New Conspiracy.  The latest attempt is trying to convince people that the real reason Toyota issued a recall was they found a problem with the battery and needed to conceal it.  There is nothing whatsoever to actually back that claim.  It doesn't make sense either, since people who chose to wait for the hub-bolt fix are now taking delivery of their bZ4X with nothing more than the wheel hardware replacement noted in the service campaign document.  What was the supposed problem?  None of the plug-in hybrids or the EV conversions ever had any type of issue, despite being on the road for quite awhile (6 years in Prius Prime).  Keep in mind, Panasonic is supplying those cells.  They are very well proven.  The only ones that are newer come from CATL, who has supplied cells used in UX300e for 2.5 years now.  It have worked so well, that vehicle will be getting a capacity boost early next year and it is believed those same cells are shared with bZ4X.  Remember the 1,000,000 km warranty for them?  There's no data.  No reports.  No reason.  It's just another baseless claim attacking Toyota.  That's what happens when they recognize their narrative is falling apart.  They scramble to come up with another lie.  Trying to spin a new conspiracy is an act of desperation.

No Data.  We have reached that point.  I had an argument with someone who insisted I provide data to disprove his claim.  He felt I had no reason to challenge his position, despite the fact that he simply agreed with a propaganda piece.  That was his justification for telling me I was wrong.  The situation was absurd.  Nissan sold more of its $14,000 tiny EV in Japan than Toyota with bZ4X.  The fact the comparison was a micro-car to one that wasn't even available due to the recall didn't matter.  His conclusion was Toyota's position is that people don't want plug-in vehicles, so they weren't even trying... as the count difference clearly confirmed.  Look up the specs for that Nissan.  It is a mini EV with just a 20 kWh battery, delivering 111 miles of range (based on the testing cycle in Japan, which means it would get less miles by EPA measure).  Anywho, the was the basis for concluding Toyota flopped.  It's the same old nonsense as in the past, drawing conclusions with a complete disconnect on what actually happened.  But now, they don't even bother with outdated or misleading data.  It's just an arbitrary connection.  Because this occurred, it means that.  Wow!  Talking about loss of critical thinking.  Their brains have stopped entirely.  No data.  No problem. Ugh.

The End For Toyota.  Making money by pushing a doom & gloom outlook for Toyota works well for this guy.  57,803 views in 14 hours.  His claims are utter nonsense.  I see people jumping onto comments right away trying to address the worst of his content on the video.  For months, it had been the outright lie that bZ4X was nothing but a China built vehicle, produced by BYD then sold by Toyota.  That misinformation was spread over and over again, so easily disproven.  Then he got caught.  It made no sense blaming BYD for the recall.  He is a big supporter, which is why he wanted to give them credit.  Suddenly, the problem was Toyota's since they were the ones who produced bZ4X.  His lie had become a means of supporting propaganda, but had to be abruptly abandoned when those saying he was spreading false information were confirmed to be correct.  That means finding a new lie that will be more difficult to call out.  Short-Term profits & losses has always been a tool for deception.  They provide no indication of long-term success or even serve as an effective gauge of determining market change.  Too many influencing factors are missed when you selectively use data like that... which is exactly what he did today.  The addition of hydrogen is especially telling.  His claim was that Toyota has planned on selling millions of fuel-cell vehicle by now.  That's a surprise.  I never heard anything even remotely in that regard.  Mirai had served as a cost-effective means of evolving that technology, which was not being demonstrated in commercial trucks, in some boats, and as stationary power-supplies.  That car provided hands-on experience, as well as a vast collection of real-world data.  But in the minds of enthusiasts, all that an automaker does is produce & sell passenger cars & trucks.  Other products in the portfolio are an impossibility in their one-dimensional perspective.  Ugh.  I posted the following, tired of the nonsense and hoping at least a few open-minded individuals will give the comment a like:  The narrative for bZ4X has shifted from claiming Toyota wasn't producing the BEV at all, that it was really just a BYD rebadge, to the platform Toyota developed for bZ4X is prohibitively expensive.  The recall helped reveal the truth.  It was an obvious effort to mislead.  That continues with the attempt to divert attention away from Toyota's growing PHEV offering.  Well informed followers know the hydrogen effort was a commercial & industry diversification opportunity, taking advantage of the passenger platform for refinement, not a substitute for plug-in vehicles.

GM Cannot.  I pointed out that GM has plans to replace the production line for Bolt with a new plug-in vehicle, possibly Silverado EV.  Since Bolt is so long-in-the-tooth anyway and GM is moving from LG sourcing to their own Ultium, it would seem Bolt's fate is sealed already.  That was obviously a touchy reality post about, especially on a comment section for an article featuring the recent surge in Bolt sales.  They know GM is constrained to this volume, that it represents a maximum.  But there's always a what-if mixed in discussions like that.  In the case, it was: "Which is sad. If they moved the charging up to 150kW it would be a great EV for sure."  Recognition of the situation is constructive.  Not knowing why certain decisions were made isn't though.  So, I provided some background information:  Bolt is stuck the way it is because a majority of its IP is owned by LG.  That same kind of thing happened with Volt. Its IP is mostly owned by SAIC, so there wasn't anything that GM could really do to improve it for the United States market.  Notice how the technology continued to evolve in China, but got dropped here?  That's why.  GM was pretty much forced to start over, hence Ultium.  Notice how its battery-chemistry is already somewhat outdated by still relying on unfavorable elements?  With its better packaging, it should be competitive though.  The catch is GM had to start with expensive vehicles to get the process moving, since it was basically a from-scratch effort.  Kudos to GM, but those prior missteps were costly.

Warranty Cost.  After a post that was clearly defense, citing a number of upfront costs, I was looking for the chance to address the bigger picture.  Within a senseless rant, I found this: "LiFePO4 battery patents are expiring next year as it is old tech..."  That was my invitation.  I didn't hesitate:  Incorrect.  All but 1 patent expired in September 2021.  That allowed Tesla to begin distribution of them in August of 2021. The final patent expired this year, in April.  Toyota has had a partnership with CATL since 2019, which appears to have allowed them to start using LFP in China in April 2020 and in Europe in late 2020 for UX300e.  Based on a number of subtle clues, it appears as though the North American AWD model of bZ4X is already using them too.  The reason for embracing so-called "old tech" is for its proven durability & longevity.  There is indeed a tradeoff of weight & range, but not requiring either nickel or cobalt has indisputable advantages.  Marketing from supposed competition will be challenged to address the long-term success record LFP already has, especially as the market expands for them from vehicle to stationary-storage. Keep in mind that "old" equates to "mature" in some aspects of business. For low risk, high long-term return, that is a must.  Think about the cost you neglected to include... WARRANTY coverage.  A chemistry like LFP would be extremely appealing to help prevent surprise expenses later.  It's not all about upfront production cost.

It all equates to enthusiast frustration with market progress... which begs the question of how status should actually be measured.  If Toyota exploits their PHEV opportunity to supplement BEV, do those plug-in vehicles count?  If not, what reasoning is there to disqualify those EV miles?  Next purchase for many PHEV owners tend to be a BEV too, especially since that daily recharging encourages EVSE installs at home... hence the race being a marathon, rather than a sprint.

The Key.  You tell someone you've been driving plug-in vehicles for years.  You tell them about the efficiency toll winters in Minnesota take.  You tell them knowing the percentage of battery remaining really doesn't matter.  I know that looking at the analog gauge is plenty informative, when used in combination with display showing efficiency.  What matters is that mi/kWh value.  Knowing what the consumption rate makes all the difference.  For some bizarre reason, that person from Norway completely overlooked that fact and got hung up on my location instead.  She somehow thought the heat-pump I referred to was in my house.  How?  The exchange had been entirely about driving with electricity.  I know that correcting her mistake will likely scare her away.  That tends to happen when an error you made was revealed.  There's no good way of pointing it out either.  I was trying to have a constructive conversation and she was coming off as condescending.  Oops!  Oh well, anyone else who reads the exchange will find it useful.  Owning a ID.3 with just a 30 kWh battery was an interesting perspective.  I would have like to have found out more from that... like what mi/kWh was routinely delivered.  That experience is valuable to share and I may have just scared her off pointing out vital information.  Here's my reply:  The heat-pump in my Prius Prime is what I'm referring to.  The system it uses is identical to a BEV, though more efficient than those with a resistance heater.  Wanting to squeeze out maximum EV range is the what's relevant to this discussion.  Knowing mi/kWh is key.

KISS.  This is what you get when someone thinks they are vastly superior and gets frustrated with your reasoning: "Do you work for Toyota or something?  If "KISS" is so important then what the heck is the % display doing on your plugin hybrid?  Toyotas UI is so far from KISS that it is a bizarre idea to think that this was done with KISS as a reason.  You are basically "Mr. Toyota Can Do No Wrong" and it seems pointless to discuss the car with you."  Living in Norway and having driven an ID.3 for over 170,000 km, she figured that experience made here better informed about what the world outside that plug-in centric country.  There are DC fast-chargers in abundance and routinely using them has become a normal event.  We can even remotely relate to that here.  Heck, even understanding out plugging in works is a major challenge to address still.   Toyota knows how to appeal to that audience.  Toyota goes to great efforts to conceal & downplay the technology.  There's more if you want it, but by default you get nothing by the basics.  That eliminates any type of fear or uncertainty or doubt.  Sound familiar?  That is exactly what antagonists spread, doing the very opposite to intimidate and undermine.  Ugh.  It's easy to avoid that by just doing what needs to be done instead, stick to the basics.  I pointed out my recognition of the approach:  I have 25 years of experience, owning each of the generations of Prius, including the first & second PHEV models.  Watching how Toyota takes advantage of KISS to empower owners has been fascinating.  They are masters of getting their own customers to promote... sending a far more powerful message than any paid advertisement.  That's what is happening again with bZ4X.  I already recognize the pattern of drawing us in.  It's all about finding a means to get an owner endorsement... something the media continues to fail to recognize the value of.

What Pieces?  I have a new analogy.  Rather than trees in a forest, it is pieces on a playing board.  I doubt the person who has been hitting my repeatedly with rhetoric today will recognize, but I gave it a try after getting a "What pieces?" reply from hitting at this new way of looking at the situation:  Most here focus on vehicles & specs, completely disregarding components within.  Put another way, if it isn't easy to see & measure, it doesn't count.  The reality that Toyota has been preparing their tech by using PHEV is dismissed as relevant.  None of that... despite obvious sharing of knowledge & experience with BEV... doesn't count.  In other words, all pieces on the board are treated the same way... like checkers.  It's a binary perspective, which doesn't reflect reality.  Toyota is playing with king, queen, rook, bishop, knight pieces... not just pawns.  That scares the crap out of competitors... hence so many attempts to mislead about intent.  Or if you'd like to look at it from the vehicle perspective, consider how Tesla taking advantage of their very popular, but very limited vehicle choice.  There is no small car or large pickup, yet.  Heck, there isn't even a true SUV (high ground clearance) offering yet.  High volume works for Tesla though, for now.. but won't indefinitely.  To grow, Tesla will need to diversify... which is what Toyota is already doing.

Understanding Cost.  I made a comment about selling at a loss or razor-thin profit and how that is not sustainable.  It resulted in the confused ramblings of another keyboard warrior: "Unfortunately that lower cost doesn't seems to be passed on to the North America customers based on the MSRP of the AWD vs the FWD models."  This is basic economics along with recognition that automakers are for-profit businesses.  There are suppliers & workers to pay.  There are buildings & tools to maintain.  There are transportation costs.  Some many elements at play, not directly related to the vehicle itself.  Price cannot fluctuate on a regular basis, even though expenses are not consistent.  I don't expect most people to understand cost.  Accounting classes were rather difficult for me, despite the strong math background.  Decades later, I'm much better... but so is my knowledge of other business elements... as is my engineering.  You learn a lot over the decades, especially when taking the time to write blogs.  It forces you to think about everything you post, giving the same topic consideration over and over again.  Some things become obvious, like this:  Cost is not the same as price.  Cost is what directly impact profit for both automaker & dealer.  We know for a fact Toyota expects the AWD to be more popular.  If each sale results in a higher commission for the salesperson, that's good for business.  The price a customer pays won't reflect that.