Road Trips.  Attacking Prius by any means was the theme this morning.  Some of the claims were beyond desperate, like claiming the gas-engine will start in stop & go traffic in the PHEV model.  It doesn't even do that with the regular hybrid.  Why would anyone ever try to post something so easily disproved?  Anywho, the post I ended up firing back at was this: "It's a city small car … most people never take Prius for a road trip, especially in North America."  Ugh.  To think of how many times I have taken roads trips over the decades with mine...  This is the example I decided to reply with:  80 mph cruising across South Dakota, from Minnesota to Wyoming and back has been really nice.  It's shocking how well my 2017 Prius Prime handles on those trips.  No big deal and great MPG... especially where there are almost no DCFC still.  Having a more aerodynamic shape, a more efficient hybrid system, and more cargo room makes it an even better choice for a lot more consumers.

Across The Fleet.  I followed up that Volt nonsense with:  It's that long sought after goal the entire industry has seen as a tipping point, where there's no such thing as range-anxiety under any circumstance.  RAV4 Prime already exceeded what GM had set out to do long ago, evolve Two-Mode into a hybrid SUV with a plug.  This 3rd-Gen PHEV system from Toyota builds off of that, bringing the platform to a level even naysayers will have difficulty arguing against.  It also compliments the overall strategy of endorsing plug-in vehicles, making it very easy to see commitment to ending the ICE status quo across the fleet.

Volt Trolling Prius.  It was no surprise that the very first comment I saw about the newest plug-in Prius was a comparison to Volt.  That was an endless battle in the past... enthusiasts of Volt trolling Prius news.  Today, it was claiming Toyota finally delivered what GM did more than 10 years ago.  I replied to that nonsense with:  There were a number of boxes GM wasn't able to check that are now needed...  Volt wasn't large enough...  Volt's system wasn't modular...  Volt wasn't efficient with either EV or HV operation...  Volt wasn't profitable.  But Volt did indeed reach a new audience and stir interest for future endeavors.

Think about what the automakers selling at a loss are risking.

Weird.  That transparency has left many bewildered: "What is also weird is why they put that bad CATL battery in the AWD BZ4X for the US market."  Seeing that is much better than the countless "bad" claims I have seen.  They think Toyota is short-changing the AWD buyers, tricking them into purchasing something of less value.  If it turns out those cells really are LFP, the tables will certainly be turned.  That would make the resale value of the AWD quite a bit higher.  Think about the longevity benefit.  That's exactly what you want from a BEV.  Who cares if it recharges slower if you don't fast-charge that often anyway.  How long the battery-pack lasts has always been the biggest ownership concern.  Toyota trying different chemistries isn't necessarily just for the sake of increased supply or a lower price.  Longevity is important.  But for who?  I asked that question with regard to how people judge worth:  Assessment of "bad" is based on what criteria, just DC fast-charging speed?  Without knowing chemistry and assuming buyers don't have other priorities isn't a good way to draw conclusions.

Only Once.  There's a very outspoken group member, supposedly in support of bZ4X but remarkably bitter.  We finally found out why.  He's angry at Toyota for the trouble with his RAV4 Prime.  The cable for the AWD rear motor has been aging quickly, to the point of needing replacement.  That's expensive and currently not covered under warranty.  A class-action suit or service-campaign will likely be the result.  Being caught in the middle would be frustrating for anyone.  But taking his feelings out on bZ4X makes no sense.  They aren't related... but at least we know understand his behavior toward the automaker.  To try to overcome that barrier, he made the wish that Toyota would be transparent about something.  He asked that "only once" they be entirely forthcoming.  I pointed out that they already had done exactly that:  The ironic nature of being transparent is it will basically go unnoticed, the significance lost.  Your "only once" example is we were told from day-1 that the AWD model for North America would use battery cells from China.  That wasn't necessary.  Toyota did it anyway.

5th Generation Prius.  It's coming and the internet is buzzing with anticipation.  There's an expectation that Toyota somehow has a miracle in store, that they have been biding their time.  Sound familiar?  That was the same thing that happened with Prius Prime.  In the 9 months leading up to it, there was a flurry of attacks.  They were non-stop.  Those hoping for Toyota to fail were doing everything they could to spin tales of having given up.  Remember, it was June that Prius PHV production had ended... without a peep.  Toyota remained silent.  There was no more plug-in news, no expectation set.  Antagonists took that as a sign of defeat.  Then in April the following year, whoa!  They surprised everyone.  And sure enough, the buzz grew until September when we finally got rollout detail.  It was big news and very positive.  RAV4 Prime wasn't dramatic like that.  It was a sucker punch!  No one expected anything that nice.  With the silence from Toyota with regard to bZ4X, the feeling is the same.  Nothing, then boom.  We'll find out close to midnight tomorrow, when the reveal in Japan takes place.  I bet it will be huge, that there was no reason for Toyota to say anything since they were holding such a great hand.  Who cares what nonsense comes about with the BEV.  After all, many have already forgotten about the recall.  Attempts to belittle with reference to it falls on deaf ears.  No one but the troublemakers care.  That's exactly what you want with a PHEV reveal.  Look at the effort being put forth.  Stumbles along the way are just that, a single step in a long journey.  Prius is a massive investment.  Taking that to the next level with a new generation is big, very big.

More Hate.  Remember the "mil" mistake a few days ago?  Rather than the claimed terribly inefficient system from Toyota, bZ4X actually delivered 19 kWh/100km.  That converts to 3.3 mi/kWh, which is decent efficiency... not at all the supposed conspiracy being spread.  He said he was working on it, implying some type of correction, retraction or apology would follow.  Instead, we got the opposite.  We got 4 new videos, each an attack piece on Toyota.  His newest continues to claim Toyota lied about battery-capacity, even though a number of sources have since pointed out it was a mistake on the part of the reviewers assuming 0 miles remaining meant the battery was fully depleted.  There's an obvious effort to evade efficiency resulting on that very report as well as what owners are now sharing.  Sound familiar?  We had similar problems with Volt enthusiasts.  They presented a flawed measure of range and did everything they could to avoid discussion of efficiency.  It's quite remarkable how bad things got so quickly, then and now.  There is an undeniable hate, more than with other rollouts.  That's a sign of getting desperate.  Seeing their narratives fall apart is causing them to become reckless.  In this case, Toyota isn't behind after all.  People will see the new BEV and become interested in learning about it.  Supposed shortcomings area already lost in disarray of web postings.  None of the efforts to undermine are working.  Makes you wonder what they'll try next, especially when there is someone creating videos to support false & misleading information.

0% Doesn't Mean Empty.  It took awhile before some finally realized something wasn't right.  Seeing this today was great: "Toyota seems to have a large buffer built in even after the car is showing 0% (0 range) remaining."  It matched up with the claim of 8.3% someone else had made, but refused to provide any type of link or even a reference.  They just present a number as if it is a certified fact.  Ugh.  The damage is done.  Those how claimed Toyota lied were actually lying themselves, drawing conclusions based on assumption and poorly placed trust.  There was no data.  Only vague reference should raise suspicion.  Why would the source refuse to share data?  That's how you earn credibility.  Think of how many times we have been mislead intentionally from the withholding of detail.  Some omissions are intentional.  You share detail to ensure a mistake wasn't made.  If a retraction or apology is issued, it may be the latter.  But if the article, unrevised is allowed to continue on in it's original state, there is probably an effort to undermine at play.  Again, ugh.  Anywho, upon getting an actual reference with some detail, I posted:  I believe it is ID.4 that does a similar type power reduction as it approaches actual depletion of usable capacity, when you have driven well beyond the "empty" warning .  It was blatantly obvious the test was flawed when they didn't even follow the procedure used for other EVs... driving until something happens rather than just taking the display at face value.  For those aware of Toyota's challenges of the past with owners driving well beyond "empty" warnings, having a large buffer for bZ4X was quite predictable.  Seeing its size supposedly as much as 8.3% and getting a report of driving an additional 42 km following 0% on the display is good confirmation.  Unfortunately, those looking to harm Toyota don't care.  Inconsistency for testing procedures should have been a clue something wasn't right.

Remember The Outcome?  Pointing out how history is repeating and asking if the lesson was learned didn't go well today.  The answer was, clearly not.  Again, I'm seeing leadership defined as the pursuit of want.  Addressing need simply isn't a priority.  That's really unfortunate... but not at all a surprise.  In fact, it was quite predictable.  Enthusiasts have an extremely difficult time transitioning from their own desirable niche to endorsing something mainstream.  What made their focus interesting was it being some type of specialization.  Adapting it to become common removes all the excitement.  That's what made Prius an enigma to them.  They couldn't figure out the appeal... which is really simple.  Prius fulfilled all the "need" checkboxes and didn't bother with "want" checkboxes.  That was the role of other Toyota hybrids, not Prius.  The biggest challenger was Two-Mode.  And you guessed it, several checkboxes... purchase priorities for ordinary consumers... remained empty.  Emphasis had been placed on want instead.  Following that epic failure came the  next challenger, Volt.  Same problem, want took precedence over need.  When Bolt replaced it, the entire pursuit of Prius vanished.  GM had lost purpose.  Taking on Tesla made no sense and Nissan wasn't really competing anymore.  Will GM make a comeback?  Who knows.  That's later.  Now is the rest of the industry against Toyota.  Ugh.  Same old nonsense too: "Yes, the leaders in this market are indeed repeating history by having vastly superior specifications and performance."  That is what I got when pointing out the recognition of seeing history repeat.  Enthusiasts define leadership as pushing limits, not actually changing the status quo.  That's why I kept my reply to just three words, asking:  Remember that outcome?

Speed Obsession.  This was an unanticipated question: "So, we can expect 200+ kW charging, like all leading EV manufacturers offer?"  It came from that new troublemaker.  We see the option of 350 kW at some new DCFC locations, but no vehicles actually delivers that yet.  Being so expensive and difficult to guarantee, the demand is uncertain.  Remember when I was studying 50 kW the middle of last year?  It works fine and is very affordable; however, it comes up short when large quantities of chargers are expected.  150 kW strikes the right balance, fulfilling both need & want.  That's the catch.  You get decent speed for charging up to 80% and faster speed if you stop sooner.  Enthusiasts don't like complex arguments like that though.  If there isn't a single number or label, they don't like it.  They thrive on vague, quick "my way or no way" type posts.  Critical thought is not their strength.  It is mine though.  Let people decide for themselves.  Answer questions.  Remember me asking "Who?" over and over and over again?  That was my confirmation of no substance.  They had nothing to support their claims... as I suspect with this one, asking:  Who are those manufacturers?  Which vehicles?  VW's newest offering doesn't support that (VW ID.4 produced in Tennessee) and we certainly haven't heard anything related to GM's upcoming Blazer or Equinox.  With so many stations favoring 150 kW for the majority of their patrons, there's little manufacturer incentive to exceed that for high-volume.  Remember, the bulk of sales (sustainable profit) will come from low-margin vehicles.

Owner In Iceland.  We are getting a bunch of international participation online.  Hearing about a first trip in the new owner's Subaru Solterra was quite vindicating.  These were my favorite quotes: "No heating, outside temperature 10°C, windy and rainy on the way back, studded winter tires." and "It is about the same results I experienced by the Leaf and VW id5 I had."  This is how I replied to the post:  19.7 kWh/100km (3.0 mi/kWh) from a vehicle with 5 cm (2 inches) more ground-clearance says quite a bit.  This is why range has been focused on more than height & efficiency.  Those who don't like Toyota know efficiency is likely to be a strength for bZ4X/Solterra sales.  So, they are scrambling to direct attention elsewhere.  Thank you for sharing your real-world driving observations.

Recall Hold.  Those bZ4X held at port, stuck between overseas shipping and transport to dealerships, are on 60-day hold from getting the recall fix.  That officially started on October 16, which means those vehicles won't be moving until the second-half of December.  I figured not much was going to happen until then.  There's lots of other business to tend to in the meantime.  Remember, the reveal of next-gen Prius is next week... exactly halfway into that hold  A smooth recall process is vital.  Toyota shouldn't gamble at this point, especially with the holidays reducing hours available for those employed to do recall work.  Needless to say, not everyone is happy about that.  I replied to such a rant assuming the situation was more simplistic:  You're overlooking that fact that there are 3 pieces at play, not 2.  Toyota is resuming production and fixing owner vehicles right now.  Having a 60-ish day delay before servicing in-transit vehicles helps to ensure resources are available for the first 60 days are not strained.  Ensuring staff is available to assist with logistic/operational steps is wise.  I certainly wouldn't want Toyota spreading themselves too thin at such a critical stage.  I am one of those waiting for delivery too.  So, this isn't just me climbing up on a soapbox.

Industry Leading.  Enthusiasts almost always judge status based on who is pushing limits the farthest.  Those sales are all that matter.  One such individual created these arbitrary categories of that measure based on "C" rate for fast-charging, based on a 75 kWh capacity battery-pack:

  1C = 75 kW - very, very safe and pathetically slow
  2C = 150 kW - not bad, but not industry leading
  3C = 225 kW - industry leading

Not at all surprised, but quite annoyed, I replied to his niche perspective with one for the masses:  Assuming objective is to be industry leading in the fatal flaw in your logic.  Toyota's success with Prius, enabling that technology to be spread fleet wide, was to strive for balance.  In other words, that "not bad" category is exactly what they are targeting.  Toyota has developed an 800-volt system, enabling faster charging, but simply doesn't see the cost-benefit for middle-market.  It may be rolled out later for the Lexus brand, to differentiate that brand and keep in competitive with premium offering.  But it simply doesn't make sense when trying to entice the affordable market.