The financing is really competitive too (100-200/mo lease) and the underlying platform was co-developed with BYD.
I'd have considered it if it was eligible for federal tax credits, which it won't be for at least a year.
A lot of the bz4x hate seems to come from a subset of Redditor EV enthusiasts who treat their brand of EV as if it's a defining identity, instead of as a tool to take you from point A to point B.
> Toyota needs to get off their haunches and release something actually competitive
Toyota (like other Japanese companies) is dependent on Japanese government largesse, and METI has stated that Hydrogen Fuel Cell research and Solid State Battery research are Japan's priorities from a energy independence standpoint (they don't own the underlying IP for Li-ion batteries and the entire lithium processing supply chain is still in China, and the SSBs Toyota and Idemetsu are researching use significantly less lithium).
This is reflected in Toyota's research priorities as well, but it looks like they've made some massive breakthroughs in sulfide SSBs that are in the process of being rolled out globally [0][1] (the expanded Toyota battery factory in the North Carolina will be building this battery).
[0] - https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/toyota...
[1] - https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-10-12/toyota-id...
Good lease deals on compliance cars has been a thing for a while now.
Why would one of the largest car companies in the world purposely create an inferior product when their competitors are already making successful EUVs? That would just make them look incompetent. More likely that old companies have a harder time changing their core competencies?
In our case we’re looking for a secondary commuter car, so range and charging don’t matter. We were about to pull the trigger on a Model Y, but I worry about my wife’s safety in a car where software updates change key features such as how the cruise control functions with little notice.
That's why Toyota and Idemetsu are rolling out sulfide Solid State Battery manufacturing in NC with production starting in 2026.
That’s news to me. Did I unintentionally risk my (very non-technical) wife’s safety when I gave her my Y?
The reliance on touchscreen controls is why I didn’t recommend my nearly 80 year old father to get a Tesla, despite how much he loves my CT and Y. Not sure what EV would be good for him though. He needs a 200+ mi range and as “dumb” of a UI as he can get. For now he’s keeping his RAV4.