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Toyota to invest $1.3B in Kentucky factory to build battery packs and new EV

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Re: Toyota to invest $1.3B in Kentucky factory to build battery packs and new EV

#211

Post by warnhardcode »

richiebful1 wrote: post #178
jmoak3 wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Louisville checking in, spent a lot of time in Georgetown and can confirm this is likely just more work on the Camry plant. Toyota has been good to the area. Off topic, but is there a popular tech meetup in the state? Moved back a year and some change ago and would love to get more involved.

I'd be curious too. I'm in Powell County, so the "greater Lexington area". I'm seeing these in Lex: - PHP user group ( https://www.meetup.com/kentucky-php-user-group/events/298973... ) - Bluegrass Developers Guild ( https://www.meetup.com/the-bluegrass-developers-guild/events... ) Also, being an early employee at a startup, I've been attending the rare Startup Lexington event I can make it to. Feel free to contact my…

Another Kentuckian in tech here. Thanks for the list. A friend recently attended https://13layers.com/event/lextalktechjan24/ and said it was a good mix of talks. I think they're quarterly and it's on my list to follow up.

I also lurk on these slacks: bluegrass-dev.slack (same folks as the meetup I assume), Louisville Tech louisville.slack, and startuplexington.slack

Hope we keep this ball rolling a bit longer on meetups and gatherings both in person and online.

Re: Toyota to invest $1.3B in Kentucky factory to build battery packs and new EV

#212

Post by KennyBlanken »

belltaco wrote: post #181
anonu wrote: post #10

Similarly, Hyundai building $8bn battery plant outside Savannah, Georgia: https://apnews.com/article/hyundai-georgia-electric-vehicle-...

At least Hyundai hasn't been faking emissions tests like Toyota. https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/commit... Not to mention spending a lot on lobbying against clean air regulations aroun the world https://thedriven.io/2023/05/11/toyota-under-fire-for-anti-c...

Not to mention campaigning hard against EVs, complete with anti-EV propaganda in the form of kids' stories distributed to schools: https://electrek.co/2021/11/11/how-toyota-sneakily-spreads-a...

Re: Toyota to invest $1.3B in Kentucky factory to build battery packs and new EV

#213

Post by callalex »

mrguyorama wrote: post #144
dumbo-octopus wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Toyota initiated the hybrid as a modern platform, and they continue make the best selling hybrid in the world (Prius). But since they don't want to be in the business of making undesirable vehicles with short lifespans that require expensive maintenance, they have stuck to hybrids rather than full electric and all the extremely costly low lifespan batteries that go into them. Speaking as a 2004 Prius daily driver, th…

Your 2004 Prius has a lead acid battery, hows that for "low lifespan" battery?

2003 was the last model year without lithium ion, and the years before that were nickel-cadmium, not lead-acid.

Re: Toyota to invest $1.3B in Kentucky factory to build battery packs and new EV

#214

Post by KennyBlanken »

downrightmike wrote: post #171
anonu wrote: post #10

Similarly, Hyundai building $8bn battery plant outside Savannah, Georgia: https://apnews.com/article/hyundai-georgia-electric-vehicle-...

Its because the south is fairly young and impoverished, so cheaper to mfg there. Down vote, but that's the reason.

No, it's because Georgia is very aggressively courting large manufacturers with "phantom bonds" and "bond for title" deals.

Problem is, it's not paying off - the state isn't benefiting overall from it, and as soon as they stop providing these sweetheart tax breaks and freebies, comopanies will pull up and move to the next state willing to do so

Re: Toyota to invest $1.3B in Kentucky factory to build battery packs and new EV

#215

Post by mopenstein »

frogpelt wrote: post #187
downrightmike wrote: post #171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Its because the south is fairly young and impoverished, so cheaper to mfg there. Down vote, but that's the reason.

Have you ever been to the south? The down votes are because your position is asinine. It's more likely that southern states are willing to throw huge incentive packages to these manufacturers. Probably not so much on the coasts or the northern states. Also, unions are less common in the south; those states tend to be right-to-work states. Finally, you used the word "impoverished", which is ridiculous. But wages are l…

Wages are less as is the cost of living. Everything is relative.

Re: Toyota to invest $1.3B in Kentucky factory to build battery packs and new EV

#216

Post by carabiner »

tempestn wrote: post #190
carabiner wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Easy to catch up when EV market is shrinking. Toyota is right, gas hybrids are the future. Awesome range, you don't have to own a home to charge one, no problems in cold weather.

The thing about hybrids is that while you get the benefits of a gas engine (not needing to charge), you also get most of the combined drawbacks of ICE cars and EVs. You still need to go to the gas station, change the oil, maintain the belts and filters, etc. If you're mostly driving in EV mode, stale gas could even be an issue (though that's probably not a huge concern for most). But you've also still got electric mo…

In present day reality though, most people live in cities in cheap apartments that won't have chargers for at least a decade. I watch woodpeckers destroy the wood trim at my building, you think mgmt is going to add EV chargers any time soon? Hybrids have superior reliability and lower cost of ownership than pure gas which is why uber drivers and nyc tax have adopted then en masse. All of the disadvantages of hybrids are theoretical or from some lofty "elegance" perspective when in the real world, hybrids work brilliantly. Toyota has been ruthlessly pragmatic with their cars and that's why they've worked. It's admirable how much they've avoided the EV fad and stuck to practical vehicles. It'll be at least a decade until they're on par with hybrids.

Re: Toyota to invest $1.3B in Kentucky factory to build battery packs and new EV

#217

Post by tooltalk »

FirmwareBurner wrote: post #143
bryanlarsen wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you want to cherry-pick random anecdotes I'll counter with multi-year waitlists for Hyundai EV9 despite being expensive and ineligible for the $7500 rebate.

>Hyundai EV9 despite not being expensive It starts at €70k. In what world is this not expensive? Maybe in Bay Area Fang wages.

I guess compared to other competing family EV-SUVs in the segment it's not too expensive. Come to think of it, there isn't any. The Rivian R1S comes close, but way more expensive and isn't really a family SUV. The EX90 is also more expensive and according to some it isn't even nearly premium.

Re: Toyota to invest $1.3B in Kentucky factory to build battery packs and new EV

#218

Post by otachack »

belltaco wrote: post #181
anonu wrote: post #10

Similarly, Hyundai building $8bn battery plant outside Savannah, Georgia: https://apnews.com/article/hyundai-georgia-electric-vehicle-...

At least Hyundai hasn't been faking emissions tests like Toyota. https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/commit... Not to mention spending a lot on lobbying against clean air regulations aroun the world https://thedriven.io/2023/05/11/toyota-under-fire-for-anti-c...

Hyundai did skimp out on standard anti-theft mechanisms which led to a significant number of car jackings upon discovery and viral share via TikTok.

https://www.forbes.com/wheels/news/kia-hyundai-car-thefts-se...

Every manufacturer has got a story at this point.

Re: Toyota to invest $1.3B in Kentucky factory to build battery packs and new EV

#219

Post by michaelmrose »

anonu wrote: post #193
downrightmike wrote: post #171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Its because the south is fairly young and impoverished, so cheaper to mfg there. Down vote, but that's the reason.

Savannah and Brunswick are huge car export ports because many manufacturing facilities are spread out between South Carolina and Georgia: Volvo, Mercedes, BMW, Honda, KIA to name a few. These ports are also the largest on the Eastern seaboard of the US. So access to shipping is probably one of the main reasons. Also major demographic shifts to the Southeastern part of the US help supply the labor pool. Georgia and So…

[flagged]

Re: Toyota to invest $1.3B in Kentucky factory to build battery packs and new EV

#220

Post by callalex »

tguvot wrote: post #209
WorldMaker wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That CNBC article points out one of the big sea changes in the fast recent jumps from a used car average of 3 years (for decades prior to ~2017) to 4 years (prior to 2019) to 6 years is a big change by rental car companies to hold rental fleets longer. The biggest sea change for rental companies over the last few years has been a switch to a higher balance of BEVs in their fleets. It certainly seems to me to be causa…

so, about market for tesla battery replacement: https://www.reddit.com/r/RealTesla/comments/1akc3bz/wifes_20...

Preface: I am not familiar with Tesla, they tend to do their own thing.

When my early-2000’s Prius battery died Toyota only offered a full swap out for $insane. However there were 4 different shops within cheap/free towing distance that would swap out individual failed battery cells for around 1k with a multi-year warranty. It is my understanding that most EV batteries are in the same boat. So, like many stories, I would not count this post against all EVs, just against stupid Teslas.

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