[1] Even more impressive is that these are sales of a single model...
Edit: Just reading the post twice. Tesla took 7 years to go from ~0 to 250K annually. Toyota took 18 years. Not really an apple to apple comparison
But if you want to compare yearly figures...the non-liftback models went from 0 sales to 530,000 in sales in just 2 years. Now that is impressive. And it's also the counterpoint to Musk's Tesla: both Tesla and Toyota knew that demand existed for their cars. But Toyota knew how to execute properly, and did so, and was able to satisfy that demand. Tesla so far has royally fucked up, continues to fuck up, and it's up in the air whether they'll be able to right the ship before they run out of money.
They didn't invent the market, the Prius was just a better Honda Insight (primarily by virtue of having 3 more seats). Again, they deserve massive credit for their accomplishments.
But, again, they lose the "sales increase" by a wide margin unless you tweak that by insisting on limiting it to "a single model".
Certainly we don't know if Tesla will survive but the challenges facing a new carmarker of any sort are simply massive, rather than just producing a slightly-differently-propelled model in addition to the millions of conventional cars you already produce.
And where you really fall over is by trying to argue about "the non-liftback models" which I can only presume means the discontinued[1] Prius V which is a slightly-differently-bodied version of an existing car.
But I'm not quite clear on your comment-- At first I thought it was to be read that the Toyota accomplishment was more impressive than Tesla's. But then I realized maybe you meant it to be less impressive, because the scale is far less. So I assumed you meant maybe Tesla's accomplishment was the more impressive one. But then you said Toyota's is EVEN MORE impressive when you consider that it's just a single model (which is a good point).
I've driven a stick-shift for a while in the past and always wondered if there was a way to capture the engine power when you downshift for engine braking coming up to a red light. Not sure how it would work though.
Flywheels could work, but they are heavy, and have a potentially unsafe failure mode (dense material disintegrating at high RPM).
If we relax that "restriction"... Toyota says they sold 1.52 million electrified vehicles in 2017. That includes the Prius (both hybrid and PHEV variants), all their other hybrids (they have at least one hybrid option in most market segments they cover now), and the Mirai (fuel cell vehicle), across both the Toyota and Lexus brands.
It sounds a little less impressive when you realize that's only about 15% of the vehicles they sold globally, though (10.386 million cars globally, although I'm not 100% sure if that number includes Lexus).
Now if only people would stop driving their Prius' 10-under in the fast lane.
(I own a 2018 and am very happy with it, but I've never driven an older one, so I can't personally address any complaints about driving dynamics.)
My least favorite thing is the near-deafening road noise, particularly in the back seat. It's got a tin can door closure sound that reminds me of a Renault 5 or something. It's a HUGE step down from most economy cars in those regards.
This was through the 2nd and 3rd gen, at least. I've not been in a 4th gen.
The first incarnation of the Honda Insight was before the Prius, and somewhat successful before the Prius came on the scene and took over.
No, 17,000 or so were sold, and it was the first mass produced hybrid sold in the US.
The insight WAS offered for sale, and Tesla DOES lease their cars[1]
Thats for '00-'06 sales. idk what the first year sales were but the Pirus was on the scene very soon after the Insight.
The other obvious thing, the Insight looked like a car for weirdos. Something that tesla and later model prius / leaf's have tried to avoid.
Edit: Okay, maybe 1996 in Japan? According to this Wikipedia link, the Insight DOES predate the Prius but only in the US: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hybrid_electric_vehicles_in_th...