Tron-car / iMobile / eMachine styling ? Check.
Dumping ground for UI/UX experiments ? Check.
...
God forbid they would just give us an electric Camry. Or a forerunner. Or a Tacoma.
Do they not understand ?
We don't want your "electric car" - we want your car, electric.
NX Exterior: https://inchcapecdn.azureedge.net/cdn-images/stock/f/fn19yuj...
UX Exterior rear: https://cdn.carbuzz.com/gallery-images/840x560/498000/900/49...
RX Interior: https://www.carscoops.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/2021-Le...
An electric version would not have any of that.
I just would not expect them to waste the 4Runner/Tacoma branding on an experimental product due to the ICE 4Runner/Tacoma’s spectacular reputation as one of the most reliable cars available.
A rock solid EV that doesn't need a lot of repairs, and when it does, is simple/cheap to repair would be a huge win for EV buyers.
Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but this isn't an EV thing, it's a Tesla thing.
I am not into cars, but I can only assume the Lead/Volt/whatever else out there is bad quality or has some other drawback that causes them to basically be non existent on the roads.
So unless you've actually been looking, it's likely the body styles just haven't stood out enough for you to notice.
About 79% of EVs in the US are Tesla. They exist, but Tesla certainly absolutely dominates the market.
The major drawback to other brands has many facets:
- Reputation for low range. The first Nissan Leaf made in 2011 had an EPA range of only 73 miles. In 2016, they started giving a bigger battery, but it still only had a paltry 107 mile range. It wasn't until 2019 that they started offering a battery with a 226 mile range, but by then, the reputation as a short-range EV was essentially set in stone.
- Slow charging speed. Teslas can charge at up to a whopping 250 kW, which can grant 75 miles of range in only 5 minutes. Meanwhile, the Leaf only supported up to 50 kW until 2019, and even now only does 100 kW.
- Lack of charging infrastructure. This is related to the previous note. If you go to a site like PlugShare.com, you can see TONS of chargers in any metro area, but the problem is, the extreme majority of them are J-1772 plugs that charge at <10 kW. At that speed, it takes an hour to get just 30 miles of range.
All that is compounded by the fact that car dealerships are often disincentivized to sell EVs. Dealerships make a significant portion of their money in the repair and maintenance bays. Since EVs require far less maintenance, and so far are proving far more reliable, dealerships don't want to sell them.
They were a battery innovator and supplier for formula-e and now started they own car production.
I also hear good things about the Hyundai Kona, which is quite similar in terms of build and features. (They share a bunch of tech, I believe.)
Volkswagen's newest model, ID.4, is now being sold in the US. It's great.
The Chevy Bolt is not the latest tech, but I hear a lot of people are happy with it.
In Europe, of course, the variety is much greater: In addition to the above, you also have the Peugot e-208, Nissan Leaf, Opel Corsa-e, Škoda Enyaq, Ford e-Mach, Audi e-tron, Jaguar I-PACE, Polestar, etc.
A few. Chevrolet will sell ~30,000 EV units this year in the US.
And this is getting some attention:
https://www.caranddriver.com/chevrolet/bolt-euv
Chevy needs to get that price down to $25k-$26k (their Trax ICE vehicle that the Bolt EUV looks like is $21k base).
The Ford Mustang EV will sell 20k units this year, or just over that.
The Volkswagen ID.4 will sell maybe 13k-14k units this year.
Nissan Leaf 10k units; Audi EVs 8k-9k units; Hyundai EVs 8k-9k units; Porsche Taycan 8k-9k units (the Taycan is now outselling the 911 in the US market).
What I did say:
> It's a key market advantage they are about to lose.
Toyota has a key market advantage among ICE power trains. They do not have a key market advantage with electric power trains. (Though they should, given their decades of Prius production.)
The EVs that ended up selling well ultimately were Tesla vehicles, which were closer to this thing than an electric Camry.
The Honda Fit EV had an 82 mile range, and could only be leased. (And Honda Fits were neat, but never sold that well, and even the gas version was pulled from the United States market.)
The Golf, on the other hand, is very popular, but the Golf EV had a 125-mile range, and was only sold in very limited markets/quantities.
What EV version of a popular vehicle had competitive range, produced in sufficient quality, and priced competitively? I can't think of any.
You'd think "Not everyone needs a car that can do long trips, so an EV that trades range for affordability is just satisfying a market segment!", and you'd be right...if consumers were rational.
Range anxiety is one of the top hurdles for EV adoption. Manufacturers that produce cars with only ~100 mile range, that only support charging at <20 kW only perpetuate the mentality that EVs don't have the range to be viable for anything other than commuting.
People who aren't EV enthusiasts and don't follow car or tech news specifically are likely to miss the memo that not only do long-range EVs exist, but they can be charged FAST. Obviously, they still don't charge as fast as a gas tank can be filled, but fast enough that day trips are quite viable, and road trips only require a little extra planning.
But yes, these are exceptions.
But that's all under the skin. The styling and interiors can look as mundane or wild as the maker chooses.
Perhaps. But the Leaf alone is a significant counterpoint to that. Contrast with the abject market failure of the electric-from-the-ground-up i3.
It just means that not everyone has the same taste, and some peoples' tastes are in a minority, even if they don't know it.
This is, in fact, the case.
If Audi launches electric A4/A6/A8 tomorrow, that will be (roughly) 100% of their sales and they know it.
But they have billions sunk into ... (see my comment downthread about manufacturing and tooling).
So consumers need to wait for their lifetime ROI to satisfy the incumbent manufacturers such that they are willing to jettison those investments and electrify their actual lineup.
The worst offender, by far, is Volvo whose marketing pedigree, target audience and models produces are a perfect match for 21st century electric car buyers ... and yet we're two full model cycles past the Tesla Model S and I still can't get an electric V90 wagon ...
> Launched under a sub-brand ? Check.
It's still a Toyota. What sub-brand are you referring to?
> Tron-car / iMobile / eMachine styling ? Check.
No more or less than every single crossover wanna-be SUV for the last 15 years. Cars have pretty much visually converged to looking the same, due to aerodynamic requirements.
> Dumping ground for UI/UX experiments ? Check.
The wing-shaped steering wheel is optional. What else is being dumped here as an experiment?
> We don't want your "electric car" - we want your car, electric.
If you have a driving pattern with short trips, you can already drive any single Toyota PHEV as an electric car.
Also, pure EV Camries and RAV4s are sure to follow this in the next couple of years.
EDIT It just occurred to me that this has already happened once: comparing the cars of the 50s/60s to the 80s, it is clear that there is a lot more going on than one would think. Is it inflation? Regulation? Corporate politics? Zeitgeist?
We already know the answer - they have billions invested in supply chains, manufacturing and tooling that are all sunk costs with diminishing ROI if they actually make their cars electric.
We are witnessing a (frustrating) balancing act wherein the incumbent manufacturers attempt to squeeze as much return as possible from these old-line investments while simultaneously attempting to remain relevant and hedge their future bets.
But thats just a theory, and there are other plausible ones.
(But I agree with the rest - it's hideous, poorly named, thoroughly uninspiring, and overdue.)
The Pontiac Aztek and Toyota C-HR are hideous and polarizing. The only people that want them want to demonstrate that they don't care what their car looks like. That takes more commitment than taking on a bland, uninspiring vehicle like a Camry.
In my opinion, the bZ4X is also kind of "alternate powertrain" hideous. In a way, that worked for the Prius. You could clearly tell that the driver was an eco-warrior driving something "different." I think Toyota might actually be trying to hint at Lexus with this styling, which has a similar edginess to it.
The BMW 3-series is a model, not a sub-brand, even if variations all get a "3xx" name.
Prius begat hybrid Corolla.
This is all very much how Toyota rolls these things out.