Toyota Considers New EV platform

[Vercingetorix]

Seems to contradict a lot of the naysayers.

Toyota Considers New EV-Dedicated Platform

The Japanese auto maker aims to manufacture large volumes of electric vehicles efficiently.

www.wsj.com

 

[PimTac]

Aisin and Denso are working together on this under the umbrella name Blue Nexus.

 

[demarpaint]

This could be why Tesla is cutting prices, anticipation, fear, and losing market share to the competition. IMO Toyota is going to be Tesla's biggest competition, and an innovator going forward. Musk should have thought about buying Toyota instead of Twitter. lol

 

[jeepman3071]

Seems to contradict a lot of the naysayers.

Toyota Considers New EV-Dedicated Platform

The Japanese auto maker aims to manufacture large volumes of electric vehicles efficiently.

www.wsj.com

How?

It would definitely be silly for them NOT to make an EV and take advantage of a percentage of buyers who are looking for that, but I think that their focus will be hybrids vs EVs instead of a lot of others who are claiming to just be EV across the board.

 

[demarpaint]

How?

It would definitely be silly for them NOT to make an EV and take advantage of a percentage of buyers who are looking for that, but I think that their focus will be hybrids vs EVs instead of a lot of others who are claiming to just be EV across the board.

Toyota is smart, they are not going to go all in with EVs, that makes no sense and they know it.

 

[Vercingetorix]

How?

It would definitely be silly for them NOT to make an EV and take advantage of a percentage of buyers who are looking for that, but I think that their focus will be hybrids vs EVs instead of a lot of others who are claiming to just be EV across the board.

The naysayers like to say that because Toyota doesn’t make electric vehicles, electric vehicles must be bad.

 

[JavierH19]

Toyota just knows how to do an expected value at a certain time evaluation and accurately predict the expected value at another time. They know what to focus on now and later. Not do the later part now and fail, that doesn't work well. Toyota doesn't do things to be the first but to do them best.

And there's nothing wrong in saving r&d both for the item and infrastructure of the item by sitting back letting others do it for you so you can learn other's mistakes and copy the good stuff without getting sued and piggyback off the infrastructure the others propped up either directly or indirectly.

 

[toneydoc]

My wife loves her Camry Hybrid. Me too.
With Tesla dropping prices I might look into a Tesla in the spring.
Toyota makes a Prius Prime and Rav4 prime that plug into household current and you
get the first 40 miles or so on all electric before hybrid platform takes over
I like that concept too. Just cant find any to buy these days.

 

[jeepman3071]

The naysayers like to say that because Toyota doesn’t make electric vehicles, electric vehicles must be bad.

I mean everyone is entitled to their opinion, but I don't think EVs are bad, just not the end-all across the board replacement for everything that certain entities believe them to be. I think Toyota shares this belief.

 

[DwightFrye]

I was not able to read the entire article because I don't have a WSJ subscription. What is the estimated release date for this new platform ? It used to be that an all new car model took about 4 years of development before it actually started to show up on showroom floors. A new EV platform could be more. Or less depending upon how quickly Toyota wants to start selling them which could lead to a lot of issues if they cut corners, don't do sufficient testing, or use a lot of parts bin engineering.I would proceed with caution before buying one.

Tesla's price adjustments don't have anything to do with a vaporware Toyota EV that is years away from being a competitive choice. That is not to say that I don't think Toyota will be a major competitor to Tesla in a few years. But then again, Tesla will still be several years ahead of everyone else. Elon doesn't need to spend money buying a competitive automaker. His plan is to sell them batteries or license his technology and software to be used on their own vehicles since Tesla will have had so many more years to develop the important parts that make up an EV that are radically different from what goes into an ICE vehicle.

Things will be interesting come around 2027 or 2028.

 

[Pelican]

Seems to contradict a lot of the naysayers.

Toyota Considers New EV-Dedicated Platform

The Japanese auto maker aims to manufacture large volumes of electric vehicles efficiently.

www.wsj.com

Not necessarily true! Newpapers these days are looking for sensationalism and big headline to draw attention.
Toyota is smarter, they know that an all EV is not going to last especially with more of them on the market and an infrastructure that cannot support them. Plus the charging time and the fact that charging stations are not plentiful. So they wisely stick with hybrids. They may also "dabble" with EV perhaps to get some grants or other perks.

 

[demarpaint]

That is not to say that I don't think Toyota will be a major competitor to Tesla in a few years. But then again, Tesla will still be several years ahead of everyone else. Elon doesn't need to spend money buying a competitive automaker. His plan is to sell them batteries or license his technology and software to be used on their own vehicles since Tesla will have had so many more years to develop the important parts that make up an EV that are radically different from what goes into an ICE vehicle.

Things will be interesting come around 2027 or 2028.

That's assuming that Toyota or one of the other automakers don't come up with something better. I was taught long ago to never say never, and there is always someone or something better just around the corner. That may very well prove to the case here too. I remember when Honda and Toyota started popping up in the US and people thought they were crap, and they were for a while, not so now. I remember selling Kia's in 2001, coined as disposable cars back then, real crap. Lets just say they came a long way too, especially with Hyundai buying them. FTR the Kia EV is rumored to be decent. Even someone like Elon can fall, you don't have to look too far back in history to see automakers that have come and gone. I'm not making any predictions, but in the automotive world even the big guys can slip up, and there's someone plugging along that can take the lead. Time will tell.

 

[PimTac]

Toyota is smart, they are not going to go all in with EVs, that makes no sense and they know it.

Yep. They actually give the consumers plenty of choices. They sell millions of vehicles worldwide and many places haven’t even thought of EVs yet.

 

[JeffKeryk]

A dedicateted platform is the way to go, otherwise you are building a compromise. Tesla has shown the world how to do it; Toyota can simply copy their designs.
Toyota sees Tesla's Model Y and Model 3 success, at their expense.
Competition is good for us, the consumers.

 

[alarmguy]

How?

It would definitely be silly for them NOT to make an EV and take advantage of a percentage of buyers who are looking for that, but I think that their focus will be hybrids vs EVs instead of a lot of others who are claiming to just be EV across the board.

Agree and Toyota made it very clear that they are going to produce EVs. They also made very clear that does not mean they are going to go full in and abandon hybrids and ICE vehicles. Some manufacturers like GM say they will abandon the ICE by a certain year. All Toyota said is they dont agree, they will produce a variety of vehicles for the foreseeable future. I have to agree>
GM has a terrible reputation of predicting the market over the last 5 decades, doesn't mean I wont invest in them but what is their thinking all the time?
Already the so called experts in the auto industry/financial markets have slashed their predictions of the USA car buyers who will want an EV by 2030.
Toyota never said they are not going to make EVs they will make something for everyone. Something tells me they will be right.

 

[buster]

Toyota is conservative. Go in softly and watch how it unfolds.

 

[PimTac]

A dedicateted platform is the way to go, otherwise you are building a compromise. Tesla has shown the world how to do it; Toyota can simply copy their designs.
Toyota sees Tesla's Model Y and Model 3 success, at their expense.
Competition is good for us, the consumers.

I doubt Toyota is copying anything. They don’t need to.

Tesla makes EVs and that’s all they make. Toyota make all kinds of vehicles including EVs. They make other things as well. With sales in the eight figure range they are doing just fine and will continue so.

 

[JeffKeryk]

I doubt Toyota is copying anything. They don’t need to.

Tesla makes EVs and that’s all they make. Toyota make all kinds of vehicles including EVs. They make other things as well. With sales in the eight figure range they are doing just fine and will continue so.

Reverse engineering is a common process. Tesla's EV drivetrains are the best in the business.
Reverse engineering is a key reason for patents and lawsuits.