Common Sense.  Today's standout article asked this question: "What's stopping you from getting an electric vehicle?"  A large percentage of the comments resemble the same nonsense I hear in politics.  People say "common sense" as if it universally means something obvious.  Reading through the other comments provided no context for that horribly vague sentiment.  I see the expense & complexity of combustion engines a problem in desperate need of improvement, even without the consideration of emissions.  We have become so accustom to the challenges such a technology carries, we brush off the need as unimportant.  Really?  Try convincing a teenager to embrace that perspective.  It's an absurd supposition.  What would you even try to frame that as a solution?  Quite annoyed, I posted:  Replies with "common sense" are abundant.  Following the crowd based on intuition and shared experiences reveals an absence of critical thinking.  That type of group-think wins battles, but loses the war.  Is it common sense to depend so heavily on a non-renewable fuel source?

Leftover Inventory.  Most automakers here are facing this situation: "Going into 2026, plenty of dealers have leftover inventory from this year and even last year."  With the opportunity to capitalize on final tax-credit sales, the gamble of ramping up production early in the year was reasonable.  Sales did indeed boom too.  But that's now over.  Whatever they weren't able to sell, they must now discount to move.  Toyota being on the verge of a major upgrade, allowing inventory to run out made sense.  It didn't make for good news though.  Surprisingly, the misleading didn't get too out of hand though.  Watching a disastrous history in the making for Tesla was quite a distraction.  Cybertruck overshadowed most EV woes, until now.  At year end, focus is on used prices plummeting and dealers getting stuck with new stock at a result.  I was all too happy to point out how Toyota was able to avoid that leftover inventory predicament:  It has been interesting to see so many feed the "behind" narrative for Toyota only to now discover that slower pace allowed them to arrive at this juncture with almost no leftover inventory.  There are only 46 bZ4X available nationwide, with most on either coast.  In flyover country, there are only 4.  That is awesome timing for rollout of their next-gen models.  Meanwhile, other automakers are stuck with long-in-the-tooth offerings.

More Shortsightedness.  Resistance to endorsing the entry-level market continues: "Bolt, as well as Leaf, will be low volume sellers.  It's impossible right now to produce a competitive low cost EV in the US.  It's possible in China and Europe because of mandates, subsidies, and gas taxes - but not here.  Bolt and Leaf exist in the US primarily to collect CARB credits.  Tesla is smart to not spend billions on a new platform to chase unprofitable volume."  Does that sound familiar?  Our Detroit automakers did the same thing, avoid the difficult to sell vehicles.  I'm quite thankful Toyota have thinking clearly.  Ford coming to its senses now is what stirred the pot again, acknowledging the necessity to provide affordable choices.  I fired back at this individual not willing to accept the necessity with:  That is remarkably short-sighted. If the point is to replace ICE with BEV, you can't just pretend the entry-level market will never be important.  Tesla's choice to continue to ignore such a large segment is their loss.  Someone will take up the chore of low-profit, high-volume sales.  The reason both VW and Toyota achieved top-seller status was doing exactly that for ICE.  Elsewhere, we already see BYD striving to do that with BEV.  The decision for Ford to end F-150 Lightning production was for that very reason.  Ford recognizes the necessity to deliver something cost-competitive in the segment they want to thrive in.

Market Blindness.  I was blown away by how unaware & naive this particular post was: "The EV segment is going to suffer overcapacity and low profitability for at least the next five years.  Having a smaller, lower priced and lower margin vehicle will not solve that.  Toyota played the game smartly by not over committing to BEV.  Tesla cannot build a hybrid, so they're leveraging their autonomous, AI, and robotics capabilities.  Time will tell if it pans out."  We are long past the days of "EV market" nonsense, where the enthusiasts cherry-picked only those interested in purchasing an EV.  Ignoring the rest of the market was pretty bad back that.  But now, when that's the new profit source automakers hope to leverage, trying to isolate interest to just a limited audience is crazy.  The time for subsidies to help establish are long gone.  This is when serious investment should be taking place.  For Tesla to stick to just Model 3 and Model Y for most of its sales will condemn it to being a niche.  You can't just dismiss the next few years or divest instead.  Growth is required.  Limiting what's offered will not achieve that.  Consumers will look elsewhere.  Whatever.  Some people just never get it.  That's why I didn't bother with detail in my reply:  The point is the need to diversify product line.  That's why Toyota is also rolling out a larger choice.  Expanding the portfolio won't help vehicle shoppers.  Tesla's decision to ignore the entry-level market will have consequences.

With other automakers coming up with new strategies, like introducing EREV offerings, what will Tesla do to remain viable?

Faster & Fastest.  There are some who see driving differently.  One bZ4X owners, who grew up with motorcycles in aggressive conditions (Chicago highways), shared his perspective.  Basically, it tries to stay ahead of traffic.  I'm glad driving differs here.  My own habits do too.  This is what I shared on the topic:  Starting with a Prius over 25 years ago, it became very easy to stick close to the speed limit.  Efficiency payoff was well worth it.  I'd set the cruise a little bit above and couldn't care less... since the stereotype portrayed online was all Prius drivers were driving well under the limit in the far left lane and the majority here tend to also stick close to the limit anyway.  But with stoplights, I was always fastest off the line, taking advantage of instant motor torque.  That behavior carried over to the bZ... except I now accelerate even faster.

Scheduled Departure.  Battery preconditioning via scheduled departure was today's experiment with the 2026.  I started from my garage which was at 34°F, then watched the outside temperature come up as 6°F.  I still don't have any means of checking battery temperature yet, but at least the basics are available.  I stopped for a photo in the usual location along my commute.  Last week at 21°F without battery preconditioning, the outcome was 3.5 mi/kWh.  Today with the temperature rising to 8°F just before stopping, the outcome was 3.0 mi/kWh.  That's great for those conditions, clearly better than with the 2023.

First Sighting.  Woohoo!  I had my first 2026 sighting.  Trapped in very heavy traffic, I figured honking when I slowly drove by would get the driver's attention.  Nope.  He was probably just doing the best he could to deal with the terrible timing of lots of snow during rush hour.  I was simply coming home from running an errand, picking up a Christmas bargain on the other side of the cities.  It was the only place I could find it and knew the drive would be ugly due to that time of day.  I hadn't anticipated so much of the white stuff falling so quickly.  It was a very slow pace, about 7 mph for something like 40 minutes.  Blah.  No big deal, especially when listening to a holiday channel with my trial of SiriusXM radio.  I enjoyed X-Mode at the same time.  It was just another opportunity to drive the new bZ as far as I was concerned.  Being able to spot another new bZ off in the distance was a lucky treat.  Being in the faster moving lane so I could drive by made it even better.

In short, many refused to accept how slow & difficult it would be to break status quo.

Newbie Advice.  It is very easy to get conflicting info: "I've heard & read to let your battery discharge to as low as 10% before charging to 80.  Now I've read to plug it in every night."  When you're looking for advice, it's very difficult to know who is right.  The supposed "experts" can often be from the legacy world, where they were indeed well informed with ICE vehicles but have no idea what they are talking about for EVs.  Their recommendations can be correct, but outdated.  They can be for the wrong context too.  New owners would have no clue where to even begin.  In this case, I was able to validate the 10% claim with some background... hoping it would stir continued discussion:  The suggestion of letting it get down to 10% is related to when you're on a road trip.  That's how the fastest charging speed is achieved.  More amps can be pulled when there is more battery to fill.  Speed slows as the % rises.

First DC Fast-Charge.  I got an opportunity to test out the new 2026 system with the temperature just below freezing, similar to what reviewers had been doing.  Here's that experience:

• 28°F outside
• Preconditioned for 30 minutes while driving
• 104 kW peak @ 40%
• 81 kW low @ 71%
• 29.7 kWh in 20 minutes from 29% to 67%

It was what I had been waiting for and didn't disappoint.  Not seeing the battery that low is usually my limitation.  Being able to plug in at home & work is quite convenient.  I have to go out of my way to not plug in, for the sake of getting a proper measurement.  This worked out great.  I was on the way in to work and had time to stop for a quick breakfast.  There were DC fast-chargers at McDonald's along the way.  Perfect.  That situation resembles exactly what I would do on a trip up north.  The results did not disappoint either.

Realistic Outlook.  Next year is the already shaping up to be the year of change.  BEV rollout fell apart.  Some are trying to stir some critical thinking on the topic: "Automakers are simply being realistic about the near-term US EV market.  Manufacturers live in short-term environments, financially speaking.  What I question is where the US vehicle industry will be in 2-5-10 years, as long we continue riding the ICE train while other countries, especially Asian ones, continue advancement in EV technology."  I like seeing that.  Rhetoric of the past sounds like idiotic rambling now.  Certain arguments have been proven false.  We can move on... hence trying to figure out a realistic outlook.  I jumped into the discussion pointing out:  3 years ago, their "all in" campaign was about to begin.  Toyota got negative press & comments in every imaginable way for being realistic, rather than telling enthusiasts what they want to hear.  Now, they are backpedaling and Toyota is continuing on as planned.  I summarized the situation even before that as a "Tortoise & Hare" race in the making. S printing in a marathon makes no sense.  Ordinary consumers are slow to adopt and infrastructure support is even slower.  Then when you factor in legacy dealers... it should have been obvious.  There's simply no way to skip steps.  Transition was always going to take a lot of work.  An interesting twist in all this is where Toyota is now heading.  The expectation is to not replaced bodies & platforms as often.  The 5-6 year product-cycle is expected to be extended to 10 years.  What will happen in the meantime is battery diversification.  Look at Toyota's technology roadmap.  We're in for a nice variety of choices.

Sorry, but the realities of economics often take precedent over engineering & environment.  It's a bitter pill to swallow, but those of us who have been fighting the good fight for 25 years recognize success patterns and learned to tolerate criticism.  In other words, look at the industry from a 2026 perspective.

Marketing Spin.  Ford killed F-150 Lightning today, as a BEV.  It will come back to life as an EREV at some point.  Losses from the change of direction will be enormous.  Contracts are broken.  Dealers are a mess.  Loyal customers are left waiting.  That means we're about to enter that stage where hype & hope cause a great deal of confusion.  Remember what happened with Volt?  Same thing again.  Fortunately, we have more voices of reason this time: "It's still a PHEV, so let's ignore the marketing spin and call a spade a spade."  I was surprised how many comments like that were posted right away.  The whole "EREV" nonsense is on the edge of revival, from the enthusiast perspective.  I tried to add a bit of reality to there new fair tale:  Read the comments from ordinary consumers, like those reading the NPR article on this topic.  It's a plug-in hybrid to them.  Expect a lot more marketing spin, especially since that's how "EREV" came about in the first place.  Notice how even this article didn't actually sight a benefit?  Only the technical difference was mentioned... which means nothing to someone first-time shopping for a plug-in vehicle.  Heck, most probably have no idea that PHEV means plug-in hybrid.  Ordinary consumers all want to know the same thing... how many EV miles can they expect and how fast does it recharge.