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As long as gas is under $3/gal it will be tough to get customers on board. Why would I pay $5-10k+ extra for an electric vehicle or PHEV that still is not as capable or convenient as a ICE and can take 15 years to pay for the additional technology?
I have no doubt the day is coming where the ICE is gone, but it's going to take a while.
Not me.
In our litigious society there are whole schools of sharks waiting for anything to go amiss so that they can file a class action lawsuit against anyone with deep pockets. Hell Honda settled a class action suit on the Civic hybrid simply because it advertised the EPA numbers for fuel economy - as it's required to do by law. They did what they were instructed to do and still they got sued and so they settled out of court.
Toyota is behind thrashed all over the internets and press because a Lexus dealer put the wrong All Weather Mat into the wrong vehicle and didn't secure it resulting in a tragedy.
Do you think makers might be a little gun-shy about putting new technologies on the roads now? The sharks are circling.
You are wrong on the T-100 It was not built on the same frame as the Taco. The T-100 was imported from Japan and never built here. It was a Mid size truck like the Dakota. Like I said I have owned 3 T-100s and about 6 or 7 Taco's I have never seen rust on the T-100s frame except a little surface rust after 150,000 miles or 7 years (in this area) I used to buy T-100s or Tacos drive them for a year then sell them for more than I paid. That worked good till I could not find any T-100s for sale and the Taco's were rusted to pieces. I bought a brand new Taco and do not drive it if there is any salt on the roads. On the other forum I use (4X4 wire) Those boys were buying T-100s with 200,000 miles on them and running them to 400,000 miles. If anyone knows of a T100s frame rusting through I would like to see that.
Unless you never, ever wander far from home?
I have to make a run up to east armpit NY in a few weeks to take my son back to school. About 250miles each way (and right now, danged cold!)
Am I supposed to stop for the night half way up and half way back to recharge?
At least the current hybrids make some logical sense, even if they probably fail on a practical ($$) and real cost (purchase too) basis.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
I agree with you. I do not know how the Automobile, Pharma, food, consumer product companies can make any money with the sharks out there trying to make a buck. It just ends up costing us the consumer in the end.
This increases the prices for everybody. As the old adv line used to go..."It's in there."
Pointing to how Prius has become a universal icon for hybrid technology, Lentz confirmed that TMS is developing a Prius family “marketing strategy” for North America that will take full advantage of the Prius brand equity.
“The strategy is still taking shape and obviously it will require additional models to qualify as a family,” said Lentz. “Among others, the FT-CH is a concept that we are considering.”
In the early 2010s, Toyota plans to sell a million hybrids per year globally, a majority of those in North America. To accomplish this, Toyota will launch eight all new hybrid models over the next few years. These will not include next generation versions of current hybrids; instead, they will be all new dedicated hybrid vehicles, or all new hybrid versions of existing gas engine models.
This IMO is using the hammer that the Prius has become. Pound, Pound, Pound - in a marketing sense - and build upon the foundation of positives that the Prius name engenders in the public. In addition to dedicated new 'Prius' models it appears that we shall soon see a hybrid van/MPV of some form and shape ( Sienna or Prius ) along with updates on the HH and TCH as normally scheduled.
I'd estimate the HH v 2.0 to be announced later this year and the TCH v 2.0 to be announced when the Gen 7 Camry is announced for early next year.
“Within the next 10 to 20 years, we will not only reach peak oil we will enter a period where demand for all liquid fuels will exceed supply,” said Jim Lentz, TMS president. “A century after the invention of the automobile, we must re-invent it with powertrains that significantly reduce or eliminate the use of conventional petroleum fuels. One of many alternatives is through what is commonly called the electrification of the automobile. By far, the single most successful example of this has been the gas-electric hybrid.”
IOW the leading vehicle maker in the world announces that it is actively developing a strategy where reliance on petro-fuels is passe' at a time in the near future.
Hybrids, PHVs, BEVs and FCHVs will be our future transportation sooner than we may have thought. If eonomic and political events intrude then the onset of electification could be sudden and shocking :surprise: to the petro-fuel-driven vehicle.
I still wonder what will happen with these hybrid vehicles in the next few years. Are they going to be more difficult to maintain and cost more to maintain? I don't understand why people shell out thosands more for these vehicles than for a regular one. It is not cost effective, and money is merely a measure of resources. So, it is a waste of resources to pay more for something than is necessary. If they want to, that's fine, but it really isn't saving anything.
If you think you're paying more for energy than you should then, in Toyota's view, you may be in for a rude awakening in the next decade.
What if you couldn't get but 10 gal per week? That was your personal ration.
What if fuel jumped to $6 or $8 as it is in Europe?
What if al-Qaeda decided that rather than bomb airlines it would bomb tankers in the straits of Hormuz?
What if Iran was nuked by Israel?
What if extremists did away with the Royal Family in Saudi?
Believe what you wish. It doesn't affect me one bit. I'm protected now and will continue to be protected in the future.
You're entirely wrong about costs because you haven't done any analysis. Or, if you have then you haven't done it properly. I have done them, multiple, multiple times. Sorry you're way out of your league on this.
What happens when the batteries need to be replaced in these vehicles? They are very expensive, no? Add that to the up-front cost of buying one of these vehicles, and it still does not seem that they are a good buy.
The only way to see if any technology is worth having is to let it compete in the free market. As long as government is intervening, there will be distortions, waste, and unintended consequences. If we had a true, competitive market and people wanted to buy hybrid vehicles and manufacturers could make a profit selling them, then that's great. Government subsidies cause waste and unnecessary expense. That is true in all cases.
Every time government intervenes and tries to fix something, there are always unintended consequences. The "fix" is almost always worse than the initial problem, and for some reason, everybody clamors for government to "fix" the new problem.. and so on and so on.
I am just leery of new technology that is rushed to market and then subsidized by government to help it sell. (Yes, I am an old fogey.)
You may continue on believing as you wish but you won't go untouched because events are already taking place to implement these new strategies.
Again on the hybrid issue you simply must do a lot more research. You're about 5 yrs late to this discussion. The batteries never need to be replaced in the hybrids. They are turning out to be the most durable part of the vehicles. The lifetimes are certainly somewhere in excess of 300,000 miles if not 500,000 miles. The hybrid systems need no maintenance...ever! Yes ... as in no expense...ever!
Politica rants ==========> Gagrice, et al have a special forum for those.
As for the comment above about oil coming from other sources than the Middle East, yes that's true, BUT if Middle Eastern production is taken out for even a short period, you can bet that the REST of the oil supplied will rapidly rise in price.
Are you still under the misconception from 2003 that these batteries get dumped in some landfill? Are you still not aware of what is in these NiMH batteries? Have you done no research on your own since 2003?
C'mon Rip, wake up!!
No I'll do it for you so that you don't have to work too hard...
1. NiMH batteries have no toxic materials in them at all.
2. NiMH batteries can be disassembled in your garage without the EPA arresting you.
3. NiMH batteries are considered 'green power' because you can't hurt the environment when they're done.
4. The NiMH batteries contain Nickel which is very expensive and Toyota and other makers want that Nickel back. They pay a $200 Bounty for every returned battery.
5. There no lead or acid in the batteries.
Amazingly this is all available on this place called the internet. There's a tool called Google that might help.
I am with others here. Until alternative sources of energy becomes economically viable, they will continue to make only a small impact.
I would say the holy grail for electric cars is 300 miles on a single charge of a relatively small battery pack....at a viable price.
Packaged in something like the Prius or better, I would put down $30K. Otherwise, no thanks !
2013 LX 570 2016 LS 460
If you were responsible for 305 million people, their jobs, wealth, health and well being and your analysts told you that while there is a lot of oil left in the earth... we can't get at it economically and we can't bring it to market for a lonnnggg time. Would you say, 'Well let's hope for the best.'?
No, obviously. This is not just a parlor room or cocktail party discussion now. Real companies and actual governments are taking the issue seriously enough to formulate actions and strategies in order to be ready to react when it occurs. Will it be in July of 2014? Who knows. November 2018? Maybe. Sometime in 2022? A good chance. Those that have the data from industry and can see the growth of the world can see the graphs of 'have and need' separating. When will it create a crisis? Place your bets ladies and gentlemen.
If the gov would remove the barriers to clean diesel, we could cut our consumption by 40% overnight and forget all the "what ifs".
2013 LX 570 2016 LS 460
I've said this all over the diesel threads. It's not the gov. It's the vehicle makers themselves that are killing diesel vehicles here in NA. GM, Toyota, Ford in the lead,with now all the rest following behind, have already determined that diesel-fueled LPV's will not sell in N America in any kind of quantity to justify the expenses of
a. fabrication
b. education
c. marketing
"..cut our consumption by 40% overnight..."? You're so out of touch with reality that you've gotta try selling igloos in the Amazon. The NA buying public doesn't want diesel-powered LPVs. Back to the dark and dirty diesel threads with your rants please.
New diesels are actually cleaner that gas these days. I'll bet if Toyota started selling diesels here you would change your tune fast enough !!
2013 LX 570 2016 LS 460
I don't want to hear any whining when VW kicks into gear and outsells your beloved hybrids in the USA with diesel cars. Now that the USA is a second rate auto buying country. The company with the better mouse trap will win. Diesel is SOOOO much better than hybrids for all but stop and go driving.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, if one third of the U.S. passenger vehicle fleet were powered by diesels, foreign oil imports could be reduced 1.4 million barrels per day. By comparison, that savings is 40 percent greater than the one million barrels the U.S. imports from Saudi Arabia every day. This reduced crude oil consumption would cut carbon dioxide emissions by 180 million tons per year.
EPA says we need more diesel cars
I think 40% was the figure posted by Houdini. So you might want to catch up on current events. I would even consider a small Toyota PU if it was diesel. Otherwise I am in my last Toyota. After 3 sad experiences over 45 years I finally have learned my lesson.
Heh, y'all are doing fine keeping yourselves on track.
There is this:
What Would It Take for YOU to buy a diesel car?
Do you just want to talk about all the Toyota recalls and the people who have been killed by unintended acceleration? That can't be good for sales !! :shades:
2013 LX 570 2016 LS 460
Has the information from the Runaway Lexus black box that only Toyota seems to be able to unlock been released by the San Diego sheriff's office or the prosecutors yet? :sick:
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
VW has made huge strides in both style and greatly improved build quality in just the last few years. Toyota for many years now has been heavily reliant on their reputation given their cars for quite some time are not seen as exciting but mere appliances to go from point A to point B.
With the highly public stuck gas pedal accident and some other recent issues Toyota's reputation has lost some of its shine thus they now need their vehicles to sell them selves vs PR.
Can VW be no1? I would almost say that they don't want to be no1 given that title seems to be a curse.
Sorry to have to disappoint you...again. :shades:
While you and others might not understand the automarket Toyota certainly does. In fact the only metric that is worth anything is 'How does the public perceive Toyota?' You and others might not like the company and its vehicles but that's not at all being reflected in actual sales.
Since this is a business not a beauty contest the only metric that has any validity is sales. Your opinion has been noted, given appropriate consideration and has been filed.
Here's a hint why there is no movement away from Toyota except in your mind. People are basically self-centered. They think of themselves and their own conditions first and foremost. As long as the huge majority of owners is highly satisfied with with their vehicles, then whatever occurs to somebody else is just somebody else's business, their bad luck. Isolated cases have no effect on anyone no matter what the press would have you believe. Watch the sales stats.
Next.
Face toward the east tomorrow morning just before dawn and as it gets brighter start screaming .....
"NO NO NO don't come up..Stay down, stay down."
I'm certain that if you do this every morning that as soon as you're successful in keeping the sun from rising that the entire auto industry will see your pov and suddenly begin to build diesel LPVs in mass quantities for NA....and a few might actually sell.
In the meanwhile the Germans are bringing hybrids here.
Sales stats as proven by GM and Ford mean nothing if your discounting and offering lots of promotional deals to move product. Nor does it reflect on product quality or owner satisfaction.
And yes a brand is 100% perception backed up with some truth. It's not a secret nor is it rocket science to say that Toyota's reputation is not what it once was.
Was that in the news somewhere?
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Despite your beliefs and feelings nothing like this is occuring chez-Toyota.
According to Edmunds herein,
The Camry is the No 1 model in the US for 2009.
The Corolla is the No 1 small car model for 2009...again.
The Corolla nameplate passed the Accord nameplate for No 2 auto overall.
The Prius is...well ...the future;c.f. today's NAIAS
The Tacoma owns the small truck market
More actual buyers purchase the Highlander/RX crossovers twins than any other models from any other maker.
AND
Toyota has the strongest financial position of any maker.
Now as of today it has taken another leadership step with the presentation at the NAIAS. The presentation today wasn't about the new concept Prius that might arrive soon. Look at the paragraph subjects and count. The presentation laid out the future direction over the next 10-20 yrs.
The electification of vehicles will be used in a variety of modes.
Fuel cell options will be implemented where they make sense.
Implicit is that petro-fuels will remain a significant source of power but it will strongly de-emphasized.
Why the disrespectful, ridiculing type of post?
If you don't actually have a source, just say so. Thanks.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
So Toyota has a lot in common with Walmart. :P
Scars from crash remain raw
Santee wreck that killed 4 is still haunting witnesses
Witnesses said the car jumped a curb, smashed through a wooden fence, hit an embankment, rocketed into the air again, flipped, flipped again, caught fire and came to a stop in the bed of the San Diego River.
Valencia, an off-duty sheriff’s deputy, jumped out of his car and into the smoke. The 2009 Lexus now looked like a battered clunker, he said. Flames licked the tires. He tugged on Mark Saylor’s blue shirt.
“Hey, wake up. Wake up!” Valencia yelled.
He looked at the other bodies in the car. He remains burdened by what he saw. That’s no way, he says, to remember people, even if they were strangers.
He reached through the broken windows and tried to pull the bodies out, but they were wedged too tightly under the crushed roof. The heat from the flames forced him back.
“I felt completely helpless,” Valencia said. “I had no fire extinguisher, no tools, no radio.”
He ran back to the street and was surprised to see about 30 people standing at the intersection. Many snapped photos with their cell phones.
Why weren’t they helping, he thought.
A man used a baby blanket to try to snuff out small brush fires from the car debris. The soot made it hard to breathe.
Murphy had stopped by the side of the road, but now wanted so badly to drive away. It was too much. But she also wanted to tell law enforcement officials what she saw.
“It was like a nightmare you had to be awake for,” she said.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2009/dec/20/scars-crash-remain-raw/
This more what you would rather see posted, than where are the diesel cars?
Of course the kid can always claim it was the extra floor mat that did it.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Are we waiting for Toyota to declare bankruptcy?
Are we waiting for more recalls?
Or are we just waiting to see if they develop a new innovation?
I personally don't think taking a car with a full powertrain and adding a second full powertrain is all that innovative, but the public likes it and that is what's important.
I miss the 1991-1995 MR2 Turbo with the t-tops. Those were a hoot.
Oh man, now were talking. I used to participate in SCCA Solo II events in the late 90's. We had a young kid that had a '92 or so MR2 turbo that had some aftermarket turbo upgrades. Wow, that thing was quick, sounded cool to. You could always here the wastegate or pop off valve making it's poosh sound.
He was always one of the quickest through the course, even when vette's would show up. Those small cars like Mr2s, and Miata's had a big advantage due to their small size on a tight course.
One of these days I'd be fun to pick up a used MR2 or Miata, put some money in it and hit the track. Good times.
...then look inside yourself. Is this where you have decended? You may be below pond scum.
they are arrogant.
got a ride in my sister's prius, 33 mpg average. Awesome!
These are two of the largest five automakers in the world, folks. What they are doing is so much bigger than a [non-permissible content removed]-kicker war between the bashers and the lovers.
Will Whitacre overstay his welcome, and will he ever rethink the wisdom of keeping four brands in North America? Will Akio Toyoda's ascent change the direction of the company's boring product in the next few years as he insists it will?
The talk of the early 90s Mister Two's has me waxing nostalgic too....
I see that Ford got BOTH North American Car of the Year AND North American Truck of the Year. While everyone is in here trying to out-shout each other about whether Toyota or GM (or VW) has 10 more annual sales, Ford is quietly going to make off with the market....using INNOVATION rather than COST-CUTTING as its secret ingredient.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
And I love it. I keep thinking I should sell my Ford stock and it keeps on going up. It is the brightest spot in my 401K. Toyota is boring and whenever you suggest they come out with something really innovative like a diesel PU truck, you get slammed by the diesel haters on the thread. Or called names for posting facts about Toyota that are not pleasant.
So what you are seeing is the GM of Japan going the same route that led the largest automaker in the World into bankruptcy. Toyota just has a little more savings. Won't last long with many losing years like the last one.
Toyota IS boring and has cost-cut WAY beyond where it should have stopped, but posting soap-opera-like accounts of the feelings of witnesses to a tragic crash from months back, even if it DID involve a Toyota, doesn't help, gagrice.
As for this energetic crusade for diesel you are waging on the boards, I think you have to be realistic and understand that unless one of the Big 6 has a sudden and massive change of heart, diesels are not going to arrive at widespread acceptance in America any time soon, and that's not something you can lay solely at Toyota's door. Ford, GM, Honda, all have backed off their diesel plans in the last six months. I think maybe electric powertrains stole the limelight or something, but the emissions challenges, the costs, and the lack of acceptance of diesel caused them to make eminently logical decisions in light of their market. Again, NOT something you can lay solely at Toyota's door.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)