John's Stuff - Personal Log 1303

December 12, 2024 - December 20, 2024

Last Updated: Weds. 6/25/2025

12-20-2024
Confused. There's is no confusion. No critical thinking is the real problem. It's nice to see others sound off about how much attention is wasted on naming: "I legitimately don't understand why the name is so confusing to everyone. I just call it the BZ for short. When other BZ cars come to the US, then it's the BZ-4, which isn't drastically different from the RAV4. If anything, adding the "X" to the end is what messes it up but still, it's not a big deal to me." I joined in with: There are plenty of other vehicles with letter & number names. Thing is with Toyota's EV, most reporters were at a loss about how to do a review on a vehicle striving for balance rather than featuring a standout trait. So, they focused on the name to fill time and capitalize on controversy. Keep in mind that best sellers... Camry... Corolla... RAV4... are considering "boring" vehicles. What appeals to the masses and it so common you see them everywhere, it not exciting to the media. In fact, they don't want to cover stories on "bread & butter" profit sources. That is the same reason Prius got attacked relentlessly so much in the early years. Trivial things, like the shifter, blew my mind how much attention it got. Then when Prius sales took off, it was a reality enthusiasts struggled to accept. So the media made up more click-bait topics to appease them. Ugh.

12-19-2024 Affordable. Absence of patience is an on-going theme: "Toyota wants to make owning an EV more affordable, but where are the choices?" Not all antagonist attempts to undermine go well. I loved this response: "Their vehicles are average at best. But the reliability of their vehicles is far above average. Usually at or near the top of every chart. That's all many buyers care about. I don't care about the performance stats of my dishwasher or clothes dryer. I just want it to do it's job every single time I turn it on. That's why Toyota is so successful." I was quite happy to add to it as well:

Certain people try to bring up whatabouts when reliability is the topic. They don't like the idea of an average vehicle that's high demand due to its long-term dependability... which is exactly where we see Toyota going with their plug-in offerings.

My old 2012 Prius PHV (sold it to a friend) is still working just fine. All those years of recharging twice per day (home & work) were no big deal. The replacement to that was a 2017 Prius Prime (which is now my niece's car) went through the same twice-daily ritual. It works fine too. Toyota learned from the first-gen, adding a heat-pump and increasing top-speed to 135 km/h (84 mph). That second-gen worked so well, it became a third-gen and spawned off into RAV4, CH-R and Crown variants. All that experience contributing to BEV refinement clearly worries some... hence their FUD.

Just like with the gen-1 Prius, Toyota sees value in taking time. Their product for the masses will be a gen-2 offering. bZ4X will lead the way, but will likely give way to more popular models... just like Prius did with Camry, Corolla and RAV4 hybrids.
It's an evolution most enthusiasts simply don't have the patience for. Of course, they don't like the idea of "average" either. But that's the bread & butter sales a businesses need. Profit from dealers must be sustainable. That's how reliability really pays off.

12-18-2024
Trouble Free. Gotta like these types of comments: "Hundreds of thousands of trouble free miles? This isn't 1980 any more. Get with the times. Toyota is no better than average if that. And with these things, they can't even keep the wheels on them. Still having issues with that one." It's desperation at this point. Toyota isn't supposed to be establishing a reputation for reliability. That's something others can't compete against. Toyota couldn't even rollout an EV without serious problems... as the narrative claims. Turns out though, over time the real story emerges. Now, some are struggling. Easy rhetoric of the past doesn't work as the years go on and Toyota's plug-in offerings work just fine. I dealt with that latest antagonist attempt to undermine with: Yup, the fear about Toyota's potential is obvious. Back in 2016, they rolled out gen-2 Prius Prime. It could go up to 135 km/h (84 mph) using only electricity and it came standard with a heat-pump. That rollout was so successful, it has spawned several PHEV variants... RAV4, CH-R, Crown... as well as a gen-3 model for Prius. Those trouble-free miles clearly worry you.

12-17-2024 Lower Price. This was the official word from Toyota today, in a press release: "Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) reduction for 2025 bZ4X: $6,000 lower MSRP for XLE grade and $5,380 lower MSRP for Limited grade". Along with that comes a standard dual-voltage EVSE. This move makes sense. Enthusiasts are now in a hypocritical corner they backed themselves into. They said bZ4X could have been a better vehicle had it not been for the high price. Now being lower, what do you think they'll say? My prediction is they'll do the usual... move goal posts. After all, can't let their scapegoat ever catch up... despite the reality of mainstream consumer goals not changing. Ugh. This was my response:

Same old rhetoric being posted. Fortunately, some of us keep a clear head focused on useful priorities and recognize Toyota's history being followed. Their subtle approach of continuous improvement serves them well. Remember the third year of Prius here?

It was about making the vehicle better for their dealers, the true customer when it comes to breaking status quo. That means targeting cost reduction, rather than listening to "competitive" arguments from enthusiasts. Being able to lower price is key.

You can tell this really rubs those with the "more" mentality the wrong way... since their claims just 2 years ago was that Toyota would have a strong seller if somehow price could be lowered. In true hypocritical fashion, they are now running away from their own words.
Know your audience.

12-17-2024
Video: SubZero - Sunrise. It was a lucky opportunity, meeting friends early for breakfast on an especially cold morning to a destination I hadn't ever filmed. Without any of the usual prep, cameras were connected and I was rolling. That turned out to be a beautiful sunrise with lots of real-world winter footage to share. My bZ4X was parked in the garage overnight. Plugged in as usual, that means leaving the house with a 90% charge and the battery-pack kept warm using electricity from the cord. This drive was an example of what to expect on very cold days leaving from home. On the bottom left is the vehicle instrument cluster. On the bottom right, that's an app running on a tablet reading data from the vehicle's ODB-II port. It allows you to see information not otherwise available. Watching temperature and the flow of power can provide useful insight about operation, especially in low temperatures. Hope you enjoy watching the drive, presented at 10X speed... Toyota bZ4X - SubZero: Sunrise

12-15-2024 Farewell. A long-time Prius owner replaced his daily driver with a RAV4 hybrid. That stirred a reply from a long-time friend on the big Prius forum who had also moved on: "It is a shame this forum is just Prius centric." I couldn't resist jumping into that discussion.

After decades of support for Toyota hybrids, I have moved on to advocating for Toyota BEV models. It's quite remarkable how much bZ4X follows the same history as Prius. Both gen-1 offerings share scope & purpose, leveraging limited rollout to shakeout essentials for what gen-2 needs to appeal to the masses.

It's the same old rhetoric from those who feel threatened by status quo change. Heck, I still encounter the "vastly superior" nonsense gen-1 of the PHEV had to deal with. My favorite part of that is the antagonist denial of where Toyota has exceled. They attempt to hide success of efficiency by focusing on range.

They see the threat new chemistry provides. Any Toyota vehicle will thrive from a battery delivering higher energy density and more cycles, taking advantage of great efficiency put into better packaging. That won't benefit plug-in vehicles that guzzle electricity. Toyota gets labeled as a "laggard" from those who rushed to market with an inefficient design.
I'm looking forward to the next few years. It's like reliving the early 2000's all over again. Even the political rhetoric is the same. We have the tools to overcome that nonsense. Hang in there, where ever you choose to fight the good fight.

12-15-2024
Online Battles, vastly superior. After a series of posts and even a reference to my YouTube channel, he still didn't let up: "Yesterday I drove 180 miles towing a utility trailer in the cold. I still had 14%. AWD and winter tires. I wouldn't even try that in a Lexus or Toyota EV. They're not rated to tow anyway. And the range is not competitive. The Lexus only managed 120 miles in the winter in Car and Drivers highway test. And that was without a trailer." That brought me back decades, to that idiotic "up to the chore" saga... a heated thread that lasted over 2 years, before the host finally declared Prius victorious and ended posting. I was quite amused. He had revealed himself as nothing but a person obsessed with having more. It made my response quite easy, having dealt with such self-defeating nonsense so often over the decades: I had a feeling your point was chest pounding. That kind of "vastly superior" nonsense is exactly why I asked about audience. Many, many times in the past failure to recognize what will actually draw the masses has turned disastrous. It's truly remarkable to witness history repeat like that. You sight an extreme, portraying it as essential, then struggle in dismay when ordinary consumers don't take interest. Ugh.

12-14-2024
Online Battles, real world. Every time I referred back to the topic of the article, I got this: "You changed the subject again. How about two range tests getting 120 and 140. The worst range and the worst miss vs EPA? That's what counts in the real world." It was difficult to determine whether or not he was clueless, depending upon information that was clearly limited & bias, or that he simply started believing his own lies. So, I followed up the online battle with some real-world data?: I've been quite curious how deep you would keep digging. That's a lot of manure... Owning an AWD with the larger tires, I see much higher returns than the obvious bias nonsense you're spreading. Trips up north, I average 3.6 mi/kWh. From the 65 kWh usable capacity, that's 234 miles real-world. Drives to the trails for biking with a hitch on back, I average 3.8 mi/kWh... that's 247 miles real-world. In the winter here in Minnesota, I average around 2.7 mi/kWh... that's 175 miles real-world.

12-14-2024
Online Battles, bait. Posting to win an online battle, rather than focus on winning the war, is common for enthusiasts. They become blinded by the draw of easy victories. This time, it started with trolling bait, a comment in the $10,000 reduction article. His post was about a 75 mph test one of the enthusiast magazines published about the Lexus EV. There was no link to a source, just a vague claim... so you wouldn't figure out it was actually the premium model, the one with far more power than bZ4X and is less efficient as a result. Of course, nothing but driving 75 mph is hardly representative of everyday driving anyway. Heck, most highways in Minnesota are either 65 or 70 mph. Within the metro, they are 55 and 60 mph. Anywho, he kept pushing this over and over: "If you think these are so great, defend 120 and 140 mile car and driver test without changing the subject." When I pointed out he should be comparing to the RZ300e rather than RZ450e, since that is which closely resembled bZ4X. Though, Lexus is always heavier due to the premium components and the sound-deadening materials. He didn't care. The same bait continued to be posted.

12-14-2024
Always Plug In. New owners tend to focus on EV range remaining as an indicator of when to plug in. That comes from having a traditional vehicle for their entire life up until this point. You fill up when the level is low. A mentality of plugging in routinely has become habit for cell-phones, but not cars yet. There are unseen benefits of always being topped off. There isn't the inconvenience of having to drive to a gas station either. You just plug in when you get home. It's quick, doesn't require any thought, then you leave later having benefitted from that... as I pointed out today: Level-2 provides battery warming, just enough to enable regen & charging as well as provide high-demand power draw (hard acceleration). It works the same way it did with my 2017 Prius Prime. The system keeps the battery above freezing. Why is obvious to anyone who understands lithium chemistry... electrical resistance increases significantly in sub-freezing temps. The interesting part is what Toyota delivered to deal with that cold reality (bad pun). They figured out how allow the vehicle to operate normally even with a very cold battery... which means overall efficiency is usually higher than those who draw from the battery to heat itself.

12-13-2024
Price Reduction. Price of the upcoming 2025 model has already been confirmed as lower, despite not having any detail yet and market variance is an unknown. Supposedly, purchases will begin in a few weeks. Back in February, an executive mentioned some updates planned for next year. This is getting interesting. Of course, this also stirs rhetoric. Hypocrites jump at any opportunity to provide some negative spin. Now playing offense, I jumped before many had a chance: It's telling when people say it would be a really nice vehicle if the price was lower, then call it inferior when the price is lowered. The real story is they see its been proven reliable, efficient and that Toyota is quick to respond to feedback. That achieves gen-1 goals and why the next model for Europe made its debut yesterday.

12-12-2024
Not Likely Coming. That was the sentiment following the reveal. Little can be said at this point in favor of our obsessions. All those years ago... well over a decade now... we saw technology driven by pushing boundaries. That doesn't make sense anymore. It has been proven viable for the masses. Nothing more is needed in terms of range, power or speed. It's all about reducing cost and providing better packaging. We're in the refinement stage, not the exploratory. Enthusiasts can't stand that reality. They only thrive from the push. Absence of that chest-pounding, king-of-the-hill mentality leaves them at a loss. That is exactly why efficiency is such a struggle for them to embrace. Getting more from less isn't their approach. It was always about finding a means of squeezing more capacity into a chassis. That meant not having to address the challenges of range, power and speed. Increasing battery size was really just a workaround, rather than a solution... but no enthusiast ever wanted to admit it. This is the reason why an offering like Toyota's new Urban Cruiser is not likely coming here. Denial of priority is all too real of a barrier still. Ugh. I drew upon our history to make that point: Unfortunately, that is the consequence of rhetoric from years ago. Enthusiasts tend to be their own worst enemy. It was their "vastly superior" mindset that put our market on the niche path rather than embracing what was best for the masses. Now we see EV offerings being left off of deployment plans for the US.

12-12-2024
Toyota Urban Cruiser. There was a reveal on the European website for Toyota today. It encouraged reserving one now, followed by: "The new all-electric Urban Cruiser is available with two battery packs: 49 kWh and 61 kWh. You can choose between two-wheel drive or four-wheel drive. With its compact SUV design and excellent maneuverability, this is the car that fits just as well on city streets and narrow street parking spaces as on the steep and challenging mountain roads. Now you can reserve your Urban Cruiser completely free of charge and without obligation. Choose the level of equipment and customizations to secure the car that best suits you. By reserving, you will be at the front of the queue when car reservations open in spring 2025." Seeing this as an equivalent to ID.3 from VW, it an expected move at a great time for Toyota. With struggle in VW coming from a variety of sources, seeing that Toyota is moving forward will really hurt. It tends to really mess up antagonists too. They have worked hard to pretend the version of ID.4 here with the 62 kWh battery-pack doesn't exist. That's an EPA range rating of 206 miles. Acknowledging that more isn't necessary has been an incredibly difficult barrier for most of those pushing rhetoric to accept. Knowing both GM and Ford are also pursuing smaller configured choices, hope for excess being the sole determination of competitiveness is crumbling. More will be available, be not everyone finds that important. In fact, that is an excellent means of overcoming such high prices. A smaller vehicle like this won't need as much capacity to travel further anyway... which is why I focus so much attention onto efficiency... mi/kWh. The idea of Toyota being a leader in that regard is too much for them to bare.

12-20-2024	Confused. There's is no confusion. No critical thinking is the real problem. It's nice to see others sound off about how much attention is wasted on naming: "I legitimately don't understand why the name is so confusing to everyone. I just call it the BZ for short. When other BZ cars come to the US, then it's the BZ-4, which isn't drastically different from the RAV4. If anything, adding the "X" to the end is what messes it up but still, it's not a big deal to me." I joined in with: There are plenty of other vehicles with letter & number names. Thing is with Toyota's EV, most reporters were at a loss about how to do a review on a vehicle striving for balance rather than featuring a standout trait. So, they focused on the name to fill time and capitalize on controversy. Keep in mind that best sellers... Camry... Corolla... RAV4... are considering "boring" vehicles. What appeals to the masses and it so common you see them everywhere, it not exciting to the media. In fact, they don't want to cover stories on "bread & butter" profit sources. That is the same reason Prius got attacked relentlessly so much in the early years. Trivial things, like the shifter, blew my mind how much attention it got. Then when Prius sales took off, it was a reality enthusiasts struggled to accept. So the media made up more click-bait topics to appease them. Ugh.
12-19-2024	Affordable. Absence of patience is an on-going theme: "Toyota wants to make owning an EV more affordable, but where are the choices?" Not all antagonist attempts to undermine go well. I loved this response: "Their vehicles are average at best. But the reliability of their vehicles is far above average. Usually at or near the top of every chart. That's all many buyers care about. I don't care about the performance stats of my dishwasher or clothes dryer. I just want it to do it's job every single time I turn it on. That's why Toyota is so successful." I was quite happy to add to it as well: Certain people try to bring up whatabouts when reliability is the topic. They don't like the idea of an average vehicle that's high demand due to its long-term dependability... which is exactly where we see Toyota going with their plug-in offerings. My old 2012 Prius PHV (sold it to a friend) is still working just fine. All those years of recharging twice per day (home & work) were no big deal. The replacement to that was a 2017 Prius Prime (which is now my niece's car) went through the same twice-daily ritual. It works fine too. Toyota learned from the first-gen, adding a heat-pump and increasing top-speed to 135 km/h (84 mph). That second-gen worked so well, it became a third-gen and spawned off into RAV4, CH-R and Crown variants. All that experience contributing to BEV refinement clearly worries some... hence their FUD. Just like with the gen-1 Prius, Toyota sees value in taking time. Their product for the masses will be a gen-2 offering. bZ4X will lead the way, but will likely give way to more popular models... just like Prius did with Camry, Corolla and RAV4 hybrids. It's an evolution most enthusiasts simply don't have the patience for. Of course, they don't like the idea of "average" either. But that's the bread & butter sales a businesses need. Profit from dealers must be sustainable. That's how reliability really pays off.
12-18-2024	Trouble Free. Gotta like these types of comments: "Hundreds of thousands of trouble free miles? This isn't 1980 any more. Get with the times. Toyota is no better than average if that. And with these things, they can't even keep the wheels on them. Still having issues with that one." It's desperation at this point. Toyota isn't supposed to be establishing a reputation for reliability. That's something others can't compete against. Toyota couldn't even rollout an EV without serious problems... as the narrative claims. Turns out though, over time the real story emerges. Now, some are struggling. Easy rhetoric of the past doesn't work as the years go on and Toyota's plug-in offerings work just fine. I dealt with that latest antagonist attempt to undermine with: Yup, the fear about Toyota's potential is obvious. Back in 2016, they rolled out gen-2 Prius Prime. It could go up to 135 km/h (84 mph) using only electricity and it came standard with a heat-pump. That rollout was so successful, it has spawned several PHEV variants... RAV4, CH-R, Crown... as well as a gen-3 model for Prius. Those trouble-free miles clearly worry you.
12-17-2024	Lower Price. This was the official word from Toyota today, in a press release: "Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) reduction for 2025 bZ4X: $6,000 lower MSRP for XLE grade and $5,380 lower MSRP for Limited grade". Along with that comes a standard dual-voltage EVSE. This move makes sense. Enthusiasts are now in a hypocritical corner they backed themselves into. They said bZ4X could have been a better vehicle had it not been for the high price. Now being lower, what do you think they'll say? My prediction is they'll do the usual... move goal posts. After all, can't let their scapegoat ever catch up... despite the reality of mainstream consumer goals not changing. Ugh. This was my response: Same old rhetoric being posted. Fortunately, some of us keep a clear head focused on useful priorities and recognize Toyota's history being followed. Their subtle approach of continuous improvement serves them well. Remember the third year of Prius here? It was about making the vehicle better for their dealers, the true customer when it comes to breaking status quo. That means targeting cost reduction, rather than listening to "competitive" arguments from enthusiasts. Being able to lower price is key. You can tell this really rubs those with the "more" mentality the wrong way... since their claims just 2 years ago was that Toyota would have a strong seller if somehow price could be lowered. In true hypocritical fashion, they are now running away from their own words. Know your audience.
12-17-2024	Video: SubZero - Sunrise. It was a lucky opportunity, meeting friends early for breakfast on an especially cold morning to a destination I hadn't ever filmed. Without any of the usual prep, cameras were connected and I was rolling. That turned out to be a beautiful sunrise with lots of real-world winter footage to share. My bZ4X was parked in the garage overnight. Plugged in as usual, that means leaving the house with a 90% charge and the battery-pack kept warm using electricity from the cord. This drive was an example of what to expect on very cold days leaving from home. On the bottom left is the vehicle instrument cluster. On the bottom right, that's an app running on a tablet reading data from the vehicle's ODB-II port. It allows you to see information not otherwise available. Watching temperature and the flow of power can provide useful insight about operation, especially in low temperatures. Hope you enjoy watching the drive, presented at 10X speed... Toyota bZ4X - SubZero: Sunrise
12-15-2024	Farewell. A long-time Prius owner replaced his daily driver with a RAV4 hybrid. That stirred a reply from a long-time friend on the big Prius forum who had also moved on: "It is a shame this forum is just Prius centric." I couldn't resist jumping into that discussion. After decades of support for Toyota hybrids, I have moved on to advocating for Toyota BEV models. It's quite remarkable how much bZ4X follows the same history as Prius. Both gen-1 offerings share scope & purpose, leveraging limited rollout to shakeout essentials for what gen-2 needs to appeal to the masses. It's the same old rhetoric from those who feel threatened by status quo change. Heck, I still encounter the "vastly superior" nonsense gen-1 of the PHEV had to deal with. My favorite part of that is the antagonist denial of where Toyota has exceled. They attempt to hide success of efficiency by focusing on range. They see the threat new chemistry provides. Any Toyota vehicle will thrive from a battery delivering higher energy density and more cycles, taking advantage of great efficiency put into better packaging. That won't benefit plug-in vehicles that guzzle electricity. Toyota gets labeled as a "laggard" from those who rushed to market with an inefficient design. I'm looking forward to the next few years. It's like reliving the early 2000's all over again. Even the political rhetoric is the same. We have the tools to overcome that nonsense. Hang in there, where ever you choose to fight the good fight.
12-15-2024	Online Battles, vastly superior. After a series of posts and even a reference to my YouTube channel, he still didn't let up: "Yesterday I drove 180 miles towing a utility trailer in the cold. I still had 14%. AWD and winter tires. I wouldn't even try that in a Lexus or Toyota EV. They're not rated to tow anyway. And the range is not competitive. The Lexus only managed 120 miles in the winter in Car and Drivers highway test. And that was without a trailer." That brought me back decades, to that idiotic "up to the chore" saga... a heated thread that lasted over 2 years, before the host finally declared Prius victorious and ended posting. I was quite amused. He had revealed himself as nothing but a person obsessed with having more. It made my response quite easy, having dealt with such self-defeating nonsense so often over the decades: I had a feeling your point was chest pounding. That kind of "vastly superior" nonsense is exactly why I asked about audience. Many, many times in the past failure to recognize what will actually draw the masses has turned disastrous. It's truly remarkable to witness history repeat like that. You sight an extreme, portraying it as essential, then struggle in dismay when ordinary consumers don't take interest. Ugh.
12-14-2024	Online Battles, real world. Every time I referred back to the topic of the article, I got this: "You changed the subject again. How about two range tests getting 120 and 140. The worst range and the worst miss vs EPA? That's what counts in the real world." It was difficult to determine whether or not he was clueless, depending upon information that was clearly limited & bias, or that he simply started believing his own lies. So, I followed up the online battle with some real-world data?: I've been quite curious how deep you would keep digging. That's a lot of manure... Owning an AWD with the larger tires, I see much higher returns than the obvious bias nonsense you're spreading. Trips up north, I average 3.6 mi/kWh. From the 65 kWh usable capacity, that's 234 miles real-world. Drives to the trails for biking with a hitch on back, I average 3.8 mi/kWh... that's 247 miles real-world. In the winter here in Minnesota, I average around 2.7 mi/kWh... that's 175 miles real-world.
12-14-2024	Online Battles, bait. Posting to win an online battle, rather than focus on winning the war, is common for enthusiasts. They become blinded by the draw of easy victories. This time, it started with trolling bait, a comment in the $10,000 reduction article. His post was about a 75 mph test one of the enthusiast magazines published about the Lexus EV. There was no link to a source, just a vague claim... so you wouldn't figure out it was actually the premium model, the one with far more power than bZ4X and is less efficient as a result. Of course, nothing but driving 75 mph is hardly representative of everyday driving anyway. Heck, most highways in Minnesota are either 65 or 70 mph. Within the metro, they are 55 and 60 mph. Anywho, he kept pushing this over and over: "If you think these are so great, defend 120 and 140 mile car and driver test without changing the subject." When I pointed out he should be comparing to the RZ300e rather than RZ450e, since that is which closely resembled bZ4X. Though, Lexus is always heavier due to the premium components and the sound-deadening materials. He didn't care. The same bait continued to be posted.
12-14-2024	Always Plug In. New owners tend to focus on EV range remaining as an indicator of when to plug in. That comes from having a traditional vehicle for their entire life up until this point. You fill up when the level is low. A mentality of plugging in routinely has become habit for cell-phones, but not cars yet. There are unseen benefits of always being topped off. There isn't the inconvenience of having to drive to a gas station either. You just plug in when you get home. It's quick, doesn't require any thought, then you leave later having benefitted from that... as I pointed out today: Level-2 provides battery warming, just enough to enable regen & charging as well as provide high-demand power draw (hard acceleration). It works the same way it did with my 2017 Prius Prime. The system keeps the battery above freezing. Why is obvious to anyone who understands lithium chemistry... electrical resistance increases significantly in sub-freezing temps. The interesting part is what Toyota delivered to deal with that cold reality (bad pun). They figured out how allow the vehicle to operate normally even with a very cold battery... which means overall efficiency is usually higher than those who draw from the battery to heat itself.
12-13-2024	Price Reduction. Price of the upcoming 2025 model has already been confirmed as lower, despite not having any detail yet and market variance is an unknown. Supposedly, purchases will begin in a few weeks. Back in February, an executive mentioned some updates planned for next year. This is getting interesting. Of course, this also stirs rhetoric. Hypocrites jump at any opportunity to provide some negative spin. Now playing offense, I jumped before many had a chance: It's telling when people say it would be a really nice vehicle if the price was lower, then call it inferior when the price is lowered. The real story is they see its been proven reliable, efficient and that Toyota is quick to respond to feedback. That achieves gen-1 goals and why the next model for Europe made its debut yesterday.
12-12-2024	Not Likely Coming. That was the sentiment following the reveal. Little can be said at this point in favor of our obsessions. All those years ago... well over a decade now... we saw technology driven by pushing boundaries. That doesn't make sense anymore. It has been proven viable for the masses. Nothing more is needed in terms of range, power or speed. It's all about reducing cost and providing better packaging. We're in the refinement stage, not the exploratory. Enthusiasts can't stand that reality. They only thrive from the push. Absence of that chest-pounding, king-of-the-hill mentality leaves them at a loss. That is exactly why efficiency is such a struggle for them to embrace. Getting more from less isn't their approach. It was always about finding a means of squeezing more capacity into a chassis. That meant not having to address the challenges of range, power and speed. Increasing battery size was really just a workaround, rather than a solution... but no enthusiast ever wanted to admit it. This is the reason why an offering like Toyota's new Urban Cruiser is not likely coming here. Denial of priority is all too real of a barrier still. Ugh. I drew upon our history to make that point: Unfortunately, that is the consequence of rhetoric from years ago. Enthusiasts tend to be their own worst enemy. It was their "vastly superior" mindset that put our market on the niche path rather than embracing what was best for the masses. Now we see EV offerings being left off of deployment plans for the US.
12-12-2024	Toyota Urban Cruiser. There was a reveal on the European website for Toyota today. It encouraged reserving one now, followed by: "The new all-electric Urban Cruiser is available with two battery packs: 49 kWh and 61 kWh. You can choose between two-wheel drive or four-wheel drive. With its compact SUV design and excellent maneuverability, this is the car that fits just as well on city streets and narrow street parking spaces as on the steep and challenging mountain roads. Now you can reserve your Urban Cruiser completely free of charge and without obligation. Choose the level of equipment and customizations to secure the car that best suits you. By reserving, you will be at the front of the queue when car reservations open in spring 2025." Seeing this as an equivalent to ID.3 from VW, it an expected move at a great time for Toyota. With struggle in VW coming from a variety of sources, seeing that Toyota is moving forward will really hurt. It tends to really mess up antagonists too. They have worked hard to pretend the version of ID.4 here with the 62 kWh battery-pack doesn't exist. That's an EPA range rating of 206 miles. Acknowledging that more isn't necessary has been an incredibly difficult barrier for most of those pushing rhetoric to accept. Knowing both GM and Ford are also pursuing smaller configured choices, hope for excess being the sole determination of competitiveness is crumbling. More will be available, be not everyone finds that important. In fact, that is an excellent means of overcoming such high prices. A smaller vehicle like this won't need as much capacity to travel further anyway... which is why I focus so much attention onto efficiency... mi/kWh. The idea of Toyota being a leader in that regard is too much for them to bare.