the fact that many of the places I go are in the mountains and will have a significantly harder time finding a charging station than gas station currently.
It all depends on lifestyle. If you're worried about the distance because, well you might have to go on a long distance trip, yeah maybe it's not a big deal. But if you know you will be doing those trips on a consistent basis, you absolutely need a vehicle that can accommodate that trip.
Right now road trips in any EV that isn't a Tesla is pretty bad. This Youtube video is a pretty good real-world demonstration. If you don't have the time to watch the video, chargers outside of...
If you don't have the time to watch the video, chargers outside of Tesla's network are terribly maintained and appear to rarely meet the advertised charging rates, among other problems. It's been a while since I watched, but I think of all the CCS chargers he tried out, only one actually worked at full capacity.
Things will get better next year as Tesla opens up their network and presumably even better in the future when Tesla's NACS becomes the one standard to rule them all in North America, but for the time being it's a real bummer. Even when that transition happens, it's only going to work on the newer Tesla superchargers; previous generations will remain exclusive to Tesla. But if you bought a car that uses CHADeMo for fast charging, things are going to really suck, since I don't believe that NACS is compatable with it.
Some people need it more than others. There are people who drive all day to many places on business and waiting around for a recharge would be infeasible. A taxi most obviously, but there are...
Some people need it more than others. There are people who drive all day to many places on business and waiting around for a recharge would be infeasible. A taxi most obviously, but there are other reasons to be traveling to multiple work sites, doing sales or repairs or other services that need to be done on-site. Consider what plumbers do.
But apparently solid-state batteries should charge faster, too, so maybe range will be less of an issue for most?
Akschually taxis are the best option for electrification. Unless you're in a super-mega busy area, you'll always have 15-20 minutes downtime between customers. The only issue is that you need to...
A taxi most obviously
Akschually taxis are the best option for electrification. Unless you're in a super-mega busy area, you'll always have 15-20 minutes downtime between customers. The only issue is that you need to skip the rides that suddenly want to go 100km away.
Over here we've actually installed 100kW+ chargers in the places taxis wait for customers. Most taxis seem to take their breaks in McDonalds who have 350kW chargers in the parking lot. In the time it takes you to inhale a Big Mac and fries, the car has most likely been fully charged for a while.
The biggest issue in the US is that you've got relatively expensive electricity combined with insanely cheap gas prices. Over here it's reversed, Taxis can easily save 1000€/month just on gas costs by switching to an EV.
I'm a locksmith in a sorta rural area (central Kentucky), and there are days where I have put in more miles than my stepfather, a truck driver. Granted, that's when he's city driving and not on...
I'm a locksmith in a sorta rural area (central Kentucky), and there are days where I have put in more miles than my stepfather, a truck driver. Granted, that's when he's city driving and not on longer trips, but still. It's not the least unusual for me to put in nearly half of my 8 hour shift behind the wheel. For now, EVs with the range we need (especially in the winter) are out of the price range we can afford, if they even really exist. I'd love to see that change, but as of now the best I can hope for is a decent plug-in hybrid if I can someday convince my boss to spend for it. I imagine many service techs with large service areas face a similar situation.
Yeah, I had recently talked to a relative who services ATM's and it's similar. It seems like a regular hybrid would be a good fit, though? Priuses are commonly used as taxis.
Yeah, I had recently talked to a relative who services ATM's and it's similar.
It seems like a regular hybrid would be a good fit, though? Priuses are commonly used as taxis.
Probably so, certainly better fuel economy would be nice. My boss has only recently stopped insisting on buying rebuilt/salvage title vehicles, so baby steps for now.
Probably so, certainly better fuel economy would be nice. My boss has only recently stopped insisting on buying rebuilt/salvage title vehicles, so baby steps for now.
Once a month, sometimes twice, I'm doing a 600 mile round trip in one day. Several times a month I'm doing 360 mile round trips. For me, it isn't about 932 miles of range, it's about how much...
Is it necessary to have 932 miles?
Once a month, sometimes twice, I'm doing a 600 mile round trip in one day. Several times a month I'm doing 360 mile round trips. For me, it isn't about 932 miles of range, it's about how much range does that actually mean in frigid weather. When I can achieve that 600 miles in -20*F, I'm switching to electric.
Idemitsu Kosan, Japan's second-largest oil refiner, may seem like an unlikely partner for the EV space. But Toyota says Idemitsu has been working on developing the "elemental technologies" for the batteries since 2001, five years before Toyota began pursuing them in 2006.
Specifically, Idemitsu has been working on developing a new material to go in the batteries, a solid sulfide electrolyte. With the partnership, Toyota aims to combine Idemitsu's material expertise with its own production prowess to make solid-state batteries a reality for consumers.
…
Toyota laid out a three-phase plan toward a goal of commercializing solid-state batteries by 2027-2028. However, that doesn't mean solid-state EVs will be widely available at that time, as "full-scale mass production" will begin after. It also remains to be seen what markets Toyota would launch them in, and how much they would cost. They are likely to be more expensive, and remain that way for years, Reuters predicts.
…
Earlier this year, Toyota ousted a CEO who had previously expressed hesitations about moving toward a fully electric lineup. With a new CEO at the helm, it then restructured the company around EVs, dubbing its luxury Lexus brand as its flagship for electrics.
So....it's going to be a long time yet, going to be very expensive, and no idea what markets they will be available yet. I'm still pretty excited though. I would pay at least double for a vehicle...
So....it's going to be a long time yet, going to be very expensive, and no idea what markets they will be available yet.
I'm still pretty excited though. I would pay at least double for a vehicle that lasts as long as ye olde Corolla did.
(Emphasis mine.) I think that qualification makes the title rather sensationalist, though not terribly surprised given that it's PC Magazine. I think they also mischaracterized Akio Toyoda...
Toyota says the new technology will eventually enable EVs to go 932 miles on a single charge and power up in just 10 minutes, due to the higher energy density.
[...]
Toyota laid out a three-phase plan toward a goal of commercializing solid-state batteries by 2027-2028. However, that doesn't mean solid-state EVs will be widely available at that time, as "full-scale mass production" will begin after. It also remains to be seen what markets Toyota would launch them in, and how much they would cost. They are likely to be more expensive, and remain that way for years, Reuters predicts.
(Emphasis mine.) I think that qualification makes the title rather sensationalist, though not terribly surprised given that it's PC Magazine. I think they also mischaracterized Akio Toyoda stepping down from the position of company president. The article makes it sound like it was his lack of belief in electric vehicles that resulted in him being kicked out of the position, but I don't believe that was the case.
Having said that, I'm definitely excited to see commercially viable solid-state batteries. I'm also anxiously awaiting a Toyota EV that is better than the rebranded crap they got from Subaru (i.e., the Toyota bZ4X/Subaru Solterra). As the article observes…
Honda has also teased plans to introduce EVs with solid-state batteries by the end of the decade. Both Honda and Toyota have been criticized for moving slowly on EVs, especially compared with Tesla and Chinese automaker BYD, and are racing to catch up.
Never mind Tesla or BYD, how about Volkswagen, GM, or Ford? On one hand, I know Toyota likes to move slowly in order to make sure that their products are highly reliable. On the other hand, I have remained shocked at just how glacially Toyota has been entering EV development. Particularly after their early and resounding success with hybrids. In fact their latest PHEV, the Prius Prime, did so many things well relative to the previous generation, that it makes Toyota's lack of progress even more head scratching.
Toyota is still trying to play the Osborne effect game on EVs. They've been announcing "the next big thing in EVs" for a good decade now, with very little to show for it. Their solid state...
Toyota is still trying to play the Osborne effect game on EVs. They've been announcing "the next big thing in EVs" for a good decade now, with very little to show for it.
Their solid state batteries were supposed to be released in the Tokyo Olympics. We didn't see any - even when the competition was postponed due to Covid...
I didn’t realize solid-state batteries were anywhere near commercializable for vehicles. I suppose that getting a supply chain running by 2028 is conceivable.
What range are consumers no longer “anxious” about? Is it necessary to have 932 miles? Can we get away with 400? Surely the focus has to shift from maxing out specs to decreasing cost if EVs are to see wide market adoption.
I’m a little surprised Toyota is spearheading this considering how unequipped Japan’s electrical grid infrastructure is for heavy load increases. I thought for sure that they were going to go all-in on hydrogen. I suppose foreign markets can be lucrative.
Anecdotally, since I got my electric I have had a lot of these conversations. People will not stop being anxious about the range ever.
I get asked things like "What if you need to drive across the country?" when that is not a problem that happens to most people and alternatives exist. Nonetheless, people feel like they need to be able to take all of their vehicles arbitrary distances with no notice.
People do not care that they drive less than ~100 miles a day over 99% of the time. If they need to drive 1000 miles for some reason even once during their vehicle's lifetime and they have to be slightly inconvenienced during that trip, it is an absolute failure of the vehicle.
People have (generally) never had to plan ahead for trips from a fuel standpoint before and they are not okay with the "regression" to adding one item to their list of considerations.
Thanks for sharing your perspective. I don’t own an EV and the longest drive I’ve taken in one (~200 miles) was, for the most part, in a heavily populated region (on I-95). We stopped once to charge and get a sandwich and that was that. My friend did indeed consciously think about choosing a station, but it was only like 30 seconds.
I just don’t understand how range anxiety is a problem even if you do want to drive across the country. Looking at this interactive map of EV charging stations nationwide, it looks like a pretty robust network. I see how you could intentionally take a route through rural Montana that would eventually leave you stranded, but as far as realistic transportation is concerned I just don’t get it. How do you need to carefully plan for this when there are so many chargers? Especially when the car’s computer will calculate where to stop for you?
Like, if you’re taking the interstate, I don’t think there’s a single stretch of highway anywhere in the US where you’re more than 200 miles from an EV station, according to this map. Even on state roads, the only real gap I can see is near Havre, Montana. I imagine not all of these are the super fast chargers, but surely those exist on most busy routes. Is this really different than planning which hotels you’re going to sleep in on a road trip?
Is it your experience that the charging infrastructure really is lacking in any route you’d otherwise want to take? Or do people have additional unspoken qualms about EV reliability that they can’t express?
Personally I just don’t see the technology as practical for me yet. I rent, so I have no where I can charge an electric vehicle on my own property currently. And then, even if I did, the cheaper and more affordable (though still far more expensive than a used ICE) EVs still have a range of less than 300 miles. Which for many people may be fine. But I regularly (daily) drive over 100 miles, and several times a week drive well over 200. And that still may be enough range, but I live in an area where it gets very cold in the winter, which depending on weather and traffic conditions can reduce the range between 25% and 50%.
It would be wildly inconvenient to do my daily commute, then go stop to charge my car on the way home every day.
Don’t get me wrong EVs can be great, and the tech is really exciting, but I don’t think it’s something that is gonna work for everyone yet.
This is the #1 thing that has to be legislated for EVs to become truly mainstream.
When you can charge at home, you most likely don't need to use a public charge in your day to day life ever again. And it's not like you need some multi-kilowatt megacharger, 2kW is perfectly enough to give you a good 100km of range overnight at the very least. That's about the same an Airfryer uses, so it's not a technical issue.
This sounds like a problem that can be at least partially addressed by adding charging stations in residential parking garages. The government could incentivize property owners to install such facilities with a tax credit or similar. As overnight chargers, they also don't have to be particularly fast, which means they don't have to be particularly expensive.
In Finland this has already been legislated. Any "major improvement" to the parking areas MUST contain a certain number of parking places that can be wired up for level 2 charging.
Currently apartments can also apply for government assistance if they decide to add charging to their parking spaces, the only condition is that they need to add enough of it. Just one power plug won't do it.
I have been to multiple public charging stations around Vancouver and could not charge my EV:
There are other reasons that, in practice, can result in range anxiety:
The Kona EV can list charging stations on its OSD based on the car's GPS location. Unfortunately, the list lacks the ability to sort or filter by charging level and connector type, making the list fairly useless in practice.
Then there's the notion that you need to go on a date before you can actually charge at most public stations. And you don't necessarily know until you arrive. In other words, why do some charging stations need my phone number and contact information before letting me charge while others don't?
https://tildes.net/~transport/1blp/state_of_evs_in_fall_2023#comment-b0l8
We own a chevy bolt, gets ~200 miles a charge, and I will say that south dakota is another no-go zone, or at least was a couple years ago, as the only charging stations around were tesla chargers.
In my specific scenario, they are right. My car gets like 90 miles to a charge, and that isn't at highway speeds. I bought it to replace a beater specifically for use in and around my city.
Driving this across the country would be impractical at best and impossible at worst.
But that is okay because there are tools suited for that job that I can rent for significantly less than the difference in cost between my vehicle and a higher range vehicle on the rare occasion that I would need to. More practically, I live in a two car household and one still burns fossil fuels so I would just take that until a more practical option arrives.
I do have an EV.
You have to know full well that 250 miles a day makes you a statistical outlier. The extreme majority of people do not drive even a fraction of that and could easily charge their daily drive in a 110 circuit with no special equipment.
You are an obvious case of the current technology not being applicable.
Not to undermine your whole point but you can slow charge your car overnight on a standard 120v three prong wall outlet. You don't really need the $1000 wall plug. It's nice to have but not necessary.
As someone who takes road trips that are hundreds, sometimes over 1k miles, at least once per year, having an EV with a battery range under 300 miles is just a non-starter, especially with the current infrastructure and the fact that many of the places I go are in the mountains and will have a significantly harder time finding a charging station than gas station currently.
It all depends on lifestyle. If you're worried about the distance because, well you might have to go on a long distance trip, yeah maybe it's not a big deal. But if you know you will be doing those trips on a consistent basis, you absolutely need a vehicle that can accommodate that trip.
Right now road trips in any EV that isn't a Tesla is pretty bad. This Youtube video is a pretty good real-world demonstration.
If you don't have the time to watch the video, chargers outside of Tesla's network are terribly maintained and appear to rarely meet the advertised charging rates, among other problems. It's been a while since I watched, but I think of all the CCS chargers he tried out, only one actually worked at full capacity.
Things will get better next year as Tesla opens up their network and presumably even better in the future when Tesla's NACS becomes the one standard to rule them all in North America, but for the time being it's a real bummer. Even when that transition happens, it's only going to work on the newer Tesla superchargers; previous generations will remain exclusive to Tesla. But if you bought a car that uses CHADeMo for fast charging, things are going to really suck, since I don't believe that NACS is compatable with it.
Some people need it more than others. There are people who drive all day to many places on business and waiting around for a recharge would be infeasible. A taxi most obviously, but there are other reasons to be traveling to multiple work sites, doing sales or repairs or other services that need to be done on-site. Consider what plumbers do.
But apparently solid-state batteries should charge faster, too, so maybe range will be less of an issue for most?
Akschually taxis are the best option for electrification. Unless you're in a super-mega busy area, you'll always have 15-20 minutes downtime between customers. The only issue is that you need to skip the rides that suddenly want to go 100km away.
Over here we've actually installed 100kW+ chargers in the places taxis wait for customers. Most taxis seem to take their breaks in McDonalds who have 350kW chargers in the parking lot. In the time it takes you to inhale a Big Mac and fries, the car has most likely been fully charged for a while.
The biggest issue in the US is that you've got relatively expensive electricity combined with insanely cheap gas prices. Over here it's reversed, Taxis can easily save 1000€/month just on gas costs by switching to an EV.
Plumbers put a lot of miles in in a day?
I don't actually know. In rural areas, maybe? They are making house calls.
I'm a locksmith in a sorta rural area (central Kentucky), and there are days where I have put in more miles than my stepfather, a truck driver. Granted, that's when he's city driving and not on longer trips, but still. It's not the least unusual for me to put in nearly half of my 8 hour shift behind the wheel. For now, EVs with the range we need (especially in the winter) are out of the price range we can afford, if they even really exist. I'd love to see that change, but as of now the best I can hope for is a decent plug-in hybrid if I can someday convince my boss to spend for it. I imagine many service techs with large service areas face a similar situation.
Yeah, I had recently talked to a relative who services ATM's and it's similar.
It seems like a regular hybrid would be a good fit, though? Priuses are commonly used as taxis.
Probably so, certainly better fuel economy would be nice. My boss has only recently stopped insisting on buying rebuilt/salvage title vehicles, so baby steps for now.
Once a month, sometimes twice, I'm doing a 600 mile round trip in one day. Several times a month I'm doing 360 mile round trips. For me, it isn't about 932 miles of range, it's about how much range does that actually mean in frigid weather. When I can achieve that 600 miles in -20*F, I'm switching to electric.
From the article:
…
…
So....it's going to be a long time yet, going to be very expensive, and no idea what markets they will be available yet.
I'm still pretty excited though. I would pay at least double for a vehicle that lasts as long as ye olde Corolla did.
(Emphasis mine.) I think that qualification makes the title rather sensationalist, though not terribly surprised given that it's PC Magazine. I think they also mischaracterized Akio Toyoda stepping down from the position of company president. The article makes it sound like it was his lack of belief in electric vehicles that resulted in him being kicked out of the position, but I don't believe that was the case.
Having said that, I'm definitely excited to see commercially viable solid-state batteries. I'm also anxiously awaiting a Toyota EV that is better than the rebranded crap they got from Subaru (i.e., the Toyota bZ4X/Subaru Solterra). As the article observes…
Never mind Tesla or BYD, how about Volkswagen, GM, or Ford? On one hand, I know Toyota likes to move slowly in order to make sure that their products are highly reliable. On the other hand, I have remained shocked at just how glacially Toyota has been entering EV development. Particularly after their early and resounding success with hybrids. In fact their latest PHEV, the Prius Prime, did so many things well relative to the previous generation, that it makes Toyota's lack of progress even more head scratching.
Where's my Camry Prime, Toyota? Or a BEV Camry?
Toyota is still trying to play the Osborne effect game on EVs. They've been announcing "the next big thing in EVs" for a good decade now, with very little to show for it.
Their solid state batteries were supposed to be released in the Tokyo Olympics. We didn't see any - even when the competition was postponed due to Covid...
Looking forward to 2028!
Should I be getting hyped over ammonia engines as an EV alternative?