Toyota investing nearly $400 million in TX plant

Toyota announced a while back that there will be a hybrid option for every model they produce by 2025. They also announced that the powertrain for the new land cruiser would be a 3.5l turbo with some sort of hybrid assist so I would assume that would carry over to the tundra and sequoia.

The new "TNGA" platform will be scaleable, they won't be the same size. I would also assume that the new 4runner and Hilux will be sitting on this new platform as well.

 

The electric F150 and Silverado are coming. Once that happens it won’t be long before the others will have an offering on the lots. They all have a bunch of concepts and innovations behind closed doors. Toyota has been working on multiple alternatives for nearly 2 decades. So to think it would be years before they could release an all electric car/truck for the masses is ignorant.

As for a new complete Tacoma in the next couple of years it’s totally feasible. Sure Toyota have been very slow in updates to the Tacoma over years past. But if this shared platform comes to reality which it seems is going to happen (and might have to do with an electric platform) then I see no reason why we couldn’t see a new Tacoma in a few years. If sharing the platform, the chassis and electrical will pretty much be identical. There won’t be much changes besides exterior and interior. I would assume the powertrains would be the same or similar. It wouldn’t take long to hash out the designs and enter it all into production for a new model.

 

You don’t need to be an accountant or engineer to figure out the cost savings and efficiencies this change will bring. It will affect everything from the amount of hours it takes to produce a vehicle, reduce the variety of fasteners needed, etc.

 

https://ssl.toyota.com/mirai/fcv.html

 

Investments don’t always mean efficiencies and cost savings. The plant I currently work in was taken over by A Japanese company. They put a $87 million dollar investment in the plant. Production has since dropped and we are more than 60% percent under their target.

 

Remember that Toyota wrote the book on lean manufacturing. I find the whole auto assembly process rather fascinating. I’m weird though, I can watch auto assembly & how they make stuff videos all day long.

 

I’m sure there were some folks on horseyworld.com back at the turn of the century saying the same things. Imagine, a fuel tank in the ground on every street corner? Ridiculous! Having to get that fuel out of the ground? It’s a pain. Having to drive that fuel in from somewhere far away? No way! My horse can ride a whole day without stopping for “gas.” I can feed my horse my lunch instead of premium hay! How can you go off-road in that thing?!? Such bullshit, these horseless carriages! It’s too soon, we aren’t ready, and the tech just isn’t there!

Anyway, I’m excited to see what the future looks like, and I think it’s cool that Toyota is bringing that investment to one of our fine states. Car companies like Toyota plan something like ten years in advance, and I’m sure they have solid projections of what the energy infrastructure will look like then.

 

Well I estimate rebar tonnage for a living from home. I just took off last week an expansion of the Toyota V6 manufacturing site. They are adding over 100,000 square feet of storage and dock space. So that tells me that this motor is going to the Tundra too. So a turbo V6, and a hybrid V6 both would not be out of the question.

 

careful dude. Toyota might read these posts and actually do it.

 

Might share the same Cab like the F-150 and Super Duty trucks. Same cab but different nose end and bed sides and lengths.

 

I heard a strong V6 rumor as well for the next generation Tundra. Hold off if your considering one, rumor is it will be hitting dealerships about this time next year as a ‘21 model. Being a Toyota you can expect a conservative design and a bulletproof drivetrain.

 

Wait, you mean that in the late 19th century people were basing what to invest in off of hope and guessing? Or is it that battery powered cars have gone nowhere even with numerous government mandates and incentives due to very real engineering constraints?

 

This is getting off topic, but we might as well address it. So...No, I obviously didn’t say/mean that. But yes, I suppose that’s in essence how investments work.

And no, I didn’t say that either, and I would never use language like “gone nowhere” first because it’s a strawman and also because they so clearly have gone “somewhere” (outer space, way faster than you and me when the light turns green, etc.).

As for the old car stuff — yeah, I know! It’s cool! I’ve designed whole college classes around the study of technoculture, and we’ve looked at archival stuff when we talk about mass transit. Read David Kirsch’s book on the history of electric cars and “the burden of history” if you are interested. (The guy’s a scholar first, not someone working for a petroleum-industry-funded “non-profit” or “think-tank.”) And this will surprise you, perhaps, but government incentives and private lobbying efforts helped pave the way for our current petroleum-based vehicular paradigm. That and, later, the desire to build interstate networks to move military equipment faster, etc.

So it’s not simply obstacles related to “real engineering constraints,” though those certainly can and do play a part. Sometimes the challenges are chemical or metallurgical, sometimes they’re social or cultural, and often they’re both. I never claimed there weren’t some limitations on battery chemistry and their use in 1910, or whatever, I just poked fun at people repeating the same sorts of “why not” catch phrases that are always brought up with emerging tech.

Again, I’m exited to see what comes of Toyota’s investment in its Texas operations. And I bet it’s not a return to the 4.0L and manual locking hubs for the Tacoma.

 

If it is, I will be replacing my 2017 with 2022 and sticking with it until I die. And I hope to live 40 more years.

 

Needs V8 option pls!

 

Here's what I'm hearing. The new Tundra will not have a V8. Both I-Force engines are gone. There will be 2 twin turbo V6 engines...one being hotter than the other.

There will be a hybrid booster system of some sort. It may help efficiency, but is more for performance. The target torque range is at least 600 ft lbs at under 2000 rpm.

The TT 2GR as been in production for sometime now in the Lexus LS500. It lays down 442 lbs ft of torque at only 1600 rpm.

The Tundra's version will be strengthened version of that engine with a hybrid booster. 600 lbs ft should be easy.

 

Could see fans being turned off with no V8 available.

 

Yep. As of now I'm hearing both the 4.6 and 5.7 engines are gone. They're a modular design. So I can see both disappearing together. That would leave the GX (4.6) and Landcruiser/LX (5.7) as the only V8s in Toyota's N. American line up. So I would expect those to disappear soon.....although those engines are not produced in Alabama has the N. American I-Force engines are. So maybe they'll keep them. But given that the LS gave up it's V8...I can see those adopting version of the TT 2GR

 

I mean "gone nowhere" as in having ~0% market share and many of the people who own one still have a gasoline powered car anyway. As far as satellites sent into outer space I thought that they used Plutonium? Battery chemistry still has a lot of the same limitations (what happens to capacity below 0 C?) in 1910 as exist today and the energy density is still (and always will be) a small fraction as compared to gasoline or diesel.





Also, if Mr. Kirsch is arguing that gender is a reason for the battery powered car not winning out I might just pass on his big-brain ideas...

"

$35 The Electric Vehicle and the Burden of History

a material embodiment of the dynamic interaction of consumers and producers, private and public institutions, existing and potential capabilities, and prevailing ideas about gender, health, and the environment."

 

I think Toyota has the knowledge and technology to produce a more efficient V8 powertrain for their truck. Perhaps give the 5.7 the same Atkinson/Otto/D4-S/D-VVTiW of the tacoma 3.5 at the minimum.