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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

#231

Post by rootusrootus »

KptMarchewa wrote: post #42
brandonagr2 wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What about Toyota's plans makes you think they will ever catch up to everyone else with EVs?

I think Toyota feels comfortable being a follower in that case and eventually use a large number of suppliers for the basic things that Tesla as a first mover has or wants to develop themselves.

That'll be an interest test -- the reason Tesla is so vertically integrated is because it allows them a greater profit margin. They've already been using that margin to slap around other manufacturers and force them to sell in the red.

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

#232

Post by DragonStrength »

michaelmrose wrote: post #219
anonu wrote: post #193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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]

It looks like your "wall" would line up with where most of the racist folks I've met in the South would choose to put it: where the old plantations used to be which are now mostly Black, rural, and poor.

I'll note CA has equally illiterate areas. It looks like it's the current agricultural centers, just like the South, so I guess you'll be pushing to have California pushed into the ocean once we're unable to grow crops there too and those workers are no longer useful to your wealthy area? Seems like you might be the type of thinking that got us in this problem originally.

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

#233

Post by LightBug1 »

ActorNightly wrote: post #159
brandonagr2 wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What about Toyota's plans makes you think they will ever catch up to everyone else with EVs?

I could walk in and buy Model Y any time I want. Not so with Rav 4 Prime. Plugin hybrids are the future.

Hah, try doing it via lease ... the supposed 'seamless' experience completely falls down ... I've just spent 5 months handholding a model 3 order, only for it to fall down at the end when Tesla tried to stiff our company for £3k.

Ended up leasing a BMW i5 because of the complete waste of time and hassle.

I'm glad it wasn't my car but, based on the experience, I wouldn't go near that joke of a company ever again. Lost a repeat customer too.

Takeaway: their staff listen more to their robot portal software than they do to rational customer experience.

And I know I'm p'ing in the wind ... but Tesla (in my experience) get way too much credit. I've had better experiences with conventional dealerships (and that's saying something considering how bad they are).

N=1

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

#234

Post by rootusrootus »

ActorNightly wrote: post #159
brandonagr2 wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What about Toyota's plans makes you think they will ever catch up to everyone else with EVs?

I could walk in and buy Model Y any time I want. Not so with Rav 4 Prime. Plugin hybrids are the future.

I tried for a while to score a RAV4 Prime. Dealers were assholes about it, they don't have waiting lists or anything like that. "Come by every morning to see if any show up. We sell them all within 15 minutes of arriving so we don't need you."

So I bought another Tesla. At this time the Toyota experience has left such a sour taste that I will probably not ever consider one of their products in the future. Other manufacturers have really stepped up their game anyway, so it's not like Toyota makes the only reliable car you can buy.

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

#235

Post by lvturner »

fnordpiglet wrote: post #81
lvturner wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Spawning? BYD was founded in 1995 and its automotive subsidiary 2003 (via aquisition)

BYD didn’t really differentiate itself until starting 2019, which is about a year after Tesla would have had to complete its forced technology transfer program to establish Tesla Shanghai. BYDs first new generation EV concept car in 2019, and production of the Seal and other major EV products (which looks like clones of Model 3s, etc) didn’t start in earnest until 2022. They changed their logo to be a stylistic copy…

Fully agreed - “enabled” or “spurred” would have been more appropriate word choices.

It’s not like BYD appeared out of thin air a few months after Tesla opened shop.

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

#236

Post by rootusrootus »

LightBug1 wrote: post #233
ActorNightly wrote: post #159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I could walk in and buy Model Y any time I want. Not so with Rav 4 Prime. Plugin hybrids are the future.

Hah, try doing it via lease ... the supposed 'seamless' experience completely falls down ... I've just spent 5 months handholding a model 3 order, only for it to fall down at the end when Tesla tried to stiff our company for £3k. Ended up leasing a BMW i5 because of the complete waste of time and hassle. I'm glad it wasn't my car but, based on the experience, I wouldn't go near that joke of a company ever again. Lost…

> I've had better experiences with conventional dealerships

I don't know how.

I've got dealing with conventional car dealers down to an art form, and it still isn't even remotely comparable.

To get a Tesla you order it online and then go in for an appointment to pick it up. Hand them the payment, they already have all the paperwork ready for signatures, they give you the key cards and offer to help you install the app. You accept delivery and drive home. If you want, you can easily be in and out in 15 minutes or less. And the delivery guy doesn't try to sell me anything. No extended warranty, nothing.

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

#237

Post by rootusrootus »

woobar wrote: post #177
stetrain wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This might be true cumulatively but certainly isn't true on an annual basis anymore. If Toyota were shipping the same battery capacity as Tesla they could make every car they sell globally a hybrid or plug-in hybrid and they are at about 30% of that.

You are assuming that 100% of Toyota customers want to buy EV vehicles.

How many EVs does Toyota sell each year? A few thousand or perhaps tens of thousands? It's at best a rounding error. Not something Toyota customers really have to worry about.

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

#238

Post by oblio »

dzhiurgis wrote: post #174
suoduandao3 wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I do believe that Tesla's success in the last decade was in large part due to the fact it was the only technology company that could use all the money people were throwing at technology companies.

Ummmm you might want to compare debt of VW, Toyota and Tesla

What's the trend?

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

#239

Post by recursive »

carabiner wrote: post #132
bryanlarsen wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The EV market was 30% larger in 2023 than 2022.

Lagging indicator. Hertz is dumping their Teslas and canceled their purchase of 65k Polestars.

Maybe EVs aren't good rental vehicles. This seems like it would be true, at least until public charging infrastructure catches up. And at the same time, maybe EV adoption is growing really fast. That also seems to be true, because the numbers say its true.

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

#240

Post by oblio »

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?

LOL. No EVs since the invention of Li Ion used lead acid. Lead acid just wasn't fit for a mass market car.
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