Seeing slightly over 50% sales being PHEV is good reason to re-evaluate how we transition to BEV.

Pre-Conditioning.  We may have a new terminology problem.  What had been referred to as "pre-warming" is not anymore.  That had meant the system was warming the battery for DC fast-charging.  To get the fastest speed, the battery needs to be hot.  So as you drive, prior to arrival at the DCFC location, energy is being consumed for the sake of improving speed.  It is wasteful, unnecessary.  Coming from the battery itself is at issue.  When you "pre-condition" is has always meant warming of the battery prior to leaving your primary charging location, like your home where overnight charges take place.  Energy is from the cord while plugged in.  That's a big difference being overlooked.  Temperature isn't hot as required for fastest charging speed either.  It is simply above freezing to ensure efficient driving.  But when you have overzealous newbies, they tend to be sloppy with terminology... not paying attention to important differences.  That's happening with this topic.  I'm not sure there's much we can do about it.  I'm trying though:  The term "pre-conditioning" is loosely used.  It can mean both warming to keep the battery above freezing (up to 10°C) and warming to prepare the battery for DC fast-charging (about 50°C).

Promoting Extremes.  Material that feeds propaganda is what antagonists seek, hence antagonizing.  Their effort draw attention to extremes for the sake of winning arguments ends up promoting outcome as a shortcoming.  There's nothing wrong with understanding limitations.  But when you do that and only that repeatedly, it becomes a normalization which misrepresents expected results.  Preventing that is a really big deal.  Provokes are what keep readers coming.  Bullies thrive on that.  When you are an admin wanting your group to be very active, you antagonize on a regular basis.  That is why he seeks me out.  It is also what prevents me from being banned.  Sound familiar?  I ended up having to play defense like that a lot with Volt.  The polite nature of replies and absence of being personal allowed me to turn the table later too, switching to offense.  Watch for that in the new venue.  It's coming again.  I provide a bit of background in that regard, establishing reputation by providing context and setting up opportunity for both feedback and follow-up:  I am on those groups, waiting for 4X delivery and can say that is incorrect.  There is indeed a large impact from running heater & defroster when temperatures are well below freezing.  But that supposed claim is lower than I have seen.  Perhaps that wasn't with a full charge or an extreme example.  An unheated battery will result in poor efficiency too.

Neglect?  That narrative of Toyota seemingly haven neglected EVs is really struggling now.  It's about time!  Unfortunate delay caused by the recall will end up being a positive in the end... because attention like that draws interest away from others.  Negative publicity isn't always a bad thing.  That's what puts the stir of terrible efficiency during winter into perspective.  So what if bZ4X ended up being the vehicle to get the topic addressed.  I have been watching in disbelief for years that the annual drop wasn't a source of discussion.  Clearly, enthusiasts saw it as a BEV shortcoming to be avoided.  Toyota disrupting the status quo in that manner is ironic.  Anywho, this is what I had to say about that nonsense today:  Toyota's system is comparable to other vehicles in the same category... common SUV shape with an 8-inch ground-clearance.  From a much more aerodynamic body & height, it will naturally be more efficient.  That's where the BEV sedan, like a Corolla or Camry, will come into play.  Using bZ4X to demonstrate reliability makes sense.  That's the greater concern from consumers.  Resembling RAV4, Toyota's best seller here, will draw attention and stir interest.  After all, like at how popular Outlander PHEV was in Europe for all those years.  Look at Prius Prime EV drive for compares.  That soon-to-replaced generation delivers great electric-only efficiency.  I got 3.4 mi/kWh running errands this morning.  14.8 miles with outside temp at 35°F and the heat-pump set to 68°F.

Diverting Attacks.  One of the things I have learned to help out is diverting attacks away from newbies.  When a bully joins a group to cause trouble (like a troll, but not an outsider) it works well to draw their attention.  I basically make myself into a lightening-rod.  It works well too.  Those innocent participants who are there to learn don't have directly deal with that nonsense and I'm more than happy to.  I've learned how to keep them occupied.  It's necessary, because they won't go away.  Instead, they keep posting provokes like: "That guy lives in Hawaii, and he drives very slowly.  Also, like John, he would say just about anything to paint Toyota (the manufacturer of the Subaru car, and 20% owner of Subaru) in a better light regarding EVs."  My approach is to address the person asking questions.  Ignoring the bully is just like you should do with trolls, don't feed them material.  They can taunt all they want.  It just becomes background noise.  This is how I dealt with the provoke today, replying to the post's author:  Don't listen to the rhetoric.  Watch for real-world data with detail to support it.  Anyone can post a vague report with misleading claims.  Lots of assumptions take place and they play off of that for attention. In my case, I have both a website & channel already established to share my bZ4X driving experiences.  Living in Minnesota with an AWD model ordered, there will be lots of opportunity for sharing.  As for the spin nonsense, watch from whom it comes.  Seeing vastly superior claims from other EV owners should raise a red-flag about purpose.  Traditional vehicles are the competition, those without plugs... not other EVs

KISS?  This is a familiar request: "One thing that Toyota should add to multimedia is better charging and consumption meters, like with Kia."  That absence information is bewildering.  Why would you leave off something so useful?  I ask how it would be used.  Someone like my mom couldn't care less.  She is very much a "just drive it" person.  In fact, she finds extras distracting.  If the gauge isn't vital, don't bother.  How many people do you know who feel the same way.  Clutter is what that looks like to them.  Detail of that nature can be intimidating too.  If the customer is only seeking reliability at a fair price, more is a waste.  Who are Toyota customers?  What do they seek?  Look at the new Prius.  Think about what made predecessors and what new buyers will want.  Note how closely it resembles bZ4X.  Understand my draw?  So what if all you have is an analog gauge on the dashboard.  That is still informative and detail is available via Toyota's app and ODB-II reader.  So as in the past, we must point that out:  Toyota is very much a KISS approach; however, they encourage owners to indulge.  The power of those endorsement is impressive.  We teach each other how to look beyond the dashboard.  Heck, that is exactly why I am prepping right now with third-party apps... for those who are not intimidated.  For the rest, KISS has proven extremely effective.  So, I am not surprised at all by the initially limited gauges.  Keep in mind that the earliest PHEV was lacking in a similar manner as well.  As time progressed, more was added to the dashboard.

Portraying Toyota as the antithesis is so telling.  To frame such a "butt kicking" narrative, that common blindness must be repeated.

Efficiency?  I'm dealing with one of those troublemakers, the type who ignores what you posts and instead stays focused on his tangent.  It is an interesting means of providing exposition.  His distraction of range in an invitation.  So, I take advantage of that:  Range is not efficiency.  It is just a distance.  Efficiency is the measure energy consumption... MI/KWH or KWH/100KM.  Notice how both are conveniently missing from this discussion, despite calling out the intentional omission?  That's the narrative at play.  It's like omitting MPG and only referring to miles available.  There's no reflection of efficiency, just size of the gas tank.  We see the same with battery size.  Consider the several BEV offering different battery sizes.  Range means nothing with regard to how much electricity they will consume per unit of distance or unit of energy.

Repeating Omissions.  Wow!  How many times do you have to point out a person is omitting data?  That troublemaker went out of his way to create a list of BEV, but only sighted range data.  Distance has nothing to do with how much energy the vehicle consumes for travel.  Some propulsion systems are better than others, using less energy to travel the same distance.  That's why there is a rating for each vehicle, as we have seen for decades with MPG.  In fact, that's why there is a MPGe value included in the published information.  Some never see it though.  They only look at what they want.  I wonder how long it will take for him to finally notice.  In the meantime, all you can do is point out what's being repeatedly omitted:  Blinded by range.  Never seeing efficiency...  KWH/100KM...  MI/KWH.

Range Test Mistake?   This was interesting "Dealer had charged it to 82%; the guess-o-meter (GOM) said 262 miles range with all equipment turned off.  With front window defroster on: 206.  Clearly, if you're concerned about making it to the next charging opportunity, you want to avoid using the AUTO climate feature and the front window defroster."  That was an innocent observation from a new owner.  It appears to be an easy trap to fall into.  Remember how Prius Prime reviewers homed in on the "EV Auto" feature and totally misunderstood what it was for.  I could see the same kind of thing happening with this.  The option for AUTO could be telling the system to use energy at its discretion, quite the opposite of a manual setting.  Rather than putting the blower in a specific mode or enabling ECO, there's a choice that unknowingly consumes far more electricity than would be apparent... until you notice what it does to the miles estimate.  I'm thinking that could be a core clue as to a mistake from that range test.  Something clearly does not add up.  I draw attention to this discovery with:  With my Prius Prime experience, I found people were insistent upon using the dedicated window defroster rather than just the window blower.  The latter uses far less energy and does just fine keeping the window clear.  Makes me wonder if that's what happened with the range testing in Norway.  Using an unnecessary & wasteful feature is exactly the type of mistake a reviewer would make that an owner would avoid.

Pretty Good.  Reading comments like this is fascinating: "It's brand new only had it a week and struggles to get 220 miles range.  I am wanting to know if it's faulty in any way."  That comes from someone with an open mind who has no background in the topic.  It's entirely new to them.  I'm quite curious if there is eagerness to learn about the magic behind the pedal or if this is just a simple matter of getting some type of confirmation.  I posted this simple reply with the hope of finding out:  Look at the efficiency value.  220 miles (range) divided by 62 kWh (capacity) you get 3.5 mi/kWh.  That's pretty good.

Poorly Informed?  I have seen this comment so many times, I now know the answer: "There is a huge difference between hybrids and BEVs."  They are indeed poorly informed.  It's really frustrating to argue with someone who doesn't understand.  But at least they mean no harm.  With the case of that rogue admin, he does.  He continues to post "gas hybrid" insults.  The term of "bully" is quite fitting.  He keeps telling us how much better he is than everyone else.  Ugh.  It's nice having a means of easily pointing out he is incorrect.  With this person though, that's could prove to be a challenge.  I doubt I'll get an answer.  If I do, it will likely be ambiguous.  We won't make any progress.  The belief will continue on.  Ugh, again.  Oh well.  Here's how I asked for clarification:  Toyota delivered full EV drive 6 years ago with Prius Prime, complete with heat-pump.  My commutes have been all-electric.  The model in Japan even offered DC fast-charging. Since then, the rollout of RAV4 Prime brought about AWD and liquid-cooling.  So what if there is a gas-engine for backup power.  Everything needed for a BEV is already in place, as the EV convert models of CH-R and UX300e clearly confirmed.  What supposed huge difference are you claiming?