Why Toyota Is Intentionally 'Falling Behind' On EVs

In the last few years, seemingly every car company has begun investing heavily in electric vehicles. Ford said it would “lead America’s shift to EVs.” GM said it would invest $35 billion into EVs by 2035. And Volkswagon is dropping $193 billion on battery research. But not Toyota. Instead of pouring billions of dollars into electric vehicles, the company has been doubling down on hybrids. Some people think they’re making a grave mistake. But Toyota says it’s been part of its plan all along.

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[mas]

I would say that Toyota’s attitude is pretty much like mine. They’ll sell them when it’s time and I’ll buy one when it’s time.

[baronvonjo]

I dont blame Toyota for not going EV crazy atm cause I keep seeing the struggle the Ford, GM, VW, Mercedes, Nissan and the Korean brands have. So many things to learn. I would personally just be investing into R&D and see what happens as lots of those other brands are burning through money for each EV they sell.

[thomasroewer]

Plugin hybrid is the way to go for most. I have a Prius Prime and use it in EV mode for most of the time when driving to work. But unlike with a full EV, I don't have to worry about running out of charge when taking a longer trip. It's really the best of both worlds.

[ariorobotics]

Look at direct injection. VW was one of the first to implement it with many issues. Toyota took a more relaxed approach by ironing out the technology and it ended up being reliable.

[mollytherealdeal]

Environmentalist I talk to do not like EVs; they prefer walkable communities so people do not even need cars. Also, many young people I know are not buying any carl; they purchase electric bicycles and electric scooters instead. Also, not all people commute to work, some work online which reduces a need for a car and the need to live in the car dependent suburbs.

[jkid]

it's really simple. They are delaying EV until they can control the battery tech that made sense to them. Once their solid state battery is up to par, they'll unlease their EVs. They're just not idiots who follow twitter trends.

[zeroreality]

You didn't answer the question in the title of the video! "Why" is Toyota falling behind? You went into how they are not investing in EVs at the same rate as other companies, but not "why" they aren't doing that. Your video should be titled "How come Toyota is intentionally falling behind on EVs".

[Martian]

A PHEV (Plugin Hybrid EV) seems like the best choice at the moment. Short range on battery only and then unlimited long distance driving with gas. An electric vehicle writer getting upset with Toyota is obvious, as it is his bread and butter (soy and lentil?) to write about EVs. I'm definitely considering a hybrid for my wife.

[josephsager]

As a big car guy, I was really excited for EV's when it was bleeding edge tech, but my concerns have been growing for years now about cost.
I think if EV's are adopted too quickly, they'll become something only the rich can afford.
After I heard about Toyota's strategy, the more I think about it, the more I'm like, "yes - Hybrids are a necessary gap *if* America wants to keep it's car-centric nature."

That said, I believe things that would reduce our car dependency, like a massive investment in mass transit and laws that mandate employers offer remote work are the way forward.
Because even an EV is just another car, and cars are a hugely inefficient way of moving people around.
As a fan of cars, I want to keep cars alive as something you drive for fun if you enjoy that hobby, not something everyone needs to drive to get anywhere, even if they hate driving.

[ccarniver]

Toyota's HSD is the envy of the industry, it'd be foolish for them to throw away this card just because others had to

[AmericanRoads]

I live in an apartment and have no capability of charging at home. If I drive an EV, my only option is to charge at charging stations, and they are getting just as expensive as refueling a gasoline car. For people like me, hybrids are actually more economical to run than EVs. I am glad for the variety of RELIABLE hybrids that Toyota is currently offering. I currently own a 2022 Corolla LE hybrid and a 2023 RAV4 XSE hybrid.

[GethinColes]

I live in rural Australia. Ideal car for here is a small battery hybrid. Battery for local runs, hybrid or range extender for longer. I dont think anyone is making this, and its puzzling. A range extender that can maintain charge at 80kmh would be fine, because anywhere that you can go faster has charging stations available

[AlessandroLosi]

I'm from Italy, and here the Toyota mindset is working a lot. We don't have a lot of charging stations and most of the people does not want to give up on the convienience of the gas engine. In fact the Toyota Yaris Hybrid (which i don't think exists in the USA) is one of the most sold cars here, and I would say that is one of the most reasonable hybrid to buy (small, relatively cheap, low fuel consumption, great advantages like free entry in city centers)

[adam-k]

Pioneers rarely last. The Wright Company is not the largest airplane manufacturer today just because they invented airplanes. Waiting until the product gets popular, the quirks and legislations ironed out, the world is saturated with charging stations etc might be the right move.

[volkhen]

Honestly I thought it was a conspiracy theory that oil companies blocked development of electric cars. Yet it seems it was true. This time about NiMH batteries. I’ve heard similar story about Li-Ion batteries.

[utharaptortrex]

I recently attended a lecture with a high level Toyota engineer and he asked the students to do a simple thought experiment. On averege a Toyota hybrid will be 15% to 50% more efficient than an equivalent ICE car. Use de 15% for a conservative estimate. Now consider that most Toyota hybrids only use a 1.5kWh battery (non plug ins). An averege EV will have a battery of about 45kWh. So with that battery you could make 30 Toyota hybrids. So what would be more effective in reducing fuel consumption and emissions? To reduce the fuel used by 30 cars in 15% or to remove one ICE car from the road? If you do the math you'll find that 15% reduction in 30 cars is the equivalent of removing 4.5 ICE cars from the road. In other words, it's at least 4.5 times more efficient that making a single EV.

[someguy]

No mention of choosing both in one? Toyota's Prius Prime and RAV4 Prime plug-in hybrids! No range anxiety. Enough EV range for most people for driving around town during the day and then charging overnight. No charging hassles on long trips, since you can then just pretend that you just have a regular hybrid or ICE car and gas up as needed.

[otus_]

around here (Africa, Southern Africa, Botswana), Toyota leads sales with an all petrol/diesel lineup, we simply dont have enought electricty to charge our phones and cars., probably the same case for all of the developing world, not enough electricity and I am talking about the coal made stuff, not that new solar green clean eletricity.

[UrbanNaturalist]

Toyota is right, also their hybrids are way ahead of the others. The Prius transmission is an ECVT, without a belt to wear out. It has an ingenious way of using a planetary gear set and electric motors to remove pumps and clutches from the automatic transmission.

[ShaunRF]

A little surprised you made no mention of Toyota's hydrogen fuel cell investments, which they are desperately clinging to due to their enormous sunk costs in the doomed technology.