Max Speed.  I'm quite curious where discussions of charging will take us.  With NACS adoption and the reality of diminishing returns, something else will likely capture online interest... or obsession.  This was what stirred my curiosity: "It was just the AWD that maxed at 100kw.  The FWD bz4x maxed at 150kw.  Rarely in the real world did owners see those max numbers though."  I added:  The design of gen-1 was to optimize battery cooling, which is exactly what you don't want when fast-charging.  It was a sensible longevity approach, but a fundamental clash with regard to consumer want.  And now with degradation proving far less of an issue, it was an easy compromise... a tribute to Toyota's flexible nature.  It sure frustrated many in the meantime.  You couldn't do anything to artificially create heat.   Attempts to yo-yo were worthless.  The battery didn't get hot unless it was hot outside.  That was the only time I got to experience really fast charging.  Max was elusive, to put it kindly.  Gen-2 takes a very different strategy.

80-Amp AC.  It was a bizarre recommendation from a BEV Pickup enthusiast.  He was viewing the entire industry through the lens of truck ownership.  All his reasoning came from support of an electricity guzzler.  I was really surprised by the reckless nature of justification for 80-amp AC charging.  That was supposedly the best for everyone and automakers were just cheapening out by not supporting that full 19.2 kW potential for the J1772 spec.  What the heck?  It was as there was no such thing as an entry-level vehicle.  If you didn't have the best technology could offer, it was a sacrifice.  I was somewhat troubled by his expectation for everyone to have the same priorities... and no care for the tradeoffs.  More tends to require some type of compromise.  In this case, the source & cost of electricity was clearly not taken into consideration.  Annoyed and knowing I likely wouldn't get any type of reply, I posted this on his video comments:  A big selling point is leaving home every morning with a full battery.  Taking advantage of discounts from charging overnight and not putting avoidable demand on the grid during peak is being overlooked.  You really only need DC when in the middle of long span of driving.  When out & about, only a PHEV is going to benefit from a quick 10-mile add.  It doesn't really accomplish anything with a BEV.

The enthusiast tailgate party is over.  The game itself is about to begin.

Facelift?  I'm not sure what constitutes a major upgrade to some people.  Regardless, it is good to see comments like this: "Test drove the new facelift version yesterday, AWD Excel in scarlet flare red with panoramic roof, JBL premium sound ordered and due in June, can't wait to receive it.  Merry Xmas to me!"  I couldn't figure out what market the person was in.  But hearing more would be interesting.  So, I added:  Facelift?  This is an entirely new generation.  Upgrades are across the board.  Toyota checked a number of boxes enthusiasts gave much feedback about too.  The improvements I have observed from having just upgraded from a 2023 to a 2026 are impressive. I'm noticing refinements in so many things, many subtle... like the manner brake-regeneration is handled when outside temperature drops to 0°F (-18 °C).  Improvements to range, power, efficiency and charging-speed all add up to make a compelling EV choice.  Your wait will be well worth it.

60-Amp Install.  Gut reaction is to install the most powerful home charger possible.  Absence of critical thinking online only makes that situation worse.  I try to interject some common sense, an effort to logic to overcome emotion.  Sometimes it works.  In this case, I got a "Thanks!" right away.  That is why reposting this same advice again and again never gets old:  We put in two 40-amp lines.  That means you can pull a continuous 32 amps.  So for 8 hours of charging at 7.6 kW (240V * 32A), you'd end up with around 60 kWh.  Since my EVs usable capacity is 69 kWh, I wouldn't ever need much more than that anyway.  Our off-peak discount hours are from 11PM to 7AM, so faster is pointless and charging is not available outside that window.  We made that decision for two lines 8.5 years ago and it has worked out great.  It comes down to planning ahead if there will be multiple plug-in vehicles and knowing how much your capacity service-panel has available.

Much Potential.  Gotta love comments like this: "As much as it pains me to say so, I might have to look at the Toyota for this next fall."  Responding to that was a must:  It's only painful for enthusiasts.  Patience is a challenge.  Heck, I'll attest to that.  Ordinary consumers though, who naturally just "wait until they get the bugs out" before taking a look, will see this next-gen as par for course.  The 2026 is fast & powerful with every box checked that enthusiasts expressed much concern about, foretelling Toyota's inevitable doom.  Instead, we see something competitive already available with both a smaller model and larger model coming the first half of 2026.  The fact that there will be Subaru variants is a great means of reaching a larger audience . It will be very interesting to watch how that plays out over the next year.

Battery Type.  There were 3 types of battery listed in the owner's manual.  Type A was the one with fewer cells, 78 instead of 104.  That put the nominal voltage at 288.6, which means it will be slower fast-charging.  Turns out, that is exactly what Equinox EV has.  Type B bumps nominal voltage to 384.4, sharing the same 3.7 cell as Type A.  Mine ended up being the third.  This is what I shared about it, after the long delivery wait to final find out:  Type C is the type of battery in my 2026 AWD Limited.  It says "XEAM15L-MWDHNA" on the door-jam plate.  That means each cell has a voltage of 3.76 with a rated capacity of 191 Ah.  There are 104 cells for nominal total of 391 volts.

First Commute.  This is what I shared online about my first commute:  I just upgraded from a 2023 to a 2026, both AWD Limited with 20" tires.  My first commute to work clearly delivered a significant improvement.  At 21°F today, my expectation would have been for around 2.9 mi/kWh.  Seeing it at 3.5 mi/kWh was awesome, especially with this being prior to break-in.  That next-gen eAxle upgrade (taking advantage of upgrading to SiC), along with refined aerodynamics, clearly delivered a nice bump up in efficiency.  Sweet!

Remessaging.  An article today attempted to redefine how "generations" is used.  I have no idea why.  I suspect it was just absence of anything else worthwhile to write about.  There could be an element at play related to the need to move on as well.  This year was filled with crashing vehicle prices and the scramble to figure out what happens when the tax-credits are gone.  Now with messaging that "gas will be cheap" and electric vehicles not, there's a sense of panic to retain attention.  Stirring a new narrative appears to be the solution... not a good one though.  Several of us were annoyed by the remessaging spin: "This post was a bit all over the place.  Even started talking about Tesla which certainly doesn't have any kind of all new BEV platform on the horizon.  And I'm not sure "Gen 3" will be defined by 800 volt architecture.  I think if you have a lower priced BEV that still offers more and more average range, you are talking "Gen 3"."  It should be clear that this post-credit time will need to redirect focus away from range & speed.  Properly identifying that in common terms, relatable markers in progress, is essential.  In other words, use what is already familiar.  I suggested:  "Gen" is misleading.  Most histories refer to society changes as a whole with "stage" or "chapter" instead.  That way, iterations within don't get confused.  Each automaker will likely deliver several generations before something on that larger scale is switched to.

First Impressions.  My wife was finishing band practice, in this case a dress rehearsal at the venue they will be performing at in a few days.  It was 30 miles away.  The temperature would be around 20°F.  I was looking forward to the drive.  It would be in about an hour.  I parked the bZ outside, to allow it to cool down to outside temperature.  The digital mirror was the standout improvement.  It's hard to not be thrown by the upgrade, being able to see better in the night... since was now a screen, rather than just a reflection.  I hadn't turned it on for the drive home.  Now, it was active.  So was the ambient lighting inside.  I selected red for my first color choice.  The drive was quite familiar.  To my surprise, I got behind someone going horribly slow.  She emerged from the ramp onto the 70 mph highway at just 42 mph.  That was my opportunity to punch it.  Holy Crap!  I didn't even drop the pedal all the way and speed had already got to 86 mph.  Oops!  No surprises after that.  I drove to the university where the auditorium was, parking next to my wife's Prius Prime... which is the same color, though my dirtier.  I then got to look at my results.  29.9 miles.  Trip time 44 minutes.  Efficiency average 3.4 mi/kWh.  That was amazing.

2026 Purchase!  It was a surreal moment.  I had a crazy day at work, classes in the morning and holiday celebration in the afternoon.  Having checked yesterday to make sure prep was taking place and the battery will be fully charged, it was just a matter of setting up a purchase time.  I wrapped up things at work and rushed home.  I got together my finance & title stuff, along with FOBs and the ODB-II device, I was ready to go.  When I got there, I backed in so the final interior shot would have new Prius in the background.  I also captured video of the final battery statistics.  Having that data could come in handy later.  Finishing up, I ran inside with a final look back at my 2023.  No photo.  The mental image in my head would be lasting.  Sure enough, they drove it away for tradeoff appraisal.  So, I never did get to see the dirty exterior again.  The value itself was sadly quite low, but it was fair.  Here in Minnesota, that difference is deducted prior to tax calculation.  So, you only pay the difference on a new vehicle.  That helped.  What was even better was the reality that the $5,000 cash back would apply too.  That left me feeling good, especially since I had accumulated $1,297.11 worth of rebates for a new vehicle purchase on my credit-card.  Today just happened to be the day I got money for cashing in my unused work vacation too.  That's saving a whole lot more than just pennies!  Anywho, the purchase itself was uneventful.  Having been through that process several times in the past at that dealer with that salesperson, it was pretty simple.  They just have me sign some standard forms, listen to their extra offers, then write a check.  They even take care of the vanity-plate transfer.  It's quite painless.  It does take a long time though.  So, we chatted for awhile.  When I finally got to jump into the 2026, that went rather quickly.  Connecting my app to the vehicle was painless.  Connecting ODB-II to the vehicle was painful though.  Turns out, a new profile is needed.  So, I won't be able to see extra data until then.  Bummer.  Oh well.  This upgrade has a "State of Health" screen.  So, there is no question of degradation and no need to connect with a third-party reader & app.  Before I knew it, the experience was over.  The surreal had begun.  I drove out of the clean & comfortable delivery building into the hostile dirty & cold reality of Minnesota winter.  I wondered how quickly the shiny red vehicle would stay that way.  Didn't matter.  It was now all mine.  Hooray!

Late To The Party.  How many times did we hear that over the years?  It was an assessment of Toyota, emphasizing a lack of progress to feed a "behind" narrative.  Coming from poorly informed enthusiasts, taking them seriously never happened.  I kept repeating the message of knowing audience.  They hated that.  Not having any good reason to rebut with was why.  All those years of early-adopter efforts never delivered any solid messaging for ordinary consumers.  How to promote never emerged.  They were all so focused on the technology itself, they failed to address marketing.  Selling concepts like "less maintenance" falls on deaf ears for those who try to never think about those expenses.  Heck, even with never ending pain-at-the-pump problems for gas, relief was never significant.  If the price went down 15%, there was much rejoicing.  Ugh.  But now with all that in the past, the proclamation of "Let the games begin!" actually carries a little weight.  Someone today figured out that new offerings in a time when tax-credits are no longer available marks a new chapter in history.  It's a recognition of change.  Phew!  That took forever.  This is what I had to say to those finally seeing the light:  The party some were claimed to be late for was just a tailgate party, before the actual game begins.  Selling loss-leaders and tax-credit dependency should have made that obvious.  Rollout of next-gen offerings, combined with NACS becoming default and NEVI sites common, is what we really needed to break the status quo.  Mainstream consumers will finally take EV purchase decisions seriously.

Preconditioning Thoughts.  A friend is experimenting with winter conditions related to preconditioning with his Tesla, trying to predict how the 2026 might behave.  These are the thoughts on that I added:  My 2026 bZ is scheduled to be delivered to the dealer either today or tomorrow.  Not sure how realistic that is, but we can at least say "soon" and be assured I will have lots of opportunity to monitor the new preconditioning feature with winter in our Northern latitudes.  What I'm most curious about is the temperature it targets.  When dealing with the usual daily temps (typically in the teens), how much of a warm-up should I expect while driving on the highway?  Does it reach the target within 20 minutes?  What was the amount of kWh consumed to achieve that?

Used Already.  Very low miles make you suspicious.  That gives reason for pause; there must be some type of quick profit involved.  This was posted today: "There are already a handful of used 2026 for sale.  Not sure how they're gonna sell them at those prices without Toyota incentives."  It does make you wonder how much demand that is for immediate purchase.  Impatience for Cybertruck was absurd.  After waiting so many years for delivery, what's the problem waiting a little longer?  I anticipated waiting years for my upgrade.  I had no idea the 2026 wasn't a mid-cycle update.  Being a full next-gen rollout was not expected.  So, my mindset was already in long-wait mode.  That discovery of opportunity was in July, so waiting until December was no big deal.  These were my thoughts on the situation:  1 mile on a vehicle in that listing tells us someone is trying to collect some cash back money by flipping.  It's easy to suspect the others, with so few miles so soon after deliveries began.  3 years ago, we saw dealers in the MN & WI buying East Coast deliveries and having them trucked over so they could have something to sell before regional deliveries were possible.  So we have seen low-mile used listings before.

RAV4 EV.  Why Toyota didn't call the EV that I own and will be upgraded a RAV4 is simple, from an business perspective.  From a consumer perspective, we get this: "Toyota should have just named the suv a RAV4 EV instead of BZ4X and BZ."  That seems so obvious to them.  Making the new RAV4 more truck like will probably have the benefit of avoiding cannibalized sales.  With cost & production a challenge for any EV, that's a really big deal.  Imagine what would happen if RAV4 appeal suddenly soured.  That is a major profit source.  Toyota gave it that rugged, boxy look to keep it in the realm of mainstream vehicles without making bZ standout too much.  It's a delicate balance, especially knowing C-HR and bZ Woodland will resemble bZ.  The point is that both must co-exist for quite awhile still.  We have already got hits that Toyota wants to extend the lifespan of platform & body design.  That makes sense as battery become the dominant differentiator.  We know a variety of new chemistries are on the way.  We focus will diversify, focusing on longevity (LFP), on performance (magnesium rich NMC), and on robustness & speed (solid state).  All that will lock in RAV4 positioning to be a solid bridge.  The plug-in hybrid model will satisfy the needs & wants of many.