Priorities.  That is what it comes down to.  With Tesla facing fallout from CyberTruck and Osborne Effect from some type of entry-level offering, diverting focus elsewhere seems the only option available.  So, we get nonsense like this: "Toyota desperately wants to keep making ICE no matter what is facing them.  I'll stick with the convenience and money saving charging at home and Tesla's excellent system of charging on the road."  It all originates from hope that Toyota would lead the way in a speed, power and range manner.  That was never their priority.  That would be appealing to enthusiasts.  Traits impacting mass change are what Toyota deems most important.  Those are boring though, the silent draw... so large and so slow, you really don't notice movement.  It's like a glacier... not the slightest bit exciting.  That's why Tesla is such a draw instead.  Think about how many Camry & Corolla were purchased over the decades.  To be that popular, yet go so unnoticed means what?  It means sustainable profit, without drama or dependency.  It is how Toyota is able to thrive.  They know their audience.  Conquest isn't necessary.  Priority is to continue innovating for their own loyal customers.  In other words, it's pretty much a waste of effort telling enthusiasts that.  Yet, I do anyway:  You'll have a difficult time convincing people who see the new Prius Prime of that.  The second software update for bZ4X has already begun rollout too.  Reality is that even Tesla isn't prepared for what comes next... exactly what Toyota warned about years ago.  When entry-level BEV hit the market, appeal for expensive vehicles will plummet.  The quick & nimble rewards of electric-only driving are the same as that from those priced much higher.  Tesla has been avoiding Model 2, unable to deal with razor-thin profit due to lack of experience.  Not only does Toyota have an extensive background with that, they have thrived under those conditions.  It's what provides good reason to feed the ICE narratives... portraying Toyota as the antithesis.  Fanboys of Tesla can continue turning a blind-eye to the harsh awakening on the horizon.  Hyping CyberTruck is counter-productive with regard to competing with that true competition on the way.  Using Toyota to divert attention tells us a lot about priorities.

Entry-Level Offerings.  With the growing problem faces from CyberTruck, change of focus was inevitable.  Remember how GM did this with Two-Mode.  When it became difficult to deny failure, an effort was made to distract.  That's how Volt came about.  The same thing happened with gen-2 of Volt.  When that disaster became impossible to deny, we got Bolt.  Seeing Tesla falling way short of rollout already, talk of some type of low-cost model is getting attention.  The simple fact that we don't actually have detail about CyberTruck is a dead giveaway something is wrong.  True, there is a possibly of Tesla delivering some type of surprise.  But that's out of character and doesn't match up with how project "Highland" (the major update to Model 3) has been handled.  Anywho, I posted my observations on this predicament:  We know for a fact Bolt wouldn't ever be profitable.  GM stated the inability to return profit long ago and confirmed that would be its legacy when plans for Ultium were revealed.  Selling at a loss to establish a product is perfectly acceptable when succession follows within a reasonable time.  The catch is setting reasonable expectations.  Toyota didn't want to follow that path.  They stated bZ4X would be expensive.  The expectation set was only marginal profit would be made and production would be in low volume.  For beyond that, customers will have to wait.  Period.  Toyota's focus was ensuring succession would go well, not having to deal with setback (or fallout, think Osborne Effect) like others.  Enthusiasts absolutely hate being told to be patient and they despise entry-level offerings.  That pretty much doomed Bolt and made bZ4X the butt of many jokes.  The catch is, we see Toyota preparing to build bZ5X in Kentucky and concepts for a smaller offering... bZ3X... continue to be revealed.  As for thinking Model 3 and Model Y occupy the space to compete directly (no subsidy) against ICE vehicles, its a false narrative with consequences.  How are they realistic comparisons?  Corolla hybrid starts at $23K at its crossover model $28K.  In other words, step back and ask what approach should be taken for long-term sustainable sales that return a profit from a "no frills, many knobs, simple controls, no auto BS driving and priced at $30,000 before rebate" vehicle.

Winter Questions.  They have begun: "Hi, I wanted to know if the warm fan in the car works slowly because if I turn 29 degrees on and I want warmth, then it starts blowing heat only in 5 minutes.  Is this the same thing for everyone?"  Cold has arrived here.  Halloween trick or treating will be with the temperature around freezing.  That raises a heightened awareness of what different people consider cold to be.  I expect to see quite a number of children.  I will be outside with the small portable bonfire passing out treats and greeting the parents.  It's what we do here.  Later when the snow comes, we play outside.  I shovel off the snow from the pond to maintain a skating rink for the neighbors to share.  So, how others deal with winter is a topic of intrigue.  I replied to that post by asking:  Assuming you mean 29°C (84°F), what are you trying to achieve?  The only time I would ever set the heater that high is for initial warm-up in the dead of winter... which here in Minnesota is when temperatures drop below -15°C (5°F), which takes more than 5 minutes anyway.  That's what remote warming is for.  With temperatures around freezing, I have it set at 17°C (62°F).

Future Benefit.  From that survey question comment, I got a "Spot on." from someone else who also had some spirited debates with purists.  He said they were so blinded by the "anti ICE" perspective, posts became unreasonable arguments.  It's that stupid "vastly superior" attitude still... all these years later.  Anywho, this was my follow up to that:  We were a 2 plug-in hybrid household for 6 years before I ended up replacing mine with a BEV.  Awareness of how many EV miles you could still achieve, despite an obvious lack of public chargers, was inspiring.  With those PHEV, we opportunity-recharged whenever it was realistic.  With that BEV, the same thing happens... despite so much larger of a battery-pack.  Of course, now with rapid spread of DC fast-chargers in my area (which is awesome), convenience of that PHEV for travel is beginning to fade.  The catch is, we both have our own EVSE in the garage.  That investment all those years ago proved a rewarding decision.  Those new to having to make such a choice may not be able to see far enough ahead to recognize that future benefit.

Really Unfortunate.  Asking those who already own a plug-in vehicle this survey question provided an overwhelmingly positive answer: "Will your next vehicle be electric or plug-in hybrid?"  I saw it as uninformative.  Most owners will do everything possible to avoid ever having to purchase an ICE again, which includes hybrids.  So, the replies really didn't tell us anything.  Of course, use of the "plug-in hybrid" so generically doesn't either.  But that wasn't the point of what I wanted to learn.  My observation is that some BEV owners get become almost hostile in their defense of widespread acceptance.  They think everyone will somehow quickly & conveniently find a means of routinely charging their vehicle.  It's a short-sightedness problem I have come to really worry about.  The same adoption barrier comes up with any new technology... those who jump on the opportunity early don't recognize the difficulty it is for some to do the same... hence, know your audience.  Anywho, this is what I posted as a comment on that new topic this morning:  Purchasing a PHEV as a second vehicle in the household with a BEV is a no-brainer.  It allows you to squeeze out as many EV miles as possible without ever any concern about being able to recharge at home or when on a trip.  Purists claim otherwise.  I have had a number of heated debates with individuals who believe the installation of a second dedicated 240-volt line or being able to share a single charging source is no big deal.  Facing reality of schedule challenges and cord reach doesn't happen.  Their despise for ICE blinds them from seeing opportunity.  It's really unfortunate.

Delays & Setbacks.  That idea of the simplest reason being the correct is too much for some to accept.  Toyota is simply taking their time.  There really isn't any resistance.  They have master patience, taking the time to do it right.  It is why I find posts starting like this absolutely fascinating: "Take Occam's razor to the Japanese auto manufacturers claims and one has Elon Speak and promises of what's coming *tomorrow* and opinion pieces based on the blather are saying things like Toyota..."  Needless to say, I jumped on that invitation to comment:  Turns out Occam's razor has already played out in Toyota history.  With their first plug-in hybrid... the Prius PHV.  Production ended in 2015 without explanation.  Nothing from Toyota led to tons of negative speculation, with conspiracy spin that they had pulled an EV1 and would later state a reason of no demand.  Reality turned out to be quite the opposite.  Nearly a year later, Toyota revealed a substantial upgrade was on the way.  Sure enough, late 2016 they rolled exactly that. It's quite amusing now to see all the spin related to bZ4X sales.  Toyota had no intention of selling a lot of slim-profit BEV at a high price.  They would instead follow their well-proven strategy of using early-adopters to get feedback for refinements.  Notice how quickly Toyota turned around the first set of software updates?  Only 6 months puts their biggest competitor, VW, in a difficult position . That's remarkably quick.  The next update has already been rolled out in Japan too, only 3 months later.  In other words, the juggernaut has awaken.  What seemed to be disinterest was actually strategic planning for targeting ordinary consumers... an approach enthusiasts have no patience for.

For 2024 Models.  This popped up in an article yesterday: "Toyota and Subaru announced a series of model year updates for the bZ4X and Solterra EV twins in Japan, highlighted by quicker charging capability in low-temperature environments..."  It was concluded with: "...improved warm-up performance in cold weather conditions.  This is said to reduce charging time by up to 30% when using a 90kW charger at a temperature of -10°C (14°F)."  What that means for the European market or those of us in North America is anyone's guess.  There is some logic to the situation though.  Making updates backward compatible simplifies support for dealers and adds value to existing vehicles.  That reinforces Toyota's reputation for being responsive & flexible.  Being able to turn-around feedback that quickly into something implemented within the vehicle is obviously helpful too.  I suspect some sort of update for my 2023 is on the way.  Not activating the battery heater until being plugged into a DC fast-charger is obviously an easy situation to change.  The act of warming the battery prior to when that warmth is needed is called "pre-conditioning".  It's rather wasteful just for the benefit of faster charging.  It can be quite misleading & confusing to some when power from the battery itself is used to achieve that.  Owners are already perplexed by the "climate on" verses "climate off" estimates.  The number of miles presented is supposed to inform you of the impact climate-control usage has.  For some reason, seeing the difference and seeing them vary from day to day becomes a source of concern.  Imagine when Toyota introduces another value, one displaying an even lower estimate of miles.  Without understanding how that feature works, new problems will emerge.  Many Prime owners don't understand how Charge-Mode works.  That adds to EV miles with only a small impact to efficiency.  Use of a Pre-Condition button will immediately shorten range... a much larger impact.  Efficiency will plummet if too aggressive of a setting is made.  Long story short, there was much to consider before making the feature available.  I appreciate Toyota taking the time to do it right.  Research, research, research, then implement in limited fashion before releasing the update to everyone.

Finding Substance.  I always wonder what a person hopes to achieve when posting such blatant efforts to mislead: "Is anyone surprised the bz4x isn't selling, with its poor range, ugly design, and massive reliability issues?"  My guess is they don't think they will ever have to face any accountability.  It's weird though, since nothing actually changes.  It's like cheering on a team when you are watching the game on television.  What difference does it make?  Ordinary showroom shoppers will never hear their nonsense.  At best, there will be some brief stumble on some internet search about some supposed problem.  Absence of detail makes arguments doomed to the credibility test.  What is there to believe?  Online though, use of adjectives to feed a narrative.  Throw in some meaningless number, you have a compelling story... but useless if you are trying to research a purchase.  Some consumers learn to read reviews for substance.  They find it.  They make a decision.  It's nice knowing some don't take the bait.  Today, I just said my piece and moved on:  When those wanting to portray Toyota as an antithesis stoop to that level, it's quiet a tell of the situation.  There has only been a single recall and it had nothing whatsoever to do with the EV propulsion system.  Any claim of reliability issue is utter nonsense.  Stating there is a massive problem without any evidence to support gives good reason to consider the opposite is true.  And in this case, it is.

Rental Fleets.  This is interesting.  The effort to replace a significant portion of Hertz rental fleet has been slowed.  Unforeseen challenges required it.  Lots of comments on the topic are being posted today.  These were my thoughts:  Hertz needed to do more upfront to provide a better first-time EV driver experience anyway.  They bit off more than they could chew... too much, too quickly.  With regard to assets, the situation is a mess.  All those fleet purchases gave false impression of Tesla consumer market growth, when unit count was really just business related... a struggle to keep BYD from seizing too much control.  Now, Hertz is stuck with devalued vehicles.  Making matters worse is rollout of Highland... a better Model 3, which will impact used prices even further.  Finally, adoption of NACS by everyone else and spread of MagicDock really takes away from the biggest advantage Tesla had in North America... which complicates Hertz rentals, since Superchargers will be used more.  Remember, renters must return the vehicle with 80% charge.  That means staying there longer than the usual Tesla owner session.  Market growth beyond the early-adopter stage is now revealing challenges those wearing rose-colored glasses dismissed, labeling sources who raised concern as anti-EV.  Automotive sales are proving not as simplistic as production-focused narratives claimed.

Happy Path.  For my career as a software engineer, the often referred to "happy path" is what we call the most basic means of proving a process works.  It is simply the easiest way of reaching the finish line.  That is typically the best case scenario, not anything resembling what you would expect under ordinary real-world conditions.  I don't like using a "success" label for such an achievement.  Sure, it to deliver the expected outcome.  But there's no way to depend upon it working again and again, especially as the number of users would grow.  The variety of data quickly turns your happiness into a tangled mess of uncertainty.  In other words, it's what I saw with Volt.  Those enthusiasts had very particular circumstances to fulfill.  Their usage didn't reflect the diverse possibility of scenarios a mainstream audience would require for their driving needs.  The same thing is happening with BEV.  Sure, they work for the early-adopter audience.  But that in no way guarantees they will for everyone else.  In fact, it is an act of denial thinking current infrastructure and current technology comes anywhere near close to effectively ending the reign of fossil-fuel vehicles.  Thinking the work is done is happy path.  Far more is still needed.  Many more paths are not supported yet.

Mediocre Range.  When Prius was new, there was an obsession with acceleration.  The 0-to-60 speed was so slow, the car was supposedly a death-trap.  Owners knew that was utter nonsense.  If wasn't in any regard fast, but the point of focusing so much attention on such a rare need is what galvanized online responses... turning us from defenders to those who began to play offense.  We didn't want to put up with such rhetoric.  Obvious efforts to undermine were a dead giveaway that competing technologies couldn't actually compete.  Years later, the fall of diesel began.  Decades later, it is still an obsession with speed: "This car has mediocre range, so good DC fast charge rate helps take the sting out of that."  And of course, focus is on a rare need.  It gets tiring.  There really is an end though.  Those arguing for that will eventually learn about diminishing returns... then have nothing left to argue.  Instead of caring about what matters the most, they waste a massive amount of resources highlighting something with little benefit.  Ugh.  I just hang in there.  It will only be a matter of time:  It's unfortunate that something used so infrequently gets so much attention.  Most people rarely take long road trips.  The weekend drive up to the cabin can easily be covered by a single stop to charge.  Some may not even need to if charging is available at the destination.  In other words, saying "mediocre" for a capacity that fulfills around 95% of the users needs isn't an accurate assessment.