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Toyota Forms ‘Team Japan’ to Help Keep Combustion Engine Alive

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Re: Toyota Forms ‘Team Japan’ to Help Keep Combustion Engine Alive

#21

What’s the thinking behind it? What is the real advantage to Toyota pushing petrol? Do they think they’ll be raking in money when they’re the last petrol engine cars you can get?

> What is the real advantage to Toyota pushing petrol?

They've absolutely perfected their vehicles as-is, comparatively speaking.

Re: Toyota Forms ‘Team Japan’ to Help Keep Combustion Engine Alive

#23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They bet on hydrogen vs electric cars, and that didn't pay off. They're already good at making ICE vehicles, so rather make up for a huge amount of lost time and effort, it's a bid to keep the current business going.

Lets see in 10 years. Id bet hydrogen is one fundamental discovery away from winning

Transported in/as ammonia. Minimises leaks compared to hydrogen gas, utilises existing liquid storage and pump delivery model. Doesnt require long charging times. Commercial production being funded in a number of places, including Australia to produce it as a scalable fuel source.

I'd say its just about there.

Re: Toyota Forms ‘Team Japan’ to Help Keep Combustion Engine Alive

#24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's an interesting question: 1st gear at idle in low range (4-Low) in a typical ICE vehicle is about a slow walking speed. I wonder how smooth the electric motor would be at that speed without additional gearing. Anyway, there's off road and there's off road. If you're a few hours from a road, EV can be useful at the low speeds you'll typically be driving at: If you are days from a charging source, not so much. Go…

> I wonder how smooth the electric motor would be at that speed without additional gearing. Have you seen the Bollinger trials? https://youtu.be/W7TK6WhU_l4?t=379 Militaries are also looking very keenly towards EV because it lets you crawl silently over ground, where in a diesel you need to rev it up and get some momentum going. > Anyway, there's off road and there's off road. Saying as someone who professionally ope…

As someone who was a professionally employed explorer for 10 years until a couple of years back, who drove very capable off road vehicles then and now, I cannot wait for a little bit of maturity in that market. Id love to be able to roll through some of those areas without having to roar a diesel. A motor on each wheel means no lockers. I'm mainly just concerned about undercarriage submersion at this point - I can put my current vehicle through 1m+ of still water comfortably. Can I do that with the new electric stuff? Also, range anxiety.

Re: Toyota Forms ‘Team Japan’ to Help Keep Combustion Engine Alive

#25

What’s the thinking behind it? What is the real advantage to Toyota pushing petrol? Do they think they’ll be raking in money when they’re the last petrol engine cars you can get?

It works. Show me an EV truck that comes anywhere close to what a Tacoma, Tundra or 4runner can do. Maybe they'll get there but there's gonna need to be some massive advances in batteries to be able to go off-road and pull loads like any of those current trucks can.

I see them going to the store and back 99% of the time so a Leaf would do probably.

Re: Toyota Forms ‘Team Japan’ to Help Keep Combustion Engine Alive

#26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They bet on hydrogen vs electric cars, and that didn't pay off. They're already good at making ICE vehicles, so rather make up for a huge amount of lost time and effort, it's a bid to keep the current business going.

Lets see in 10 years. Id bet hydrogen is one fundamental discovery away from winning

Sure, but to be fair, they've probably thought the same thing for years as well.

Re: Toyota Forms ‘Team Japan’ to Help Keep Combustion Engine Alive

#27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It works. Show me an EV truck that comes anywhere close to what a Tacoma, Tundra or 4runner can do. Maybe they'll get there but there's gonna need to be some massive advances in batteries to be able to go off-road and pull loads like any of those current trucks can.

> Show me an EV truck that comes anywhere close to what a Tacoma, Tundra or 4runner can do. Weird examples - isn't EV actually uniquely well-suited to off-road and towing? Maximum torque at zero-revs? I can't wait to swap my Defender for a full electric variant when Land Rover manage to ship it - partly for the better capability.

No it's not uniquely suited because the battery life is abysmal. The new Ford Lightning can only make it like 100 miles while towing before it needs to be recharged.

Multiple tests with Teslas are the same. When they're loaded down their range is very bad.

Re: Toyota Forms ‘Team Japan’ to Help Keep Combustion Engine Alive

#28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It works. Show me an EV truck that comes anywhere close to what a Tacoma, Tundra or 4runner can do. Maybe they'll get there but there's gonna need to be some massive advances in batteries to be able to go off-road and pull loads like any of those current trucks can.

EVs will take over this role among the first things. Instant torque, no transmission, torque vectoring, no switching gears, no differential.

[deleted]

Re: Toyota Forms ‘Team Japan’ to Help Keep Combustion Engine Alive

#29
post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It works. Show me an EV truck that comes anywhere close to what a Tacoma, Tundra or 4runner can do. Maybe they'll get there but there's gonna need to be some massive advances in batteries to be able to go off-road and pull loads like any of those current trucks can.

The F-150 Lightning, R1T, and Cybertruck all offer a minimum towing capacity of 10,000 pounds. The price is higher and the range is lower than their petrol equivalents, but it is false to say these EV trucks are less capable in going off-road and pulling heavy loads.

I'm specifically referring to the range. Stopping under 100 miles to recharge your vehicle isn't feasible for most people. Unless you're planning on forcing them to buy a $60k+ vehicle that's worse than what they currently have good luck.

Re: Toyota Forms ‘Team Japan’ to Help Keep Combustion Engine Alive

#30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They bet on hydrogen vs electric cars, and that didn't pay off. They're already good at making ICE vehicles, so rather make up for a huge amount of lost time and effort, it's a bid to keep the current business going.

Lets see in 10 years. Id bet hydrogen is one fundamental discovery away from winning

The overall efficiency of using electricity to create H2, ship it somewhere, then convert it back into electricity with a fuel cell will never make sense for passenger vehicles. I'm sure we'll find new catalysts and methods to improve electrolysis, but there is a hard upper limit on how good it can get. We're not going to cut the energy requirements in half. Battery prices have cratered over the last decade and continue to drop. The overall efficiency of a BEV is something around 85-90%, whereas FCEV is around 40%. That's a lot of wasted energy for H2 and that will have a big impact on TCO (plus fuel cells remain very expensive after decades of work).

I do see H2 fuel cells having a part to play in industries like shipping, forestry, and agriculture where grid connections are either tricky or impossible, but fuel cell passenger vehicles won't ever make sense financially.

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