Distraction, efficiency.  Seeing actual data getting posted is awesome.  We'll need a lot more help getting discussions to become constructive, but this was a nice start: "The efficiency was middling at best (3.1mi/kWh in slow city driving is nothing to praise)."  It came from that article that described GM's software problem with Blazer EV... which has turned into a stop-sale situation.  I replied to that with:  Thanks for sharing actual data.  It has been incredibly frustrating how "efficiency" from reviews has been conveyed in terms of range.  The distance you can travel has nothing to do with energy consumption.  It's really just use of a bigger battery, much like ICE do with bigger tanks.  mi/kWh tells the real story.  I own a bZ4X AWD, which supposedly is terribly inefficient.  Yet with all my driving around for holiday this & that with temperatures just above freezing, I'm seeing an average of 3.1 mi/kWh.  How is that bad for an AWD vehicle with 8-inch ground-clearance while running the heater?  I'm intrigued to find out how Blazer & Equinox EVs do in the summer.  I see mi/kWh hit 5 from time to time then. 

Distraction, rhetoric.  Right away, the rhetoric begin.  It was the same old nonsense... vague claims attempting to mislead.  Ugh.  This one I found most telling, since it tells literally nothing: "It charges slow, it has no power, it’s hideous, overpriced, and has pitiful range and efficiency."  I could not resist jumping on that:  Who are you trying to convince?  Know your audience.  It's difficult to label peak charging speed in the 140's as slow.  The people reading this aren't stupid.  They find out about software updates and battery types.  With regard to power, what does that even mean?  When you have 0-60 times in under 7 seconds, faster simply isn't a selling power to ordinary consumers.  Hideous is subjective... and alterable.  You don't like the fender flares, just wrap them.  We see more and more people wrapping their entire vehicle to change the finish or color.  Claiming pitiful range is just rhetoric. When we see more DC chargers being built and NACS about to open up, arguments about long-distance travel falling on deaf ears.  As for efficiency somehow being subpar, that's an act of desperation.  Those who claim that carefully avoid actually stating mi/kWh.  They know owners have been seeing better values than attempts to undermine imply. That real-world data is difficult to deny.  Complicating matters for those trying to misrepresent is what Toyota has planned.  The upgrade target for bZ4X is a 20% range increase and a 40% reduction of batter cost.  Knowing Toyota has the technology to deliver exactly that (leveraging their bi-polar cell design), that's quite realistic.  In other words, when word of struggle for GM emerges, it should be no surprise to anyone to see distractions about Toyota getting posted.

Distraction, trouble.  And so it begins.  A popular name in automotive review got an opportunity to start a long-term review of Chevy Blazer EV.  It didn't go well.  In fact, it was disastrous.  Naturally, the outcome within a flurry of excuses was to distract from the problem by switching attention to Toyota.  I jumped on that invitation to join the posting with:  Criticism of their PHEV was a desperate move by enthusiasts to portray Toyota as an antithesis, somewhere to direct attention while their own favored automaker worked out bugs.  That is now coming back to haunt them.  It is difficult to support a narrative of "laggard" well that time used ended up revealed as time well spent.  7 years later, that EV system used in their PHEV has proven to be extremely reliable.  Full electric-only driving up to 84 mph (135 km/h) along with heat-pump has been operating just fine.  So what if the DC fast-charging offered was limited to just select markets and used CHAdeMO. Experience is experience, regardless of how you get it.  This is why whenever reliability of their first dedicated BEV came up, all those criticizing quickly changed the subject to wheels.  They we well aware that Toyota was up on their game, that they had already addressed what really matters to their customer base... reliability.  It's not we haven't seen this before.  That "over promise, under deliver" history for GM is what encourages enthusiasts to use Toyota as a distraction.

Video Feedback.  From an E-Tron owner, I got a comment about my results being very similar to his own.  Posts like that are what I hope to draw out from these videos.  Enthusiasts tend to just accept whatever the automaker delivers... hence being enthusiasts rather than supporters.  Someone like me, who openly shares data, sees the world quite differently.  We have patience.  What appears to be an excuse from others is really an effort to ensure outcome really is adapted to what's truly needed.  Don't make assumptions... like faster is always better.  Consuming energy for the possibility of DC charging later and pushing the heater to squeeze out as much as possible doesn't make sense.  An enthusiasts doesn't see it that way.  Rather than wasting electricity, it is looked upon as normal operation to deliver the best possible experience.  Consideration of using less electricity being a higher priority is utterly preposterous.  The additional costs & resources are summarily dismissed as fanboy defense.  Ugh.  I was happy to share comments with someone open-minded instead:  Based on my observations, it looks like the battery-heater draws 6 kW when first plugging into DC to charge.  Being able to pre-condition for 30 minutes prior would consume 3 kWh, which works out to about 10 miles of range.  I suspect that's a reasonable tradeoff we could get in the upcoming "cold weather" software update.

VIDEO: Cold Battery, Cold Commute.   Prior to the software update we should be getting in a few months, which will include cold weather improvements, I wanted to document the current vehicle behavior... an ordinary commute on a cold day (warm by Minnesota standards, but the heater was still needed).  So, I filmed my drive home from work.  The bZ4X sat unplugged during the day with the temperature a little above freezing.  It was uneventful but provides lots of detail you normally wouldn't get to see.  That made it a nice example for watching subtle changes.  Hope you find it informative...  Toyota bZ4X - Cold Battery, Cold Commute

Who?  I find comments like this vindicating: "whooopidie doo.  Get on with EVs already Toyota.  Laggards."  Enthusiasts lack patience and rarely look beyond their own interests.  What ordinary consumers will seek, especially those who shop the showroom floor, have nothing in common.  Dismissing that audience is truly troubling.  That's nothing new though.  The vastly superior nonsense for Volt shared this sentiment.  They simply didn't care about audience.  My comment to this was:  Who?  Notice how the entry-level market is being ignored, even by Tesla.  Notice how many have no transition-plan whatsoever.  Realistically, Toyota is right on time. As everyone struggles to address cost and the absence of a DC standard in North America, we see Toyota refining software on their current platform.  Toyota is currently building both vehicle & battery production for bZ5X in the United States while rolling out bZ3X in Europe.  Following that will be an upgrade to the bZ4X battery, increasing range by 20% and reducing battery cost by 40%.  At the same time, we see PHEV models growing from 2 to 4.  In other words, calling "laggard" won't sway ordinary consumers.  They won't see the rhetoric online.  They will see a juggernaut beginning to generate momentum.

SAE-J3400.  It became official today.  NACS is now and open standard for the industry to use.  VW announced their adoption plans, coinciding with the timing of the SAE announcement perfectly.  How the Tesla stations will become available is anyone's guess.  Their tie to software prohibits NEVI funding.  For that time of access, use of a credit-card is required without vehicle restriction.  I'm annoyed already by the implication that other providers won't be able to offer something like MagicDock.  There's a narrative starting already that CCS vehicle owners will take a major value loss too, that adapters will be cumbersome to use.  The short-sightedness is remarkable.  It's the very reason a push for standardization was such a big deal.  Of course other DC fast-charging locations will have some means of adapting.  They don't want to lose business based on a simple hardware limitation.  Heck, the older versions of Tesla supercharger face a similar barrier.  It only makes sense that upgrades to attract more customers will take place.  We will have many, many years of supporting multiple connections still.  What happens in 2024 will be evidence of inability to simply just cut over.  Fortunately, everyone will be working for the same outcome.  Having Tesla retain control made no sense... hence their "Hail Mary" play.  Sometimes, the long shot pays off.

Also, keep in mind that the market is for PHEV is staged to grow.  Opportunities to recharge will grow.  We'll see level-2 availability greatly expand.  That will stir lots of rhetoric from those who back an automaker unable to compete, lacking some type of transition option for those wanting the advantages of plugging in but unable depend entirely upon a BEV.

Unwelcome News.  This interesting bit of detail buried within a press release for the upcoming Crown PHEV was unwelcome news, once I pointed out why: "A full charge will take 5.5 hours from a standard outlet, while a rapid charger will take it to 80% in 38 minutes."  I did the math.  It revealed Toyota had upped the ante.  That messes up the "behind" narrative so many antagonists have come to depend upon.  They needed Toyota to look bad.  Finding out Toyota is "catching up" and at a rate faster than anyone imagined reinforces the juggernaut problem.  Toyota isn't suppose to be that resourceful.  It makes the others look bad.  I find that quite amusing, since they would rather have a scapegoat than an ally.  It's really sad that enthusiasts need to have something to make them feel superior.  Killing off traditional vehicles isn't enough.  Ugh.  It's that "vastly superior" mindset, their own undoing.  Oh well.  I enjoyed pointing out what Toyota appeared to have done:  The system in this PHEV model of Crown is almost certainly the same as in RAV4 Prime.  That would mean 80% equates to be a little over 12 kWh.  Taking 38 minutes to pull that amount of electricity indicates Toyota bumped AC charging to the max SAE-J1772 spec: 19.2 kW.

2.8 mi/kWh Average.  I had the day off.  That meant driving around doing some errands.  I stopped for coffee and visited a friend along the way.  My wife and I had a performance to see too.  With the temperature just below freezing, it was a fairly ordinary December experience, nothing special.  That served as a decent example of what to expect during the cold season without any weather events or extremes.  110 miles of driving total.  Averaging 2.8 mi/kWh would mean being able to squeeze around 180 miles from a single charge... which was more than enough for the day.  Most of my activities that include lots of driving are during the summer anyway.  Efficiency is much higher then.  Recharging is faster then too.  It all works out well.

Love/Hate.  I got a kick out of reading this from a bZ4X owner: "It's not the first time I threw my love on a car that car journalists hate."  He then went on to say: "The AWD is supreme, and the Norwegian winter hasn't stopped us yet.  In November it was the most sold electric car in Norway."  Since the arrival of below freezing temperatures has been followed by unseasonably warm days several times now, we haven't experienced a deep freeze yet.  Daily highs don't plunge until there is sustained ground cover.  Melting snow is a problem here so far this season... especially for those who enjoy winter recreation.  I haven't even started the ice-rink on the pond yet.  Anywho, this is how I replied:  I'm in Minnesota with my AWD.  Sadly, we haven't had much for snow yet and it is warm still.  Last winter, I did get to drive in a blizzard. X-Mode was impressive.  The leg/foot heater is quite nice.  Efficiency has been great.  3.1 mi/kWh (20 kWh/110km) on yesterday's drive around the Twin Cities to deliver cookies (122 miles, 196 km) with the temperature at 37° F (3°C).  Throughout the summer, I saw much higher efficiency.  In fact, some of my commutes to work hit 5.1 mi/kWh (12.4 kWh/100km).  So, it's been quite a nice ownership experience so far.  As for what a majority of the media publishes, they are reviewers... not journalists.

Cookie Delivery!  Today was the day.  It's a great tradition brought about by the pandemic.  We wanted to spread Christmas cheer to friends.  Unable to visit properly, we came up with a holiday excuse to see them.  We'd deliver a variety of cookies to each, driving all around the Twin Cities on a Saturday trying to squeeze in as much outside meeting time as realistic here in Minnesota during December.  Fortunately this year, it wasn't that cold.  In fact, it has been just above freezing for awhile now.  That meant the journey would be more efficient than anticipated.  We traveled 121.8 miles.  The result was quite nice.  That was a voyage around the metro area included 9 homes and 2 stores along the way, which meant lots of highway with some residential in the mix.  The drive also included about 15 minutes of running the vehicle while parked.  Distance estimate shown on the dashboard was dead on for accuracy.  If the reserve distance (beyond zero miles) is about 5 kWh, the 3.1 mi/kWh is right on the money too.  For those who get much lower efficiency under the same conditions, I'm hoping they'll share their detail to help figure out why.  Note that we had the heater set to 65°F, using seat & leg/foot warmer to supplement.  Tires were set to 39 PSI measured cold.  Just prior to getting home, I took a photo to document our travel... bZ4X Photo Album 14

In short, that need for sport day/overnight trips, escape to see leaves change color, or to watch birds migrate doesn't necessarily have to be fulfilled with the BEV.  Enthusiasts are their own worst enemy by pushing that one-size-for-all mindset.