The sad part is, at this point mainstream consumers are looking elsewhere.  Heck, even the Tesla crown jewel... SuperChargers ...are getting overshadowed by other DC fast-charger choices.  People have moved on.  Opportunity lost.

Road Trips.  We're at that stage where some feel the technology should check every box.  Why?  That isn't even true for traditional vehicles.  You want more, you pay more.  When it comes to my profession as a software engineer, I see how support for the extremes can be very costly.  10% of the users will use 90% of the resources.  So, we target the other users.  That's why this grabbed my attention: "I'm fine recommending it to people who don't regularly do 500+ mile road trips."  It was about the 3 session limit.  After that (10% to 80%) in the same day, DC charging speed is reduced.  I ended up adding this to the discussion, comments not all that different than in the past:  The 90/10 rule comes into play quite well in this situation.  90% are perfectly content with what is currently offered.  Less than 10% of the driving population take road trips more than 500 miles.   That 10% will have to pay a premium for a choice fulfilling their more substantial requirements.  It's one of many reasons why Toyota is striving to offer solid-state, since that much higher density battery type would deliver a significant range increase.

Rental Help.  Well, this was new & unique: " Please explain me HOW ON EARTH AM I SUPPOSED TO CHARGE THIS?  So this is a rental car (26 BZ4X).  It comes only with the level 1 charging cable and no adapter for J7772 plugs…  The Toyota app doesn't work, because I'm not the owner…  So I imagine I cannot go to superchargers?"  Fortunately, they included a very useful photo in the post.  My initial takeaway from that was the assumption of not being able to use Superchargers.  I wonder if there is a belief that the ability to charge is tied directly to telematics services within the vehicle.  Could it be that the precedent set by Tesla has created a false belief, a barrier enthusiasts hadn't ever considered?  Though, there is a possibility some people aren't ever aware that other charger brands exist.  Perhaps they think Tesla is the only means of fast-charging.  Hmm?  Never actually looking close at others, there would be no way of knowing you can simply using a credit-card for payment instead.  I know there is a lot of intimidation related to fast-charging.  Heck, just parking and dealing with the cord in itself can be a lot of first-time jitters to overcome.  Not realizing there are different plugs is obviously a problem too.  I could imagine someone making an attempt, getting so confused or overwhelmed, they just leave.  Having to deal with a rental, that's even more of a problem.  I tried my best to share a brief post with advice:  That's the new standard, NACS.  Search for that in apps like PlugShare or Google.  Not all Tesla Superchargers support it, but the convenience of others (like Ionna) allowing you to pay with a credit-card works out better anyway.

Port Location.  Complaints never end.  Suggestions are almost non-existent though.  For example: "Port location and plug & charge should have been standardized long ago."  That's all.  Talking about empty & pointless.  I took a different approach responding this time too.  Rather than pointing out problems with backing in, I kept focus elsewhere.  But now with 2 recent charging stations being built here are grocery stores, it simply makes no sense backing into a charging spot.  How are you suppose to load the vehicle with groceries afterward if the hatch/trunk is blocked by the charger?  And of course, if you're traveling with bikes on a hitch rack, backing it can be a cord reach problem.  Anywho, this is how I dealt with the port location frustration time:  Absence of any suggestion or reasoning for a specific location in your own post is good evidence why no standard has emerged.  There are simply too many factors at play to build a solid case for any particular spot.  In public, I'm seeing the absurdity of cord stretching over the vehicle to use street chargers more often though.  Drivers side simply doesn't make any sense.  Angle parking is a problem too, since the driver side is always much further from the charger.  And of course, in the back of the vehicle means having to reverse into the parking spot. I never understood how that was a good choice.  Driving forward is so much easier for most people.  Passenger front tends to work out as the most practical location.  At home, everyone's situation is different and having multiple vehicles plug in at the same time tends to present other challenges.

Prius EV.  I completely understand where this sentiment is coming from, but don't agree: "I still feel like they're missing out not completely electrifying a Prius model.  High efficiency aerodynamics + battery powered seem like a great combination to me.  Not everyone needs a land yacht."  There would be nothing special about Prius anymore if it became an electric-only vehicle.  Think about the stage battery technology is currently at.  There would be no standout trait anymore.  Smaller equates to less room from battery.  That lower capacity would mean even with the great aerodynamics, it would deliver range roughly on par with other vehicles now.  Why not wait for solid-state?  My higher energy-density is key.  No electrolyte would allow for much faster charging too.  But in general, people aren't patient and they don't consider the bigger picture.  I tried to point that out by starting with a question, then providing a different perspective:  What is there to miss?  This market is painfully unprepared for mass adoption.  The next-gen Corolla will be offered as BEV initially in Japan.  That will follow the original history of Prius, rolling out there first then the rest of the world starts with the mid-cycle update.  Corolla is the mainstream darling.  Watching what happens with the other offerings will help solidify that debut here.  Prius will likely become even more niche as a result.

New!  I found this quite annoying: "GM, KIA, Hyundai, Ford lineups have proven credibility on thousands of miles driven.  New to the game is Toyota."  It comes from enthusiasts who either haven't been paying attention or just blindly accept narratives.  This is what I had to say:  Claiming "new to the game" requires turning a blind-eye to the past decade of real-world experience Toyota has already collected.  Back in 2016, we got full electric-only driving.  It came hidden in the form of Prius Prime, support for EV driving up to 84 mph (135 km/h) with heat-pump.  So what if it had small battery-pack and gas-engine for backup?  It worked great for electric-only commuting and still does.  UX300e followed, a Lexus BEV offered in Europe that paved the way for bZ4X.  The next-gen rollout, known as bZ in this market, delivered upgrades across the board.  Spinning that effort to take the time to adapt to a slow evolving industry is just a distraction from the struggle other automakers have had with their own efforts.

Having Your Cake.  This argument blew me away.  After a few exchanges, I got this: "My perspective is grounded in reality..."  It's one of those situations you didn't expect to continually get worse.  There was nothing but a series of assumptions to support his claim about the second-generation bZ.  His conclusion was: "Less output power = More efficiency"  Nothing would convince him otherwise.  Not at all surprised by such stubborn close-mindedness, I ended what was turning into a heated argument with:  That's the opposite of what actually happened.  Reality is gen-2 bZ got both a significant increase in horsepower and a significant increase in efficiency over gen-1.  It's how technological advancements work. You can have your cake and eat it too.

Big Oil.  Some people are completely clueless, totally unaware of the history that played out right before them.  I can understand missing some of it.  But 25 years?  Really?  That's the situation though.  There are a few going on about having been mandated to switch to EVs and that now coming to an end with EPA regulations being dropped.  The deregulation nightmare is going to be awful, but it is already really bad simply by the fact that people didn't actually know what it was.  All the lies during the presidential campaigning in 2024 made you believe mandates were well underway.  The fact that phase in wasn't even set to start until 2027 never gets mentioned, nor does the full implementation by 2032.  It was a play on fear.  Nothing had happened yet.  Ugh.  But when people are not paying attention, they are far easier to mislead.  So, I end up having to share some of my own history from time to time.  Now, I can add the twist about Big Oil, drawing attention to how the reverse is now underway.  There are clear efforts forcing you to use more of what they are pushing... oil.  Here is it:  Transition to hybrids, starting way back in 2000, has been so successful the 2 top-selling vehicles (Camry & RAV4) are now only hybrid.  Phaseout of the traditional model is complete.   In other words, that goal of raising the bar to reduce emissions & consumption was achieved.  That's a real threat to big oil, especially since such success set the stage for options with a plug.  It proved change could benefit both consumer & business.  Having purchased my first plug-in hybrid back in 2012, then switched to an electric-only in 2023, rolling back regulations that helped make that realistic is a truly harmful & selfish act.  Put another way, since this inhibit some of that progress (greatly reduced fuel cost), it is a mandate to force people to use more gas.

Rivian Innovation.  The upcoming R2 had impressive new engineering to show off on its latest prototype.  It features a rear-wiper that tucks nicely into the tailgate, allowing for that window to be opened yet retain the ability to wipe when closed.  It was genuine innovation, especially since it supposedly provided an aerodynamic benefit of 6 more miles of range.  Cool.  Unfortunately, the article took a jab at the competition that rubbed me the wrong way: "Many EVs, like the Toyota bZ4X and original Kia EV6 and Hyundai Ioniq 5, did without rear wipers for various reasons—and this was not always a popular choice with car-buyers."  Notice how "original" was not included with the Toyota reference.  That annoyed me, leading to a reply quoting this: "EVs don't always have rear wipers to maximize aerodynamics, much to the consternation of owners."  Avoiding specific mention of 2026 bZ, I pointed out:  Digital mirrors are the solution.  Having a lens (with squirter for cleaning) overcomes a variety of challenges.  Rear wipers only wipe a small portion of the rear window.  And even with the best glass clearing approach, you still have seats, passengers and pillars reducing visibility.  That's not the case when a camera is used instead.

Red Herring.  Like any good distraction, it comes out of nowhere and completely derails discussion.  That was this today: "The charging port is so far back, i can imagine only gen4 super chargers with the really long cables will be usable.  I have no way to prove it because we don't have dimensions, but i guarantee you once its out in the wild, people will not be able to get the cables to reach."  Declaring the upcoming Highlander EV as having failed to recognize the need at older Tesla Superchargers is absurd.  First, the difference between it and bZ don't stand out.  In fact, I see them as very close in size.  Second, what the heck difference will it make a year from now when sales are just getting underway?  Those older charging locations will either be upgraded or outclassed.  They won't matter.  Hence my reply:  It's just a red herring anyway.  Tesla is well aware of its competitive weakness for DCFC. Everyone else has longer cords and some are even taking the need for pull-thru stalls seriously.  At first, seeing Tesla squander such an advantage was perplexing.  But after what we've seen over the past few years with other poor business decisions, the painfully slow rollout of V4 isn't a surprise.   Here in Minnesota, we were seeing a boom of both Ionna and Kwik Charge build plans, which include NACS support.  Yeah!  Suddenly Tesla is trying to get back in the game with V4 installs.  So, any of the short-term hoo-ha is just part of the market adjustment period we're in.  By the time summer EV events begin, we'll all be promoting this new stage being set now.

Paradigm Shift.  That reveal of Highlander EV sure stirred a lot of wandering thoughts: "Yeah, I'm really surprised about this.  They have the bz, the Woodland, and CH-R EVs coming.  You would think that would be enough EVs until Toyota was ready to take a step up in specs on the EV side.  Seems like the same old batteries and charging.  The competing EV9 and Ioniq 9 seem like very nice vehicles, but aren't selling well."  Why aren't the large SUVs from Kia & Hyundai struggling with sales?  There are many uncertainties in the industry still, things mainstream buyers may not expect answers to for awhile.  It's hard to tell.  One thing I can say though is that Toyota's new technology endorsements are stronger due to their hybrid reputation.  We'll see how things play out over the year.  Much can happen.  In fact, I'm expecting it.  Here are my thoughts:  I remember the sucker-punch from Toyota with RAV4.   Hybrids were still just brushed off as an "alternative fuel" option the plug-in option as having no future potential.  Focusing on a top-seller derailed narratives.  That was a break of status quo.  Since bZ will essentially carry on as the BEV equivalent of RAV4, side by side on showroom floors, it made sense to turn attention to Highlander.  That was a popular choice to be produced here (Kentucky) sourced with local (North Carolina) batteries specifically for this audience (United States & Canada).  Ordinary people will see the paradigm shift taking place.  It will be difficult to not notice a new large EV from Toyota on our roads.

The timeline was accelerated though.  We didn't get variants right away, as with Highlander hybrid and Camry hybrid.  We are seeing that already with the BEV choices.

Curious & Concerning.  Being able to reach a new audience means getting a lot of same old questions but having to answer them in a different manner.  That's because there is more information and better technology.  So, you tend to get comments based on fasts that are more relatable rather than just something hypothetical.  After a decent exchange with several of us trying to answer questions for a potential buyer, it ended with: "I'm sad to hear that.  I'm not trying to dissuade anyone from buying.  Also, although curious and somewhat concerning, it wouldn't prevent me from buying.  Weather this cold is very rare for us in CT."  In other words, you can win them all.  We tried.  I was delighted to have constructive input from others to keep the discussion engaging.  So, the outcome was fine.  Here's how I wrapped up my perspective on it:  Here in Minnesota, I don't ever encounter that.  Leaving the vehicle outside for an extended period and having SOC hit very low while the battery is still cold simply doesn't happen.  That comes from almost 3 years of ownership now.  I purchased my 2023 bZ4X AWD on March 30, 2023.  In the future, there will be many DC places to stop for a quick warm up.  Plugging in for 10-15 minutes would make a world of difference.  It would raise the battery temperature and the SOC, even while running Room Mode.  Realistically, if people feel compelled to discuss edge-cases here, that's fine.  It is in fact why I create videos, so there's more detail to have a more constructive discussion with.  Newbies & Lurkers can make the decision on their own.