Toyota Has a Curious Justification for Not Selling Any EVs

Toyota's CEO was anti-EV, his engineers showed him their prototype and he coldly dismissed it and ridiculed their idea. No one dared question him due to Japanese corporate culture.

They just got caught with their pants down as their Prius sales cratered in California all of a sudden when new gen EVs entered the market.
 
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Can we please just drop the non-sense that EV/Hybrids are better for the environment, until battery use life is infinite, a good eco diesel vehicle is still the best option to save the world right now.

Not exactly-Diesel is extremely dirty in relation to a gas engine in emissions released. The additional upcharge for diesel engines (plus maintenance) and the gap between MPGs Diesel vs Gas engine has shrank dramatically (due to newer emissions standards being tougher on diesel) has practically removed any advantages diesel engines have had in light car/truck applications.
 
They just got caught with their pants down as their Prius sales cratered in California all of a sudden when new gen EVs entered the market.

But at the same time, California isn't exactly like the rest of the world-people who can afford Teslas are buying them because they have the same cult that Apple had 5-10 years ago. Those were the same Prius buyer 15 years ago when they first came out.

BEV are the future, but even with CARB requiring 10% of cars being electric, we are still 10-15 years away before they make headway in controlling a large portion of the market.
 
Not just making the batteries - but also having chargers available everywhere - and having chargers that are capable of charging fast enough.

Honestly I find the EV craze so fucking silly... Instead of burning the gas directly at the engine you're just doing it at the refinery/electric grid. If you're looking to help the environment, EV cars in all honestly isn't going to put a dent in our carbon production.


You're right. I believe we really ought to be running horses again. Clydesdale model year 1452 anyone?
 
They mine the nickel in Canada(not very clean), or mine the Lithium in China/US(still not clean)---------->They send the raw materials to Taiwan/* where it is whipped into a Chemical foam(really not clean in fact quite toxic)----------------->Shipped to Battery/Capacitor facilities around the world New Mexico/Japan/Korea/Taiwan/*/*/*/*/* -------------- All for a battery that has a halflife of 5-7 years depending on weather/temperature - Use - charging habits.

The only way Electric cars make sense is if people are forced to have solar/battery bank to charge the car, Wind is used, Nuclear(as you pointed out) but Coal based states for power in the next 20-30 years are going carbon free - personally Id rather Electric utility companies disappear in favor of complete solar and wind with backup nuclear capabilities with our nation through taxes footing the bill - we have more than enough scrap weapons grade materials with a shelf life that can die in a reactor.

EV stories really bring out the Luddites and misinformation on [H].

Most of the Lithium comes from natural brines, in evaporation ponds in South America deserts. It's probably the least harmful kind of mining in existence. There isn't that much Nickel in Lithium batteries, compared to other uses.

Telsa makes its own batteries in the USA, they are aren't shipped to China.

Charging doesn't have to be 100% renewable to beat conventional cars. EVs beat conventional cars in most of the USA, usually by a LOT.

ucs-2016-ev-emissions-mpg-map_100673438_l.jpg


So as it stands, the current equivalent for the US EV fleet is a carbon footprint equal to gas cars that get 80 MPG. The absolute worse case is one of the small Hawaiian islands that likely generates ALL of its electricity via fossil fuel generators, where it is equivalent to 35 MPG. Yeah if you live on that small island, you can get an efficient gas car and have less impact that an EV, but the opposite is true just about everywhere else.

Not only that, but the grid is getting cleaner every year, so the EV you buy today, will effectively get cleaner over it's lifetime as it gets older.
 
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Maybe they would lose less customers if they didn't make their cars so damn ugly.
 
That is a very interesting map, Snowdog. Being from Alaska originally, I find it's rating a curiosity.
 
But at the same time, California isn't exactly like the rest of the world-people who can afford Teslas are buying them because they have the same cult that Apple had 5-10 years ago. Those were the same Prius buyer 15 years ago when they first came out.

BEV are the future, but even with CARB requiring 10% of cars being electric, we are still 10-15 years away before they make headway in controlling a large portion of the market.

It's not the rest of the world for sure, but it's the most important state when it comes to car sales: It's constantly a good indication of trends happening to other population-dense states, and it's one of the most in touch with general global trends in other advanced nations.

Many parts of Europe are actually even ahead - such as Norway with >40 percent EV penetration already, and within the first month of availability we're already seeing the Model 3 at the top of the sales charts in places like Germany, France and Netherlands.

It gets hard to justify grabbing a Prius at half the MPG and lower performance when you got EVs selling at $35k, and the article in this news piece alludes to this trend (and keep in mind that this was before a $35k model 3 was even an option):
There are at least 12 car companies currently selling an all-electric vehicle in the United States, and Toyota isn’t one of them. Despite admitting recently that the Tesla Model 3 alone is responsible for half of Toyota’s customer defections in North America — as Prius drivers transition to all-electric — the company has been an outspoken laggard in the race to electrification.

And this is happening to them in basically one year.
 
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It's not the rest of the world for sure, but it's the most important state when it comes to car sales, they're constantly a good indication of trends happening to other population-dense states, and it's a good reflection of the general global trend in other advanced nations.

Many parts of Europe are actually even ahead - such as Norway with >40 percent EV penetration already, and within the first month of availability we're already seeing the Model 3 at the top of the sales charts in places like Germany, France and Netherlands.

It gets hard to justify grabbing a Prius at half the MPG and lower performance when you got EVs selling at $35k, and the article in this news piece alludes to this trend:


And this is happening to them in basically one year.


Honestly this may be incredible wisdom coupled with restraint on the part of Toyota. There is a Japanese saying "Luck exists in the leftovers." Maybe they are biding their time until the infrastructural accomodations meet or exceed the demand for them-imagine a toyota product falling in line with all the others while people wait too long as is palatable to fill up on amps.
 
Honestly this may be incredible wisdom coupled with restraint on the part of Toyota. There is a Japanese saying "Luck exists in the leftovers." Maybe they are biding their time until the infrastructural accomodations meet or exceed the demand for them-imagine a toyota product falling in line with all the others while people wait too long as is palatable to fill up on amps.

Not really. Toyota practically owned the hybrid market for about a decade, by being a first mover.

They hoped to do it again, but they failed because they went all in on the wrong technology (Hydrogen).

Toyota seems to be falling to the "Sunk Cost Fallacy". They put so much money into Hydrogen they can't let go and admit that BEVs are the winning option.
 
Honestly this may be incredible wisdom coupled with restraint on the part of Toyota. There is a Japanese saying "Luck exists in the leftovers." Maybe they are biding their time until the infrastructural accomodations meet or exceed the demand for them-imagine a toyota product falling in line with all the others while people wait too long as is palatable to fill up on amps.

We'll see. They're not small fries that's for sure, and there are signs they're starting to steer the Titanic slowly off its collision course with a recent Panasonic arrangement.

But if they can't establish a foothold in China then they're gonna be in big trouble, that country is already accounting for half of global car sales this year, and they're pushing hard into EVs as a government policy. Most industrial nations are not far behind either, legacy vehicles are being banned in city centers to cut down on major smog issues, not a reassuring message to send to consumers looking to buy a new car right?

It's also possible we may see Chinese EVs swallowing up the market in a similar fashion to what Toyota and gang did in the 70s, who knows. It's a major disruptive period for the auto market, the Germans are starting to adjust in earnest so that's good, hopefully we'll have something to offer as well to stay in the game.

I guess our ace in the hole is Tesla so far, but it seems they're competing with a ball and chain considering how many states are fighting them tooth and nail to slow down the inevitable march of progress.
 
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Not exactly-Diesel is extremely dirty in relation to a gas engine in emissions released. The additional upcharge for diesel engines (plus maintenance) and the gap between MPGs Diesel vs Gas engine has shrank dramatically (due to newer emissions standards being tougher on diesel) has practically removed any advantages diesel engines have had in light car/truck applications.

Fair enough, perhaps if people could drive more reasonably the answer would be eco 3 cylinder smalls displacement 4 cylinder cars then.
 
I honestly figured Hydrogen was going to be the better solution.
I still do honestly, but damned if BEV's come a LONG way, a lot faster than expected.
As it stands now, my next car will be a BEV almost certainly.

There are a lot around which have the "magic" range of 250 miles, Bolt, Leaf 2.0, Tesla 3. Heck, even a BMW i3 is close enough with the range extender engine.
250 miles on a full charge is for me, 2 round trips to work (75 miles round trip), after a 40% range hit due to cold weather (I live in Michigan, it happens)

That is what I consider my safe zone, so if the chargers are out/full at work, or I'm a dumbass and forget to plug in at home, I can still get to work and back every day.
 
You have that completely backwards.

Well to Wheels efficiency of BEVs is about 3x-4x higher than HFCEVs. This is basic physics, and wont' really change.

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It's one of the main reason HFCEVs really have no chance with consumers. At minimum it will always cost at least 3x as much to fuel them. It's why Toyota and everyone else has to give away free hydrogen to their handful of buyers (AKA beta testers), to keep them from freaking about the fuel cost.
You will find the electrical grids in nearly all developed countries cannot take us all switching to “battery”. The UK is already 1% from Max. New no nickle hydrogen prodution techniques are looking to lower the cost dramatically. We will see in the end. Yes 3000 lbs lugged around everywhere wont work longterm
 
You will find the electrical grids in nearly all developed countries cannot take us all switching to “battery”. The UK is already 1% from Max. New no nickle hydrogen prodution techniques are looking to lower the cost dramatically. We will see in the end. Yes 3000 lbs lugged around everywhere wont work longterm

You will find that they won't be switching over night,and that the grid will adapt as EV takeup continues.

Sure they can lower Hydrogen production costs some, but since you need at least 3X the input electricity to go the same distance as an EV. 3X the cost is the minimum extra you pay for fueling with Hydrogen. At todays Hydrogen prices it would by about 5X (4 c/mile for EV, 20c/mile for HFCEV). Lots of room for saving till you hit the floor of ONLY 3X times as expensive.

Good thing no one has 3000lb batteries then.
 
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Oh my, all very insightful responses here. A lot of folks here who know way more than I do; I am clearly in the right place.
 
Talking about putting advanced batteries in ... Just about everything is the hot new craze. Is there enough Lithium in the earth's crust to make all of these and then make their replacements every few years when they're worn out. I don't see it, personally.
 
Talking about putting advanced batteries in ... Just about everything is the hot new craze. Is there enough Lithium in the earth's crust to make all of these and then make their replacements every few years when they're worn out. I don't see it, personally.

Lithium is not a rare element. IIRC you could make over a billion EVs with currently known reserves. As demand and price pickup, there will be exploration and reserves will increase. If truly desperate it can be extracted from seawater, and of course as it gets more expensive recycling old batteries gets more viable.
 
Lithium is not a rare element. IIRC you could make over a billion EVs with currently known reserves. As demand and price pickup, there will be exploration and reserves will increase. If truly desperate it can be extracted from seawater, and of course as it gets more expensive recycling old batteries gets more viable.


Yup, not really rare, relatively speaking, it's annoying to get, but not outrageously so.
 
Something I need to point out here is that Hydrogen Fuel Cells require a battery in order to operate. Not as big as a Tesla, but about the same as a Toyota Prius. You can't have regenerative braking without it, plus fuel cells can't throttle their power output like a gas engine can. It just charges the battery while you drive around. Also the auto industry is kinda falling apart right now, so I can't imagine Toyota is just pouring out hybrids off the show room floor. How many Prius batteries would it take to make a Tesla Model 3? I can't see any good excuses other than Toyota just hasn't invested much into EV's. If Tesla can do it with their Gigafactory then Toyota certainly should be able to. Also there are some Toyota's built using Tesla parts cause for a while Toyota did own some of Tesla.

Make them Toyota or die off like 3DFX.
 
But at the same time, California isn't exactly like the rest of the world-people who can afford Teslas are buying them because they have the same cult that Apple had 5-10 years ago. Those were the same Prius buyer 15 years ago when they first came out.

One of the main reasons people in California give for buying a Tesla or other electric cars, is so they can driving in the carpool lane.
In some parts of the state, being able to drive in the carpool lane can cut your commute time by more than 50%.
 
One of the main reasons people in California give for buying a Tesla or other electric cars, is so they can driving in the carpool lane.
In some parts of the state, being able to drive in the carpool lane can cut your commute time by more than 50%.


This is a serious factor not to be overlooked but that 50% number, while I don't disbelieve, I still find Staggering. I was born and raised on a frozen mountainside in Alaska and cannot comprehend people who deal with that kind of a commute. How anyone, ANYONE would put up with that for a paycheck, no matter how good, just blows me away.
 
Not exactly-Diesel is extremely dirty in relation to a gas engine in emissions released. The additional upcharge for diesel engines (plus maintenance) and the gap between MPGs Diesel vs Gas engine has shrank dramatically (due to newer emissions standards being tougher on diesel) has practically removed any advantages diesel engines have had in light car/truck applications.

Not to play devil's advocate here....but wouldn't electric cars be easier for big brother to control? I mean couldnt fuel be distilled easier than electricity be produced and stored, from raw materials? Not to open a can of worms in terms of discourse here but I mean in a simple "yes-no" context.........
 
You have that completely backwards.

Well to Wheels efficiency of BEVs is about 3x-4x higher than HFCEVs. This is basic physics, and wont' really change.

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It's one of the main reason HFCEVs really have no chance with consumers. At minimum it will always cost at least 3x as much to fuel them. It's why Toyota and everyone else has to give away free hydrogen to their handful of buyers (AKA beta testers), to keep them from freaking about the fuel cost.

All of this assumes that renewable energy can power our electrical grid.

But it can't directly. You can't take wind power and solar power, which only work at random times or half the time, and power an electric grid normally. You have to have some way of storing that power, and whatever method you use will be expensive and wasteful.

So the expense and waste of using electricity to create hydrogen fuel and transport it around and burn it in fuel cells has to be compared to the expense and waste of enormous utility scale lithium batteries, if such a thing is feasible, or pumped storage facilities using raised artificial lakes, or huge underground compressed air power storage.
 
Toyota is one the biggest automakers, but it doesn’t sell a single fully electric vehicle in the United States. Why is that? According to vice president of research and development for Europe Gerald Killmann, it has all to do with battery production -- or the lack thereof. Toyota’s manageable supply can only allow for either 28,000 EVs or 1.5 million hybrid cars, and they’ve chosen the latter for being the more environmentally sound choice. Critics say the automaker is making excuses for terrible business decisions that have forced it to the back of the EV race.

...the calculation seems to assume that for every hybrid sold, a fully gasoline-powered car would be taken off the road. In reality, many Toyota hybrid buyers are replacing a Toyota hybrid. And, based on Toyota’s own revelation that they are losing Prius drivers to Tesla, it stands to reason that many Toyota hybrid drivers would jump at the opportunity to transition to an all-electric Toyota. Ultimately, Toyota's strategic decision to invest in gasoline-electric hybrids and bet on fuel cells in the long term is the reason that it isn't currently producing any electric cars.

That reasoning against Toyota's strategy seems stupid. What did those hybrid owners have before they bought hybrids? I just bought a used hybrid not long ago, I looked into getting an EV, but it was far more expensive. I don't see a problem with Toyota's model, it seems to be working well for them.
 
[...]but they are already starting to encroach an ice engine in terms of range anyway. How much range is enough to make you comfortable driving an ev? 300 miles? 500?
300 miles of stated range is a minimum for consideration, 400-500 miles would be the point I didn't care anymore. Do I need that range all the time? Nope. But last Tuesday between leaving home that morning and returning that evening, needed to drive around 250 miles. In a situation like that, being left with less than 50 miles of range is worrisome.

In every other vehicle I have available to me, I have at least 300 miles of range and can refill in 5 minutes. An electric car would have required a 20+ minute stop that I really could not have afforded at that time, not to mention that I'd have to go out of the way to find some kind of electric charging station.

That said, I am very interested in an electric vehicle. In fact, I keep working over numbers to see if I could squeeze in a Model 3 after my truck is paid off...but that also means going into the purchase with cash in hand as I won't have a vehicle to trade as a "down payment.'
 
While true the electrical grid and power plants are more efficient than any individual car is. So yes it moves the pollution a few hundred KM to the left but producing and delivering the electricity to 100,000 vehicles is still cleaner than the production and delivery of gasoline to those same vehicles.

But you lose pretty much everything that you gain because producing the cars is in the ICE engines favor, in simple terms, making EVs is dirtier, mostly because of the batteries.

There is no net gain here which really beggars the question, why are we eating up the special metals and other materials required for EVs if it's not actually all around better?

Might need those metals for something else later that will make a real difference, not just feel good.

And if we do transition to something actually better later, will that electric grid buff be foresight, or just a wasteful construct that costs us even more later to yank out? We sure won't be leaving all that copper laying around that's for sure.
 
Really?

The whole ball of wax, the entire enchilada, what was the environmental and mineral costs of improving the electric grid to support EVs? Add it all in man.

Yes Really. The whole enchilada:
https://www.ucsusa.org/sites/defaul...ner-Cars-from-Cradle-to-Grave-full-report.pdf

• From cradle to grave, BEVs are cleaner. On average, BEVs representative of those sold today produce less than half the global warming emissions of comparable gasoline-powered vehicles, even when the higher emissions associated with BEV manufacturing are taken into consideration. Based on modeling of the two most popular BEVs available today and the regions where they are currently being sold, excess manufacturing emissions are offset within 6 to 16 months of average driving.
 
But you lose pretty much everything that you gain because producing the cars is in the ICE engines favor, in simple terms, making EVs is dirtier, mostly because of the batteries.
Those batteries can still be recycled, and are also improving.
There is no net gain here which really beggars the question, why are we eating up the special metals and other materials required for EVs if it's not actually all around better?
Cause you have limited scope on what is "better". It should be said that pretty much all new cars from GM and Ford are going to at least by hybrids, which means they all get batteries. Smaller batteries but batteries. The new Corvette C8 is said to be a rear engine mounted DOHC V8 with a hybrid electric motor.

And if we do transition to something actually better later, will that electric grid buff be foresight, or just a wasteful construct that costs us even more later to yank out? We sure won't be leaving all that copper laying around that's for sure.
The grind isn't going anywhere obviously. How we power it depends on us. Solar, Wind, Nuclear are all valid choices though I'm not a big fan of nuclear. Transmission lines lose about 5% of energy to heat while batteries lose about 2% energy to store it. Bringing a tanker truck to a gas station uses a lot more energy than that.
 
But you lose pretty much everything that you gain because producing the cars is in the ICE engines favor, in simple terms, making EVs is dirtier, mostly because of the batteries.

There is no net gain here which really beggars the question, why are we eating up the special metals and other materials required for EVs if it's not actually all around better?

Might need those metals for something else later that will make a real difference, not just feel good.

And if we do transition to something actually better later, will that electric grid buff be foresight, or just a wasteful construct that costs us even more later to yank out? We sure won't be leaving all that copper laying around that's for sure.
That comes down to where the batteries are made and materials sources. Coming from China, Africa, or other places lacking environmental standards then yeah it’s filthy. Japan, US, Canada, etc, it’s not nearly as bad and there are strict requirements for cleaning up any mess you do make and disposal of chemicals in a safe way. But that adds a lot of cost, what needs to happen is a big shift in battery tech before EV’s can really take off. As far as upgrades to the Electrical grid, that needs to happen. In Much of the US parts of the grid are upwards of 60 years old hell where I live in Canada we had a 48 hour outage so they could upgrade stuff that hadn’t been touched in over 70 years.
 
I don't see anything in here about the emissions and resource expenditures related to expansion of the electrical grid.

And that report, shit it's got old data in it from 2012-2014. A lot has changed in 5 years, a lot isn't the same.

It could be far better, it could also be a different picture in areas.

It's better today. The have fleet average equivalent carbon footprint of EV = 68 MPG gas car, today it is 80 MPG, so payback time would shorten.

I am not trying to convince you. I realize most posters have their minds made up, just the counterpoint for others reading.
 
That's actually a really common use case for people buying all electric. I'm seriously considering it when I have to replace my car. I can use an EV for my commute but if I go on a big trip I still have a ICE. And I wouldn't get an EV for efficiency and being green. I would get one because of safety and performance.

That's pretty clear as they are worthless for anything but local driving. Why not just get a hybrid, even SUV's are like into 40mpg and you can go anywhere. I hardly doubt that having an overpriced EV and an ICE car is going to save you money. There are also so many more choices outside of EV, I think they really have a long way to go to be universally useful unless you don't have a family to haul around. Crash tests are only bettle for rollover for most due to center of gravity. I think eventually EV is going to be the future or inevitable way to go but that is likely much further away than most make themselves believe.
 
Toyota's CEO was anti-EV, his engineers showed him their prototype and he coldly dismissed it and ridiculed their idea. No one dared question him due to Japanese corporate culture.

They just got caught with their pants down as their Prius sales cratered in California all of a sudden when new gen EVs entered the market.

That sounds like some kind of Tesla wet dream. Are you sure it had nothing to do with gas prices coming back down from the stratosphere?

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I just built electric bicycle. Bought a $100 hybrid cannondale and invested $800 in battery/motor. Gets 100 miles average. Cruises 30mph average with pedaling.
Why can't toyota do something similar, like just build some simple vehicle, low cost. No fancy AC, no power steering. Stamp sheet metal using an existing chassis design that can fit 50kwh batteries. Sell for $20K. Done
 
Can we please stop pretending that EV batteries are remotely efficient? They might be power efficient but that is a singular and poor metric. For things that move you also have to consider energy to weight ratios and in that category batteries are one of the least efficient things in existence.

Hybrids make more senses in the long run simply because you get everything all in one place. Switch the liquid fuel to something like methanol and you automatically cut emissions by 75%. Go the ship route(liquid fuel>electrical gen>eletrical motor) and you can get even higher efficiencies for less money and effectively equal if not higher ranges than ICE.
 
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