But the report accurately pointed out the main reason for sales decline is due to the fierce competition in Chinese market where Chinese domestic EV brands are rising rapidly - just as how it was developed for the smartphone in the early 2010s. The iteration speed of product development and governmental support in EV transportation shift drives the huge recent sales success in Chinese EV brands like BYD.
I don't think the race is over now and I would not call it a dead end. Just out of my head, at least Mercedes still invests heavily in fuel cells for trucks: https://www.hydrogeninsight.com/transport/-record-run-daimle...
Also Bosch: https://www.bosch-mobility.com/en/mobility-topics/fuel-cell-...
I think the rumors of the death of the fuel cell are highly exaggerated.
Meanwhile they're being leapfrogged. Unless you work for Toyota or you have shares in them, it doesn't really matter.
It's a fence-sitting position driven by inertia rather than a serious consideration of people's driving habits and the future direction of automobile infrastructure. That does not bode well.
I feel a bit sorry for the few uninformed elderly people who bought a BZ4X without reading anything about it, trusting their favourite brand.
It's funny cos if you look back at Japanese car manufacturing's history, in the 1960s and 1970s their cars were literally motorbikes with panels wrapped around. The Chinese never even really had that janky stage and completely leapfrogged over them.
The first iteration of the great wall we had here was pretty damn janky. Not "motorbike with a shell" janky, but the Chinese had the rest of the world to get designs from.
At the Corolla price point, the hybrid versions are also meant for a crowd looking for good fuel economy. The sporty hatchback and fuel economy crowds do not overlap, because fuel-sipping hybrid engines have poor acceleration. And more generally the fuel economy crowd would prefer the sedan model, because it provides more interior room while using less gas than the hatch version.
If not a hatch, which model/car do I get for a cheap, reliable, fuel efficient car that can haul largish items?
Toyota's competitive advantage has always been to use slightly older perfected technology that will last a long time instead of cutting edge technology with more problems etc. That is why they are known to be reliable cars with high resale values.
In the US it mostly is a decent decision to buy electric (and I love my Tesla and Volt) but there are some caveats. 1. The insurance tends to be a bit more expensive. 2. You need to have a place with charging infrastructure (like your own home or an apartment etc. that has free charging). 3. Paid chargers often have similar costs to buying gas for ICE vehicles. 4. Battery degradation is a thing. As someone who lives in the SouthEast and likes to keep cars for 10-15+ years that becomes an issue with cars like the Volt where the only option that makes economic sense when the battery dies is to try to find a refurb from another vehicle if the car is out of warranty. The Tesla is not as likely to have that issue because a lot more were produced, but if other offerings have after sales support similar to the volt because of lower than expected sales volumes that becomes a perception issue down the road unless you want to just purchase a car, take a big depreciation hit and then trade it in a few years. 5. depreciation see #4. 6. Sales are currently slowing down with inventory piling up even with federal subsidies right now. Imagine how much lower it would be without them. 7. To add more range to a car like the Tesla you need to add more batteries which adds a lot of weight to the car (they have already gone after most the low hanging fruit with motor efficiency and vehicle wind drag). Because of the weight it goes through tires a lot quicker. (30K miles vs 60K average for tires)
With the Tesla, it is practical for my needs, but I bought it more so because it is fun to drive, I like the tech etc..
Other countries, outside of Europe, China and other developed nations are a mixed bag.
For example in Costa Rica, where I have a property, even with the government tax discounts it doesn't make any sense because electric is really expensive there and it is difficult to get parts is something goes wrong. Also, if you want a car that you are not going to drive a lot of miles in every year there is also the issue of time degrading your battery which is going to be a lot more expensive and difficult to replace there.
South Africa has so many current problems with their electric grid that they heavily tax BEV's instead of offering tax breaks like other countries. Ironically, having solar panels and batteries for a house makes more sense there.
....and guess which car brand is has one of the higher theft rates because of parts and resale around the world....Toyota. They also have a very large market share in a large percentage of the world as a top producer.
While I'm not sure that hydrogen will gain traction, because of the slow market adoption it will not surprise me if the legislation around the world to ban ICE sales ends up being relaxed before it takes effect and the transition happens much more slowly.
I mean the wheels literally fell off and all vehicles were recalled. How can they screw up their first ev so badly unless it was intentionally sabotaged by management withholding support and resources
Toyota produces more ICE vehicles than any other drive train. Toyota produces more hybrids than BEVs. And more BEVs than FCEVs.
The Toyota Mirai, for example, has always been a low volume vehicle. There's no sense in which Toyota went all in on it.
The more simple reality is that Toyota produces many drive train types.
