Was Toyota Right About EVs All Along?

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Despite all the hype we’ve seen with EVs over the past couple of years, one automaker that has refused to jump onto the trend is Toyota. They’ve consistently stuck with hybrid cars and even hydrogen cars, but they’re quite unwilling to jump over to fully electric vehicles. This is quite ironic given that Toyota was a pioneer of the electrification trend having launched the Prius way back in the late 1990s. Much of Toyota’s hesitance to embrace electric vehicles is due to the energy crisis and Japan which would only be made worse by fully electric vehicles. But, this has actually worked out pretty well in Toyota’s favor as it seems that the average person is also quite hesitant to jump over to EVs. In fact, Tesla deliveries are down 8.5% year over year, but hybrid sales are up 76%. This video explains the various reasons why EVs aren’t picking up as quickly as enthusiasts expected and whether Toyota was right all along about fully electric vehicles.

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Timestamps:
0:00 - Toyota’s Big Bet
2:11 - Biased Intentions
6:42 - The Case For Hybrids
9:56 - The Future Of EVs

Resources:

Disclaimer:
This video is not a solicitation or personal financial advice. All investing involves risk. Please do your own research.

[beinquisitive]

Who knew that all they had to do was make the Prius not look totally ugly anymore?🤷🏻‍♂️

[millabasset]

Toyotas just work and that’s valuable in this economy.

[peacem]

Who would have thought that making reliable cars and not fucking your clients over results in profitability

[thoso]

Never underestimate the consumers attraction to a car brand that is affordable, reliable and offers excellent service from authorized dealerships worldwide.

[dylanwhite]

“Nissan was slow to adopt EVs” they where one of if not the first sub 30k ev

[MichalBrat]

Not all of them were against Toyota's approach. Mazda is the same, in fact, I was in their factory in Hiroshima some 5 years ago and I asked them about the EVs. They told me that from their perspective the time and technology was not right yet.

[timothykeith]

Toyota hybrids are conservative - and very reliable. Heat recovery physics isn't adaptable to automobiles. But, Toyota's hybrid system works pretty good for how we use cars.

[thoso]

It's not just regenerative breaking that charges the battery in a Toyota hybrid; it's also being charged by the petrol engine running or from going downhill with no speeder pedal applied.

[recurse]

I've had a 2021 Prius Prime plugin hybrid since 2020. It's a wonderful little car and so cheap to operate. I plug it in to a regular outlet every night, and I full the (tiny) gas tank like maybe six times a year, maybe, depending on any road trips. I can do months without filing the tank, but when I need to do a lot of driving it has none of the downsides of a true EV.

[F_Around_and_find_out]

Toyota: Keep making gasoline cars because they knew not all people can afford EV.
Also Toyota: Getting the best of both worlds by making hybrids.

Toyota be winning for the foreseeable future.

[QuickChange]

I got a Toyota camry in 2010 still going great

[Tootongtaoako]

EVs are on the average 10, 000 dollars more expensive than a gasoline car. Most people right now are having problems putting food on the table.

[octagonPerfectionist]

the prius is probably gonna go down in history as one of the greatest cars ever made. unbelievably reliable, efficient and utilitarian.

[moxy]

Just bought a Corolla hybrid. It was 2000 more than the non hybrid but also came with aluminum rims. Totally worth the upgrade.

[MinoltaCamera]

The solution is what they do with Corolla: at city speeds works with EV motors, at route speeds works with fuel motor. The fuel motor recharge the EV battery. Also we can try to impruve even more the fuel and fuel engine, to be more efficient.

[robster]

I own a 2022 Model 3 AWD LR and I just bought a 2024 Toyota Camry LE Hybrid AWD.

Model 3 put me down $37K after discounts and incentives, while my Hybrid Camry put me down at $30K. Right off the bat its $6k cheaper

Lets do refueling. At $3.64/gallon a Camry Hybrid will set me back at ~$50.

My Model 3 charges via super charger and my are is at $0.22/kWh, and charging at home for me is $0.30/kWH. Doing the math, that puts me at about ~$20 to full tank a Tesla.

Sounds good? Not really. A fully charged LR Model 3 gets me ~360 miles of range. While a fully fueled Camry Hybrid gets me 670 miles. That means if were to match approximate range totals, the Model 3 is only $3-$4 cheaper. With New England pricing, my electric bill goes up from $0.30/kWH to $0.35kWH this October.

Lets add additional factors. My M3-LR has 20% more expensive insurance, 8% more expensive renewals, same road tax, and more expensive maintenance.

As for maintenance, it costs $30 every 6 months to do an oil change on a Camry, and tires change every 40K miles.

My Model 3 only needs tires but I have them changed every 20k miles, and the EV specific tires are 15% more expensive.

So all those “no maintenance” costs go out the window because of how expensive components and annual fees make up that difference in overall expenses.

I am the only former Tesla Drivetrain Engineer that never bought a Tesla when I worked for them from 2016-2021. I owned one after quitting because it was a discounted model 3 when I left the company. Think of it as a going away present.

Overall, there is no actual economic benefit of a Tesla over a Toyota right now. A tesla may have the speed and power over a 250hp camry, but there’s a reason why the resale value of a Camry is 12% higher than a Model 3.

Your average person isn’t interested in horsepower or 0-60. They’re more interested in seeing if a Tesla will save you money in the long run.

As far as my experience being a Model 3 LR AWD owner. The answer is No.

[yozoru]

Toyota pulling a boss move, while the entire market thinks they zoom passed them.

[richardwood]

Said it before and I’ll say it again. More car makers should’ve adopted hybrid. The EU was too quick to adopt EV’s, ban petrol and diesel from 2030 (I think) and allow China to dominate battery production before the tech was ready. If Ford & GM had gone hybrid they’d still have sedans.

[frankrusso]

You mean to tell me that a struggling economy and massive layoffs had no factor on the drop of EV sales and why people are opting for cheaper cars?

[Morwarre]

I am and have been behind Toyota on their refusal to go fully electric... It feel like it was too early to fully adopt it.