John's Stuff - Personal Log 1306

January 14, 2025 - January 21, 2025

Last Updated: Weds. 6/25/2025

1-21-2025
Instead, Watch. This is a new comment coming from a new owner, happy to have supposedly understood the situation and handled it well: "Turns out -10°F with a windchill dropping it to -22°F is about the cold limit for these. Wife left the house with a full charge and range dropped 45 miles in about 5 mins. She turned around and decided to work from home, haha." First, windchill has no influence since the vehicle is usually moving faster than the wind anyway. Second, what was the distance to be traveled? If it was just the typical 20 miles to work, why was there any type of concern? Even in the worst of conditions, you still have 100 miles of range available. Needless to say, he was watching the wrong thing. I replied back advising this instead: Watching range estimate recalculate will always be a shocker when you leave home and the vehicle discovers how much colder the outside is compared to your garage. Get used to watching efficiency instead, the "miles/kWh" value. -8° F (-22°C) last night when I made a pizza run a few miles down the road. I cranked the heater to HI out of curiosity. 1.5 miles/kWh was the result. That dropped range to just under 100 miles. Most of the time, I just have the heater set fairly low. Earlier in the day, when the temperature was a few degrees warmer, my 27-mile round-trip averaged 2.4 miles/kWh. That's an additional 55 miles of range simply by reducing demand from the heater.

1-19-2025
Evading Reality. On one forum, there's constructive exchanges. On another, there's constant attacks. I like to make sure I don't participate in just one or the other. Friendly groups tend to become echo-chambers. You don't get useful feedback with regard to the technology advancements from them, but their perspective on adoption is priceless. The hostile venues are a pain, since they don't believe in balance. There's no such thing as overkill in their mind. They are useful with regard to ordinary consumer acceptance. When they evade certain facts, that tends to be an indicator of their status quo being disrupted. Ironically, they preach about "market disruption" all the time but fail to recognize that applies to them. Enthusiasts are not representative of the future, no matter how much their try to convince you otherwise. Only bits & pieces of what they obsess with will become mainstream. That's why diversity is such a threat. It dilutes their messaging, a departure from reality... priorities they embrace that are not what the masses actually need. So, I keep reminding them of what's truly important and the facts not being addressed: Production in high volume of EV components... motors, controllers, inverters... is happening whether you acknowledge it or not. New battery production is on the way too. That is Toyota setting the stage for transition to plug-in offerings on a large scale. PHEV models of Prius, RAV4, Crown and CH-R are already in production. Ramping up volume of those while at the same time rolling out the next-gen bZ4X (likely to be called RAV4 EV) and their upcoming 3-row BEV (likely to be called Highlander EV) is possible due to having needed components readily available. It's quite telling that every time those facts are brought up, you attempt to divert attention to regular hybrids. Fortunately, ordinary consumers simply won't care that some random keyboard warrior is unwilling to accept reality.

1-19-2025
Let's Be Real. I found this worthy of extended discussion: "Like I said I don't disagree. The dealer could have been more upfront too but I love my dealer I think they didn't know either. It was their first batch of Solterra's maybe Subaru could have trained them better... But let's be real. They want to sell them." Potential for some critical thinking is realistic. I can be hopeful. Here was my attempt: Unfortunately, most salespeople at dealers are clueless. It's been that way for 25 years now. Since there is no penalty for guessing, most don't bother researching. Heck, our EV owners group here (Minnesota) started a referral list due to the number of well informed salespeople being so small. It's really disheartening. But then again, information gets outdated really quickly and most simply want the sale. The depth of their understanding is limited at best anyway. That's how YouTube channels like my own came about. .. hence asking for suggestions. Here's my newest teaching video... quick tutorial on ABRP (A Better Routeplanner)

1-19-2025
Issues, suggestions. Reply was almost immediate. I was thrilled by getting feedback, to quick I bounced back immediately to with: Much of what you listed is easily discoverable by doing some internet searches. Some of them, like the influence of temperature and infotainment, are common among many plug-in vehicles. With regard to seating & visibility, that can be true for any vehicle. Looking at statistics for my own YouTube channel, which is devoted to teaching others about those vehicles I own, shows 95.4% of my viewers are not subscribed. 44.1% of the views come from Google searches, 15.6% from YouTube searches, 21.9% from external references, and 23.8% from Facebook itself. With regard to loss from selling your vehicle so soon, that's where setting expectations is really important. Knowing this is still just an emerging market, it should be obvious that depreciation will be higher than usual. I would also think uncertainty related to DC fast-charging would give reason for pause from those who don't like taking risk. Any suggestions for us to share with others?

1-19-2025
Issues, expectations. I got this reply right away: "So true, except I do really think there are issues with this car that truly shouldn't be. I had chalked it up to first model year woes... I have never bought before and should have stayed with my rule.... Live and learn....." I quickly volleyed that by asking what those issues were, adding this for background: btw, have purchased first-model-year vehicles for decades... 2001 Prius... 2004 Prius... 2010 Prius... 2012 Prius PHV... 2017 Prius Prime... 2023 bZ4X. So, I have been exposed to pretty much every type of criticism imaginable. It always comes down to the same thing, setting realistic expectations.

1-19-2025
Issues, mistake. This caught my attention this morning: "I didn't want to sound rude but given all the posts about issues and had I seen them prior to buying I never would have... I admit that I didn't do as much research as I should have and paying for my mistake." It came from a Solterra group on Facebook I'm quite active on. Owning an AWD bZ4X makes me a welcome participant. The post was about dealing with cold temperatures. I provided advice about not using recirculate and got a bunch of thumbs-up from it. That's the usual knowledge exchange which takes place there, quite routine. That comment about paying for her mistake was now. I attempted to stir discussion with: No offense taken. Welcome to the internet, where problems are grossly exaggerated from those seeking a place to share their complaints. Reality is, for every person complaining, there are 100 perfectly fine with their purchase decision. And of those few troubled owners, many end up learning that they had made an incorrect assumption easily remedied. Some disappear, never to be heard from again. Some end up thrilled by their discovery, turning into advocates to help others. It's like reading reviews, you really have to be aware of what gets posted.

1-18-2025
Crisis, trolling. We see some of the same people attacking Toyota every time they get. There's all sorts of different undermining approaches and attempts to mislead. There's also a common theme that is nothing but a distraction... claims like this: "Hybrids are not electric. They get zero energy from electricity. All energy added comes from burning gas. Drain the gas tank and they are bricks. 25 year old tech from the time of VHS and flip phones... not very cutting edge." It's the same old nonsense we've seen since Volt rolled out. Antagonists pretend the hybrid design cannot deliver anything more than just a reduction of gas consumption. Heck, even reduced smog-related emissions were ignored as a benefit. But the reality of acknowledgement that adding a plug can provide electric-only miles is too much. They cannot accept such a reality, hence trolling. It wastes everyone's time... except mine. Such desperate posts provide a clue into what the troll is worried about. The less sense posts make, the more concern they are hiding. By pushing back, I will sometimes be able to get at the heart of what they fear losing. And if nothing else, each of their posts is an invite for me to provide exposition... which I took advantage of this time: Where the electricity comes from is meaningless. Continue being the voice of denial, it won't change anything. Toyota hybrids use the same electric motors, controllers and inverters as BEVs. Increasing the size of the battery and adding a clutch allows them to be driven using only electricity. The bigger the battery and the more it is plugged in, the more it drives exactly like a BEV. Camry is 100% hybrid. RAV4 is expected to become 100% hybrid too. Seeing Toyota produce those components in high volume and now seeing Toyota setup battery production must truly frighten you.

1-18-2025 Crisis, curves. Enthusiast logic is that because Toyota was leader of hybrids they must also be leader for EVs. Their mindset is that pushing limits is better for business than carrying forward the entire fleet. It's the same kind of problem we have seen from shareholders, focusing entirely on quarter dividends rather than investing in long-term sustainability. That's why economic strengths, like diversity, isn't considered important. Ugh. That's how we get posts like this: "Toyota should be ahead of the curve when it comes to EVs. They've been building hybrids for decades, the jump to EVs shouldn't have been much of a leap. They've spend so much time and money trying to avoid investing in EVs, by spending billions on R&D for impractical hydrogen cars. Now they are playing catch up with everyone else." I asked:

Which curve? Toyota's motor & inverter efficiency is already so high, it can compensate for the old-school platform. Their investment in those EV components was a wise choice and will payoff well with their new platform.

Ironically, we now see how much time and money Tesla wasted on FSD and Cybertruck rather than making a competitive entry-level vehicle... which now they a behind scrambling to catch up to BYD. That's why it's important to recognize the overly simplistic claim of status is not realistic. There are many curves.
Also, don't overlook economic challenges. A runaway hit could trigger an Osborne Effect. Customers delaying their next purchase, waiting for some amazingly competitive tech in their model of choice would be devastating. Ordinary sales must continue to fund new production. Sustaining the business cannot be dismissed as unimportant. Consider how other legacy automakers are in the same situation.

1-17-2025
Video: Added Google Maps. Fresh snow had fallen overnight, providing a beautiful winter day to test the addition of Google Maps to my driving videos. Hope was to figure out how to eliminate outside glare on bright sunny days. This first attempt turned out nice enough to share. I should be able to prevent those few small shining spots in future videos. This one was a good random sample of commuting to work on a cold winter morning. Hope you like it... Added Google Maps

1-16-2025
Crisis, platform. Thankfully, the voices of reason continue: "I think Toyota is trying to squeeze as much as possible out of the current TNGA platforms in terms of being an EV. That will change soon as the dedicated TNGA EV platform announced some time ago becomes the basis of the next-generation EV's starting in 2026." Those words must really sting those trying to keep the "behind" narrative alive. Toyota isn't supposed to ever catch up. That feeling of desperation & despair should not be broken. Enthusiasts worked really hard to create the antithesis role for Toyota. They needed a common enemy to distract from their own shortcomings. I was amused by these continued efforts to change messaging. It's quite refreshing. To that, I added: We have known that to be the plan before bZ4X was rolled out. We were even shown a cutout of how it would leverage that existing platform to keep cost in check during the transition to a dedicated BEV platform (their "clean sheet" design). At the same time, we were told about their next two generations of motor being prepared and their switch to SiC inverters while also improving battery chemistry & packaging. Combine all that with the new battery production taking place in North Carolina, claims of inevitable death seem quite absurd.

1-15-2025
Crisis, rewrite. It never ends: "In 2022, the year after it introduced its electric bZ4X, it had to recall thousands of them because the wheels kept coming loose. The developers hadn't fully understood how much torque the cars' electric motors would generate, and they used bolts that couldn't take the stress." At least the false claims have switched from the wheels coming off to them just coming loose. But that's a lie too. I kept my reply to the nonsense in that article by keeping my comment brief: Gotta like how they attempt to rewrite history. There were only 3 reports worldwide of loose wheels and the bolts weren't actually the problem. It was a manufacturing error, where the mounting surface was incorrect (too rough).

1-15-2025
Crisis, profitable. More voices of reason are emerging: "Toyota is doing fine and will change production methods in a Japanese way. They will succeed, they know what they are doing but will not be easy, their biggest challenge in their history meanwhile they sell 10 million cars highest percentage of hybrids and sales are not that bad in China. Stop bashing Toyota." I joined in, adding: Everyone seems to forget the "all in" pledges, where legacy automakers were somehow going to magically switch from ICE to BEV without any type of dealer backlash or massive expense. No transition plan was ok. It was absurd. In the meantime, Toyota has been phasing out ICE in favor of HEV, setting the stage for high-volume PHEV and BEV sales by building a reputation for "EV" consumer confidence from having eliminated ICE sales (while remaining profitable).

1-15-2025
Crisis, caught! My callout worked. He got caught attempting to mislead. His reply stated he updated the snippet to ALL CAPS for clarity: ""absolutely embarrassing gap in IN VEHICLE electronics". Since his original quote was still in my post, there was clear evidence of having added another "in" with the hope no one would notice. I fired back pointing that out, how his addition profoundly changed the meaning of his post. It was FUD all along. Sometimes, it's obvious you're dealing with a troublemaker. His attack on the vehicle went horribly wrong. I exposed his effort to undermine. So, he tried to hide that fact by slipping in a change. His clarification was that he was really talking about the infotainment software. I pointed out that didn't make any sense either, since owners could take full advantage of both Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. I asked for detail again. What are the odds he'll just jump ship, abandoning the argument from not really having anything of substance to argue? Ugh.

1-15-2025 Crisis, embarrassing. This snippet really caught my attention: "absolutely embarrassing gap in vehicle electronics". I was quite curious what he was actually referring to. Antagonists are vague for a reason... their argument is too weak to defend. So, they do everything they can to avoid detail. I called that out, unwilling to accept such trolling this time:

Saying "vehicle electronics" without any detail makes it FUD, nonsense feeding the "behind" narrative.

Reality is the motor, inverter, controllers, etc. are competitive. Like we knew from the start, prior to rollout, the platform itself needed a completely new design. That's what gen-2 was always planned to be... a "clean sheet" approach. It's the only way to get costs way down and efficiency way up.

In the meantime, Toyota is working out details with approach and updating plans accordingly, while also educating dealer salespeople & mechanics to BEV fundamentals.
So... what's embarrassing? It's not like VW wasn't plagued by software issues or GM fumbled with battery replacement. Heck, even Tesla has faced a series of recalls recently.

1-14-2025 Crisis, irony. That question of next purchase deserved additional commentary, before waiting for any type of reply. I followed my other post with this right away:

The irony of that question is wonderful. For years, I pointed out the problem with Volt only achieving conquest sales. GM was clearly not making an effort to appeal to their own loyal customers. A compact hatchback made no sense to showroom shoppers looking to replace their aged Equinox. I asked "Who is the market for Volt?" quite literally hundreds of times... so much so, when Bolt came out (which was also a customer mismatch) that changed to "Know your audience". Conquest sales are a big problem. Just ask Tesla how their retention is going.

At least with Toyota, we see an effort to change their status quo. bZ4X is clearly aligned to target their largest audience, current RAV4 owners. So the question of "return to the brand" is rather obscure. Are you asking about the small number of current bZ4X owners or the massive number of RAV4 owners who haven't even starting shopping for an EV yet?
Keep in mind, Toyota hasn't actually altered their plans. All along, they had intended to deliver range & speed improvements as part of gen-2. The "crisis" is discovering the need to accelerate that plan. There was an expectation of EV adoption taking longer... which is still true in the United States, but that's not the case elsewhere.

1-21-2025	Instead, Watch. This is a new comment coming from a new owner, happy to have supposedly understood the situation and handled it well: "Turns out -10°F with a windchill dropping it to -22°F is about the cold limit for these. Wife left the house with a full charge and range dropped 45 miles in about 5 mins. She turned around and decided to work from home, haha." First, windchill has no influence since the vehicle is usually moving faster than the wind anyway. Second, what was the distance to be traveled? If it was just the typical 20 miles to work, why was there any type of concern? Even in the worst of conditions, you still have 100 miles of range available. Needless to say, he was watching the wrong thing. I replied back advising this instead: Watching range estimate recalculate will always be a shocker when you leave home and the vehicle discovers how much colder the outside is compared to your garage. Get used to watching efficiency instead, the "miles/kWh" value. -8° F (-22°C) last night when I made a pizza run a few miles down the road. I cranked the heater to HI out of curiosity. 1.5 miles/kWh was the result. That dropped range to just under 100 miles. Most of the time, I just have the heater set fairly low. Earlier in the day, when the temperature was a few degrees warmer, my 27-mile round-trip averaged 2.4 miles/kWh. That's an additional 55 miles of range simply by reducing demand from the heater.
1-19-2025	Evading Reality. On one forum, there's constructive exchanges. On another, there's constant attacks. I like to make sure I don't participate in just one or the other. Friendly groups tend to become echo-chambers. You don't get useful feedback with regard to the technology advancements from them, but their perspective on adoption is priceless. The hostile venues are a pain, since they don't believe in balance. There's no such thing as overkill in their mind. They are useful with regard to ordinary consumer acceptance. When they evade certain facts, that tends to be an indicator of their status quo being disrupted. Ironically, they preach about "market disruption" all the time but fail to recognize that applies to them. Enthusiasts are not representative of the future, no matter how much their try to convince you otherwise. Only bits & pieces of what they obsess with will become mainstream. That's why diversity is such a threat. It dilutes their messaging, a departure from reality... priorities they embrace that are not what the masses actually need. So, I keep reminding them of what's truly important and the facts not being addressed: Production in high volume of EV components... motors, controllers, inverters... is happening whether you acknowledge it or not. New battery production is on the way too. That is Toyota setting the stage for transition to plug-in offerings on a large scale. PHEV models of Prius, RAV4, Crown and CH-R are already in production. Ramping up volume of those while at the same time rolling out the next-gen bZ4X (likely to be called RAV4 EV) and their upcoming 3-row BEV (likely to be called Highlander EV) is possible due to having needed components readily available. It's quite telling that every time those facts are brought up, you attempt to divert attention to regular hybrids. Fortunately, ordinary consumers simply won't care that some random keyboard warrior is unwilling to accept reality.
1-19-2025	Let's Be Real. I found this worthy of extended discussion: "Like I said I don't disagree. The dealer could have been more upfront too but I love my dealer I think they didn't know either. It was their first batch of Solterra's maybe Subaru could have trained them better... But let's be real. They want to sell them." Potential for some critical thinking is realistic. I can be hopeful. Here was my attempt: Unfortunately, most salespeople at dealers are clueless. It's been that way for 25 years now. Since there is no penalty for guessing, most don't bother researching. Heck, our EV owners group here (Minnesota) started a referral list due to the number of well informed salespeople being so small. It's really disheartening. But then again, information gets outdated really quickly and most simply want the sale. The depth of their understanding is limited at best anyway. That's how YouTube channels like my own came about. .. hence asking for suggestions. Here's my newest teaching video... quick tutorial on ABRP (A Better Routeplanner)
1-19-2025	Issues, suggestions. Reply was almost immediate. I was thrilled by getting feedback, to quick I bounced back immediately to with: Much of what you listed is easily discoverable by doing some internet searches. Some of them, like the influence of temperature and infotainment, are common among many plug-in vehicles. With regard to seating & visibility, that can be true for any vehicle. Looking at statistics for my own YouTube channel, which is devoted to teaching others about those vehicles I own, shows 95.4% of my viewers are not subscribed. 44.1% of the views come from Google searches, 15.6% from YouTube searches, 21.9% from external references, and 23.8% from Facebook itself. With regard to loss from selling your vehicle so soon, that's where setting expectations is really important. Knowing this is still just an emerging market, it should be obvious that depreciation will be higher than usual. I would also think uncertainty related to DC fast-charging would give reason for pause from those who don't like taking risk. Any suggestions for us to share with others?
1-19-2025	Issues, expectations. I got this reply right away: "So true, except I do really think there are issues with this car that truly shouldn't be. I had chalked it up to first model year woes... I have never bought before and should have stayed with my rule.... Live and learn....." I quickly volleyed that by asking what those issues were, adding this for background: btw, have purchased first-model-year vehicles for decades... 2001 Prius... 2004 Prius... 2010 Prius... 2012 Prius PHV... 2017 Prius Prime... 2023 bZ4X. So, I have been exposed to pretty much every type of criticism imaginable. It always comes down to the same thing, setting realistic expectations.
1-19-2025	Issues, mistake. This caught my attention this morning: "I didn't want to sound rude but given all the posts about issues and had I seen them prior to buying I never would have... I admit that I didn't do as much research as I should have and paying for my mistake." It came from a Solterra group on Facebook I'm quite active on. Owning an AWD bZ4X makes me a welcome participant. The post was about dealing with cold temperatures. I provided advice about not using recirculate and got a bunch of thumbs-up from it. That's the usual knowledge exchange which takes place there, quite routine. That comment about paying for her mistake was now. I attempted to stir discussion with: No offense taken. Welcome to the internet, where problems are grossly exaggerated from those seeking a place to share their complaints. Reality is, for every person complaining, there are 100 perfectly fine with their purchase decision. And of those few troubled owners, many end up learning that they had made an incorrect assumption easily remedied. Some disappear, never to be heard from again. Some end up thrilled by their discovery, turning into advocates to help others. It's like reading reviews, you really have to be aware of what gets posted.
1-18-2025	Crisis, trolling. We see some of the same people attacking Toyota every time they get. There's all sorts of different undermining approaches and attempts to mislead. There's also a common theme that is nothing but a distraction... claims like this: "Hybrids are not electric. They get zero energy from electricity. All energy added comes from burning gas. Drain the gas tank and they are bricks. 25 year old tech from the time of VHS and flip phones... not very cutting edge." It's the same old nonsense we've seen since Volt rolled out. Antagonists pretend the hybrid design cannot deliver anything more than just a reduction of gas consumption. Heck, even reduced smog-related emissions were ignored as a benefit. But the reality of acknowledgement that adding a plug can provide electric-only miles is too much. They cannot accept such a reality, hence trolling. It wastes everyone's time... except mine. Such desperate posts provide a clue into what the troll is worried about. The less sense posts make, the more concern they are hiding. By pushing back, I will sometimes be able to get at the heart of what they fear losing. And if nothing else, each of their posts is an invite for me to provide exposition... which I took advantage of this time: Where the electricity comes from is meaningless. Continue being the voice of denial, it won't change anything. Toyota hybrids use the same electric motors, controllers and inverters as BEVs. Increasing the size of the battery and adding a clutch allows them to be driven using only electricity. The bigger the battery and the more it is plugged in, the more it drives exactly like a BEV. Camry is 100% hybrid. RAV4 is expected to become 100% hybrid too. Seeing Toyota produce those components in high volume and now seeing Toyota setup battery production must truly frighten you.
1-18-2025	Crisis, curves. Enthusiast logic is that because Toyota was leader of hybrids they must also be leader for EVs. Their mindset is that pushing limits is better for business than carrying forward the entire fleet. It's the same kind of problem we have seen from shareholders, focusing entirely on quarter dividends rather than investing in long-term sustainability. That's why economic strengths, like diversity, isn't considered important. Ugh. That's how we get posts like this: "Toyota should be ahead of the curve when it comes to EVs. They've been building hybrids for decades, the jump to EVs shouldn't have been much of a leap. They've spend so much time and money trying to avoid investing in EVs, by spending billions on R&D for impractical hydrogen cars. Now they are playing catch up with everyone else." I asked: Which curve? Toyota's motor & inverter efficiency is already so high, it can compensate for the old-school platform. Their investment in those EV components was a wise choice and will payoff well with their new platform. Ironically, we now see how much time and money Tesla wasted on FSD and Cybertruck rather than making a competitive entry-level vehicle... which now they a behind scrambling to catch up to BYD. That's why it's important to recognize the overly simplistic claim of status is not realistic. There are many curves. Also, don't overlook economic challenges. A runaway hit could trigger an Osborne Effect. Customers delaying their next purchase, waiting for some amazingly competitive tech in their model of choice would be devastating. Ordinary sales must continue to fund new production. Sustaining the business cannot be dismissed as unimportant. Consider how other legacy automakers are in the same situation.
1-17-2025	Video: Added Google Maps. Fresh snow had fallen overnight, providing a beautiful winter day to test the addition of Google Maps to my driving videos. Hope was to figure out how to eliminate outside glare on bright sunny days. This first attempt turned out nice enough to share. I should be able to prevent those few small shining spots in future videos. This one was a good random sample of commuting to work on a cold winter morning. Hope you like it... Added Google Maps
1-16-2025	Crisis, platform. Thankfully, the voices of reason continue: "I think Toyota is trying to squeeze as much as possible out of the current TNGA platforms in terms of being an EV. That will change soon as the dedicated TNGA EV platform announced some time ago becomes the basis of the next-generation EV's starting in 2026." Those words must really sting those trying to keep the "behind" narrative alive. Toyota isn't supposed to ever catch up. That feeling of desperation & despair should not be broken. Enthusiasts worked really hard to create the antithesis role for Toyota. They needed a common enemy to distract from their own shortcomings. I was amused by these continued efforts to change messaging. It's quite refreshing. To that, I added: We have known that to be the plan before bZ4X was rolled out. We were even shown a cutout of how it would leverage that existing platform to keep cost in check during the transition to a dedicated BEV platform (their "clean sheet" design). At the same time, we were told about their next two generations of motor being prepared and their switch to SiC inverters while also improving battery chemistry & packaging. Combine all that with the new battery production taking place in North Carolina, claims of inevitable death seem quite absurd.
1-15-2025	Crisis, rewrite. It never ends: "In 2022, the year after it introduced its electric bZ4X, it had to recall thousands of them because the wheels kept coming loose. The developers hadn't fully understood how much torque the cars' electric motors would generate, and they used bolts that couldn't take the stress." At least the false claims have switched from the wheels coming off to them just coming loose. But that's a lie too. I kept my reply to the nonsense in that article by keeping my comment brief: Gotta like how they attempt to rewrite history. There were only 3 reports worldwide of loose wheels and the bolts weren't actually the problem. It was a manufacturing error, where the mounting surface was incorrect (too rough).
1-15-2025	Crisis, profitable. More voices of reason are emerging: "Toyota is doing fine and will change production methods in a Japanese way. They will succeed, they know what they are doing but will not be easy, their biggest challenge in their history meanwhile they sell 10 million cars highest percentage of hybrids and sales are not that bad in China. Stop bashing Toyota." I joined in, adding: Everyone seems to forget the "all in" pledges, where legacy automakers were somehow going to magically switch from ICE to BEV without any type of dealer backlash or massive expense. No transition plan was ok. It was absurd. In the meantime, Toyota has been phasing out ICE in favor of HEV, setting the stage for high-volume PHEV and BEV sales by building a reputation for "EV" consumer confidence from having eliminated ICE sales (while remaining profitable).
1-15-2025	Crisis, caught! My callout worked. He got caught attempting to mislead. His reply stated he updated the snippet to ALL CAPS for clarity: ""absolutely embarrassing gap in IN VEHICLE electronics". Since his original quote was still in my post, there was clear evidence of having added another "in" with the hope no one would notice. I fired back pointing that out, how his addition profoundly changed the meaning of his post. It was FUD all along. Sometimes, it's obvious you're dealing with a troublemaker. His attack on the vehicle went horribly wrong. I exposed his effort to undermine. So, he tried to hide that fact by slipping in a change. His clarification was that he was really talking about the infotainment software. I pointed out that didn't make any sense either, since owners could take full advantage of both Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. I asked for detail again. What are the odds he'll just jump ship, abandoning the argument from not really having anything of substance to argue? Ugh.
1-15-2025	Crisis, embarrassing. This snippet really caught my attention: "absolutely embarrassing gap in vehicle electronics". I was quite curious what he was actually referring to. Antagonists are vague for a reason... their argument is too weak to defend. So, they do everything they can to avoid detail. I called that out, unwilling to accept such trolling this time: Saying "vehicle electronics" without any detail makes it FUD, nonsense feeding the "behind" narrative. Reality is the motor, inverter, controllers, etc. are competitive. Like we knew from the start, prior to rollout, the platform itself needed a completely new design. That's what gen-2 was always planned to be... a "clean sheet" approach. It's the only way to get costs way down and efficiency way up. In the meantime, Toyota is working out details with approach and updating plans accordingly, while also educating dealer salespeople & mechanics to BEV fundamentals. So... what's embarrassing? It's not like VW wasn't plagued by software issues or GM fumbled with battery replacement. Heck, even Tesla has faced a series of recalls recently.
1-14-2025	Crisis, irony. That question of next purchase deserved additional commentary, before waiting for any type of reply. I followed my other post with this right away: The irony of that question is wonderful. For years, I pointed out the problem with Volt only achieving conquest sales. GM was clearly not making an effort to appeal to their own loyal customers. A compact hatchback made no sense to showroom shoppers looking to replace their aged Equinox. I asked "Who is the market for Volt?" quite literally hundreds of times... so much so, when Bolt came out (which was also a customer mismatch) that changed to "Know your audience". Conquest sales are a big problem. Just ask Tesla how their retention is going. At least with Toyota, we see an effort to change their status quo. bZ4X is clearly aligned to target their largest audience, current RAV4 owners. So the question of "return to the brand" is rather obscure. Are you asking about the small number of current bZ4X owners or the massive number of RAV4 owners who haven't even starting shopping for an EV yet? Keep in mind, Toyota hasn't actually altered their plans. All along, they had intended to deliver range & speed improvements as part of gen-2. The "crisis" is discovering the need to accelerate that plan. There was an expectation of EV adoption taking longer... which is still true in the United States, but that's not the case elsewhere.