4th Gen Tacoma EV revealed in Japan

If you're focussing on the aesthetics of going from an animal to an internal combustion engine, you've missed my point. My point was related to people being accustomed to one way of doing things and having to adjust to another way of doing things. Many people did not initially like the automobile but as we know, eventually people adjusted. In no way did I say the internal combustion engine was completely dead or would be replaced entirely any time soon.

 

Nothing says "advancing" like making the same truck for 35+ years.

 

Here's their EV test mule of it. With solid front and rear axles.

 

LOL! True true. They did keep on updating the drive train and safety features though. They advance just at really slow pace, just look at how many people bitch about the Tacoma and 2nd Gen Tundra being behind the times. Why their products are mostly reliable, they don’t rush changes to the market.

Still Toyota doesn’t do retro very well…FJ Cruiser is proof of that. Some guys love it, some guys also like K-Pop….lol!

 

If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Sounds like a good philosophy to me.

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Real numbers - The Rav4 Prime is 40k base cost. High for a Rav, but shit the feds and state are throwing 10k at me, so why not. It's replacing a (first owner!) 2003 TDI (cost $25k when new, so just about the same price when you account for inflation) anyway, so past time for a new car. It costs me 6cents per mile to plug it in. Running on the engine is about 10 cents a mile. Not world changing. But it ain't nothing either.

Power - gobs of instant torque, a 9 second (0-60) car in EV mode, and in hybrid mode that goes down to the mid 5's.

It's pretty much the same system they have in the AWD Sienna but with a bigger battery pack. They could easily do a 'maverick' ish system with it.

Re- environmental stuff

If they really want to reduce air pollution, short haul trucking is more important. And delivery vehicles. Stuff that's doing lots of short miles and running all day. A passenger ICE car with a steady run gets warmed up pretty quick and isn't a huge contributor to nasty stuff in the air at all.

 

Yes, and my point was adjusting the huge leap from riding horses to driving cars is not a good comparison for the tiny leap of going from driving cars to driving cars haha.

 

Nevertheless it was an adjustment. You can argue semantics all you like but the point remains the same.

 

I hear your point. People need to adjust to the shift. It’s gradual progress. It won’t just “arrive” perfect, but will be perfected more and more over time. And I second that sentiment. In fact it’s amazing how fast it is progressing and evolving. Quality, capability, everything is growing faster than we would have imagined. It’s awesome.


It’s just also not semantics (arguing about the meaning of words and their interpretation) to say that the analogy isn’t correct and simply obverse that no matter how much electric cars progress they will never have the same drastic progression as horses to cars.

I hear you and agree with your observation. It’s a good one. You’re 100% correct.
I just also observed that the analogy to illustrate your very correct and solid observation isn’t the best one for your already strong point.


I like your observation. You don’t have to like mine. But people get used to new tech in EVs they won’t have as big of an adjustment (or impact) as horses to cars.

How’s that for us beating a dead horse?


Have a good one, man. I agree people (and infrastructure) will continue to adjust (and we need to enjoy the process rather than bemoan the ride). I hear you.

Peace out, Girl Scouts.

 

Would look better if the not-a-grille was black rather than white, or maybe if the Toyota logo up there was black rather than chrome. That being said, it does look good. Certainly a better face than the Rivian.

 

Once again you missed my most important point, so I’m only going to address that. When you go to rent a battery You will be paying for the amount of power you take out of the battery. If the battery can’t deliver as much power you don’t pay for as much. So while not all batteries will be exactly equal, and eventually die, you will not be footing the bill for that inequality.

The company that maintains the batteries will be responsible for that and they will decide when it’s economical to retire batteries.

Now you go ahead and tell me why the electric car companies don’t like this idea. I say it’s because it’s too consumer friendly to agree with them.

 

You talking about battery swaping?

https://youtu.be/zl5UJQzP7NE

 

And again you completely ignored what I stated so I'll reiterate it. I didn't say battery swapping would be a bad idea but I gave several issues with it. Generally things shared by multiple random users are not treated the best. And yes, the company would ultimately decide if/when to replace it but that doesn't change the issue. You also reduce the range of the battery simply because it is smaller than a permanently mounted system, which will also be better protected from impact and moisture.

All of these things would likely be addressed or get better with the evolution of technology, but nevertheless it is something to think about.

 

They way Taco owners change the grill out like they do their underwear, don’t think it will be an issue…

 

The "grill" appears to be one piece with the rest of the white portion of the front end, so that might not be the case.

 

Toyota is trying to appeal to the potential mach-E buyer who would rather drive a Tacoma.

 

I am sure there will be kits.

 

I’m with you. I have little interest in a Tacoma EV. Now a Taco plugin hybrids where it’s EV for 50 miles and a 300hp and matching torque torque in the hybrid mode, both easily reachable with 28-30 mpg, I’ve have one in a heartbeat.

it will be a long time before an energy dense battery that matches gasoline and makes real trucking feasible in northern climates. EV trucks have too long a charging time for towing and heavy load practicality.

 

Really, most of the engineering in ICE cars are in the engine and transmission. Both are eliminated with an electric motor. Let Panasonic and Toyota subsidiaries do the battery work. Toyota can crank out a new EV in a year with ease with its years of work with hybrids behind them.

 

The FJ is also currently sold in the Philippines.