Toyota isn't "avoiding" EVs, they just aren't rushing to put out a bunch of first-gen-tech EV-only cars. Which seems perfectly fine -- if you want those, Chevrolet and Tesla and Nissan would be happy to sell you those.
No, Toyota is all in for fossil fuels. Even hydrogen cells (while they burn clean) are only generated from nat gas currently (and even more limited than EV charging stations).
The situation is even more unequal than it would seem based on "count EV charging stations vs hydrogen charging stations", since many EVs are charged at home on L2 chargers, and any electrical plug that's within reach of a vehicle using an extension cable is a potential EV trickle charger, for emergency use or convenient top-up.
Electricity infrastructure is very widespread. Hydrogen remains hard to work with and thus far more centralised.
And that's probably why most think that it's a very bad EV. The competition is several iterations ahead and seems set to remain so.
The Solterra is the same car as the Toyota bZ4X and Lexus RZ450e. It is a very mediocre EV, far behind its competition in efficiency and charging. It demonstrates as well as anything Toyota's absolute refusal to take EVs seriously.
They don't. PHEV's spend 50%-80% of their time on electric only, if you use them properly. (Just plug them in once each evening).
> The Solterra (snip) is a very mediocre EV, far behind its competition in efficiency and charging.
The Solterra is roughly competitive with a Tesla Model 3 (Standard Range) or a Chevy Bolt. Which is fine, they're all reasonable EVs, but I'd still call all of these "first generation consumer EVs".
We're at the "everyone has a BlackBerry, the iPhone hasn't been released yet" stage of automotive EVs, in my humble opinion.
If. And since that "if" is false, then the "they don't" is also false.
https://electrek.co/2024/03/25/yet-another-study-shows-plug-...
Calling a traditional ICE hybrid an "EV" is disingenuous, completely agree. Calling a PHEV an EV is 100% totally fair.
I drive a used 2017 Chevy Volt (a "legacy auto makers" PHEV). I am fortunate enough to have a regular garage with a standard (120v/12a level 1) outlet + charger, and I only charge the car in at night while I'm sleeping. The car records all usage on all fuels for it's entire lifetime. Over the past 78,000 miles, my lifetime MPG on the vehicle is like 145mpg, despite the fact that I take a few long trips (multi-states away) each year. The vast vast majority of miles all end up being electric-only.
Yes, some people buy a PHEV and then never charge them, and yes, this defeats the whole point. But it's perfectly fair to call a PHEV an EV. Under normal regular intended usage, they're running on electricity-only anywhere from 50% to 80%+ of all total miles driven.