It’s almost like Toyota knows their consumers and what they want, and will cater to them
Toyota goes all-in on hybrids in U.S. as Trump risks loom over EVs
Toyota Motor will make all major models in the U.S. available as hybrids by 2030, doubling down on its strength in the vehicles as uncertainty shadows the market for electrics.
At a Thursday test-drive event at Toyota’s North American headquarters — the first in years — half of the 26 models featured were hybrids. Just two were electric vehicles.
The plan is to offer hybrid options for all key models by 2030, said Kevin Butt, regional environmental sustainability director at Toyota Motor North America.
Many of Toyota’s key models are already available as hybrids. The popular Camry sedan went hybrid-only when it was updated this spring. The Crown Signia sport utility vehicle launching this year will be exclusively sold as a hybrid.
Toyota and Honda, both being very efficient and well built vehicles, are trying to minimize the necessity to offer tons of EVs, because customers are not clamoring for them. Heck, a lot of customers do not want standard hybrids. But, really, if you drive a regular Camry or Accord then the hybrid versions you will barely notice the difference in acceleration. Same with the CRVs and RAV4s. And Toyota/Lexus dominates the US market when it comes to hybrids. They would actually like if Trump ands the EPA fuel economy requirements that force manufacturers to make EVs which customers do not want, and are not really profitable.
Heck, they would lose out on profit from maintenance. Doesn’t mean they won’t make some EVs, but, they won’t have to because of Government fiat.
Check out Hyundai’s new $23K Casper EV spotted out in the wild [Video]
As automakers race to launch affordable electric cars, Hyundai is ahead of the pack. Hyundai’s new Casper EV, starting at under $23,000 (31.5 million won) in Korea, was spotted driving out in public. With incentives, Hyundai says its new Casper EV can be bought for as little as $14,500 (20 million won). Check out Hyundai’s new low-cost EV in the video below.
Hyundai opened Casper EV pre-orders (called the Inster EV in Europe) last month, starting at $22,800 (31.5 million won).
Including government incentives and rebates, Hyundai expects the price of its base “Inspiration” model to fall to as low as $14,500 (20 million won).
“To truly popularize electric vehicles, we have prepared the Casper Electric with unrivaled product competitiveness and reasonable price,” a Hyundai spokesperson said. They added Hyundai’s new Casper EV will be “the most attractive choice” for many EV buyers.
It’s also tiny. It’s like buying a sub-subcompact SUV (a Toyota CHR and Honda HRV are examples of subcompact SUVs. RAV4s/CRVs are compact SUVs)
#Exclusive first look at the Hyundai Inster / Casper Electric! Pocket sized EV – and India is expected to get a slightly upsized version of this! Like what you see? Likely Urban Car contender @WorldCarAwards?
SVP #Hyundai #Inster #CasperElectric #EV #GCOTY @Hyundai_Global pic.twitter.com/06UDGiIecU— Siddharth Vinayak Patankar (@sidpatankar) June 27, 2024
This is the kind of tiny vehicle, very narrow, that you see on the small roads in Japan and South Korea. That some in Europe get for their short trips around town. It might be nice as a 2nd car for around town, but, Americans do not like tiny cars on the road. Especially when government officials who do not use any EV are forcing this on them.
LIVE: President Trump and JD Vance Hold Major Rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan – 7/20/24
https://commoncts.blogspot.com/2024/07/live-president-trump-and-jd-vance-hold.html
Maybe now Toyota will make their Hybrids actually look like cars we’d actually like to drive instead of that stupid-@ss Prius, which can barely get out of its own way.
My older daughter has a 2018 Prius Hybrid, and it’s thus far — 150,000+ miles — been very reliable, and gets about 48 MPG. A surveyor in civilian life, she’s traveled all over the eastern United States in it.
Because hybrid electric cars actually make sense
I own a Rav 4 hybrid and love it. And it looks great.
I work at a medium to large Toyota Dealer. Toyota’s biggest issue is the supply can’t meet the demand. We are constantly having to pre-sell vehicles that haven’t been built yet. Sienna, forget about it. Grand Highlander, forget about it, with a “stop sale” on top of it (Same w/ Prius). All of the other hybrids we have zero, onesees, twosees, threesees and foursees of. If you want a specific color, forget about it. We take what they give us. Hybrid trucks just sit and sit. Namely Tundra, We just got our 1st Hybrid Tacoma. Sitting 10 days in stock so far. RAV4 Prime Plug-in was a huge failure. WHY? is the big question. (Enter government mandates and tax incentives.)$8k more to be able to plug in a regular Hybrid RAV4 is just stupid. ib4X’s NO way! Neat car though…The short of it is many people are giving up and buying another nameplate and the dealer thinks adding 50% more salespeople to the floor is going to help this manufacturing problem.
Hybrids make a lot more sense. They get better mileage than a traditional fuel driven vehicle and you won’t get stranded halfway to your destination because you couldn’t find a charger. Hybrids also don’t take you more than an hour to fill up.
I bought the Ford Maverick Hybrid 4 months ago. Love it. The hybrid is the best of both worlds. Next year they are coming out with a 4wd hybrid. I got the LXT it cost $36k with the equipment it had. If I had to do it over, I would go with the LX for 8k cheaper and make it what I want with aftermarket parts, you can get a LOT of stuff for 8k. But a truck for $28k. And 38 mpg city 34 hwy speeds.
Don’t worry, you’ll still get the battery that will burn your house down. In stead of 20,000 dollars for a new one, it’s 10. So ya got that going for ya.