Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

The Toyota Prius transformed the auto industry

spectrum.ieee.org

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

21–30 of 292 posts

Re: The Toyota Prius transformed the auto industry

#21

Post by cowsandmilk »

jfim wrote: post #15
hedora wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My German EV was introduced a decade ago, and it’s still great! I think a better comparison is to the Italians. Stellantis bought up a bunch of iconic brands when they got Chrysler and then integrated a bunch of new technology from Fiat. Since then, they’ve focused on creature comforts and margin expansion, but neglected everything else. They recently realized their sales projections are headed for a cliff and uncere…

What EV model would that be, out of curiosity? I wasn't aware the Germans were making EVs back then.

BMW i3 came on market in 2013

Re: The Toyota Prius transformed the auto industry

#22

Post by kla-s »

hedora wrote: post #7
Cumpiler69 wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Kinda doubt it. They also suffer from large company inertia where their hybrid powertrains gave them a market leadership, similar to German cars and diesel engines, making difficult to pivot to a market where there's much stronger competition and they don't have the crown anymore.

My German EV was introduced a decade ago, and it’s still great! I think a better comparison is to the Italians. Stellantis bought up a bunch of iconic brands when they got Chrysler and then integrated a bunch of new technology from Fiat. Since then, they’ve focused on creature comforts and margin expansion, but neglected everything else. They recently realized their sales projections are headed for a cliff and uncere…

Yeah its a mixed bag in germany in my eyes. All of the big brands have a real electric platform minus BMW. 800V isnt pioneered with them either.

VDA is pressuring for HVO100 bs. Mercedes just pulled back on the electric only strategy. I guess they figured that most of the added value is with the batteries and being deeply integrated there and thats not really their cup of tea, so far at least.

There where Taycans for 30k$ which was a real great deal if your the second buyer and not the first.

On the other hand the id family looks ok, facelift good. The a6 is pricey at 100k but is the first really capable german highway ev, not as premature as the eqs…

Re: The Toyota Prius transformed the auto industry

#23

Post by [deleted] »

jfim wrote: post #15
hedora wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My German EV was introduced a decade ago, and it’s still great! I think a better comparison is to the Italians. Stellantis bought up a bunch of iconic brands when they got Chrysler and then integrated a bunch of new technology from Fiat. Since then, they’ve focused on creature comforts and margin expansion, but neglected everything else. They recently realized their sales projections are headed for a cliff and uncere…

What EV model would that be, out of curiosity? I wasn't aware the Germans were making EVs back then.

[deleted]

Re: The Toyota Prius transformed the auto industry

#24

Post by ncruces »

jfim wrote: post #15
hedora wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My German EV was introduced a decade ago, and it’s still great! I think a better comparison is to the Italians. Stellantis bought up a bunch of iconic brands when they got Chrysler and then integrated a bunch of new technology from Fiat. Since then, they’ve focused on creature comforts and margin expansion, but neglected everything else. They recently realized their sales projections are headed for a cliff and uncere…

What EV model would that be, out of curiosity? I wasn't aware the Germans were making EVs back then.

Or an e-Golf.

Re: The Toyota Prius transformed the auto industry

#25

Post by alephnerd »

gcanyon wrote: post #19

The new Prius is really good-looking (to my eye at least), especially in person: I don't think the photos (I've seen) do it justice. Fun comparisons to the car Burt Reynolds drove in Smokey and the Bandit: Compared to the 1977 Pontiac Trans Am: - The Prius is as fast 0-60 (~7 seconds) - The Prius has nearly the same top speed (~115 mph) - The Prius is 4x(!) as fuel-efficient (57mpg vs. 12-16mpg) - The Prius has all t…

I'll toast a Coors Banquet to that!

---------

Amen to that though! I agree that the new gen Prius looks really sleek! I tried EVs but the range and lack of after-market parts was really limiting, so I've been fairly happy with the Prius Prime.

Re: The Toyota Prius transformed the auto industry

#26

Post by arwhatever »

CharlieDigital wrote: post #10
blackoil wrote: post #4

Hope Toyota get their mojo back for EVs.

I'm kinda OK with them just dominating hybrids; especially plugins. I own a 2024 Prius Prime (PHEV) and the setup works great. No range anxiety, no special charging infra (I just plug in on a normal 120v overnight). I got the car in Feb 24 and maybe pumped gas a total of 8 times? If I didn't make two longer trips, it would have been 6. But also, the power output is pretty great and an upgrade over the hybrid only mod…

Also importantly, it’s now quite good-looking, too.

Re: The Toyota Prius transformed the auto industry

#27

Post by boutell »

celsoazevedo wrote: post #20
CharlieDigital wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm kinda OK with them just dominating hybrids; especially plugins. I own a 2024 Prius Prime (PHEV) and the setup works great. No range anxiety, no special charging infra (I just plug in on a normal 120v overnight). I got the car in Feb 24 and maybe pumped gas a total of 8 times? If I didn't make two longer trips, it would have been 6. But also, the power output is pretty great and an upgrade over the hybrid only mod…

The downside of plugins is that it has both systems (more things that can go wrong, added cost, weight) and they're not amazing at being an ICE car (small fuel tank) or electric car (small battery). In your case it seems that a pure EV would be fine? Maybe not one with a small battery, but 300-400 miles of range isn't that uncommon these days. In any case, the important thing is that it works well for you.

It's also not great that people sometimes buy them because of breaks on price and then keep them where they can't plug them in, which is the worst of both worlds. But a properly used plug-in hybrid can be a good thing for some yeah

Re: The Toyota Prius transformed the auto industry

#28

Post by alephnerd »

rsanheim wrote: post #13
blackoil wrote: post #4

Hope Toyota get their mojo back for EVs.

The Sienna is a great hybrid if you are wanting something larger for families or hauling stuff. Tons of space, really nice cabin, and far more practical for 90% of uses than a huge pickup or any of the large SUVs. I can haul groceries and my large dog in the back cargo area w/ the 3rd row down, or put the row up for seating seven. Oh, and mileage is 30-34 mpg, at least when its not the middle of midwest winter. I do…

The Alphard and Vellfires are the equivalent of an Escalade in Japan and ASEAN. I don't think that PMF would translate in the US. Sucks becuase the seats are really comfy.

Ironically, if you're looking forward to an Electric SUV, you're more likely to find that in India where macho SUV culture is massive.

Re: The Toyota Prius transformed the auto industry

#29

Post by duxup »

rsanheim wrote: post #13
blackoil wrote: post #4

Hope Toyota get their mojo back for EVs.

The Sienna is a great hybrid if you are wanting something larger for families or hauling stuff. Tons of space, really nice cabin, and far more practical for 90% of uses than a huge pickup or any of the large SUVs. I can haul groceries and my large dog in the back cargo area w/ the 3rd row down, or put the row up for seating seven. Oh, and mileage is 30-34 mpg, at least when its not the middle of midwest winter. I do…

I wish the Sienna had a plug in option. I’m ready for a new van.

Re: The Toyota Prius transformed the auto industry

#30

Post by jajko »

inciampati wrote: post #12
CharlieDigital wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm kinda OK with them just dominating hybrids; especially plugins. I own a 2024 Prius Prime (PHEV) and the setup works great. No range anxiety, no special charging infra (I just plug in on a normal 120v overnight). I got the car in Feb 24 and maybe pumped gas a total of 8 times? If I didn't make two longer trips, it would have been 6. But also, the power output is pretty great and an upgrade over the hybrid only mod…

A regular EV also requires no special infrastructure. Just your regular house electrical system (e.g. 120v wall outlet in the US). Only on long trips do you need fast chargers or does range anxiety kick in. If you do a lot of long drives I can see that being a problem. But if not I'd be willing to bet you'd lose less time charging than taking your vehicle to the mechanic for maintenance and repairs. Because the EV, w…

Not really. Living in Switzerland, colleague has Model S, and over whole night plugged in his house he can charge only around 9km/h. That basically covers his commute but he can't build up charge for the weekend if he started week empty. Not even going into the fact that most folks here live in apartments and not standalone houses, and charging situation there is usually terrible and overhead of owning electric car is significant.

That sucks tremendously (on top of other tesla-related suck like extremely expensive OEM replacement parts that nobody else can service), and considering we talk about Switzerland here (and expensive well developed part of it), other countries are not that better off if at all.

As a backup, non-critical second car, why not if you feel like an early adopter and paying >40k for a function a used 5k car can perform even better. Main family car? No thank you, maybe for half the cost but probably even that's too much in this decade.

Post reply on HN