31–40 of 115 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
We’ve been driving them for over a decade now. They aren’t new anymore, and they still aren’t a panacea. There is this cool thing called car rental, it lets you use cars that aren’t your own.
There's also this thing called reading comprehension, I don't know where you can rent it, but sometimes it does help on online forums.
That's great, but the writing is still on the wall if Toyota doesn't get serious about electric cars. With their current trajectory Toyota is headed at 1000mph directly towards being the next Blackberry, Kodak, Nokia or Blockbuster. I say this as someone who owned a Prius for 10 years and loved it, and have also driven their hydrogen car. The BZ4X is badly named overpriced garbage, not enough and not good enough. The…
It seems they know what they are doing. Toyota is a very profitable car manufacturer, with profit in 2024 more than Tesla and Volkswagen combined. Unlike Nissan, the maker of the best selling EV of all time, who is struggling very hard.
Are current electronics (the consumer ones) good enough at scale to limit the time the round-trip car-key-car takes?
That's great, but the writing is still on the wall if Toyota doesn't get serious about electric cars. With their current trajectory Toyota is headed at 1000mph directly towards being the next Blackberry, Kodak, Nokia or Blockbuster. I say this as someone who owned a Prius for 10 years and loved it, and have also driven their hydrogen car. The BZ4X is badly named overpriced garbage, not enough and not good enough. The…
Japan can't build the batteries for BEV's at the necessary scale for global production. Yes China controls lithium but they also control some 95% of global battery grade graphite production, and anywhere from 60% to 90% production of manganese, cobalt, and nickle. Not to mention all of the components that those produce like the anodes and cathodes.
And the big problem with that is the Japanese genuinely fears there's going to be a war in the pacific. A big one. Fearful enough that Japanese government allocated $320 billion USD to be spent from 2024 to 2029 specifically to turn the JSDF into a proper military, and establish and sustain a new domestic military industrial complex.
The main flashpoint the Japanese are afraid of is a Chinese military attack on Taiwan, which leads two major possibilities. Either the US intervenes with the military, or it does not.
If the former, then China has to find a way to take away as many of the US Navy's advantages as they can. One of which is the major resupply facilities for the US 7th fleet in Yokosuka. Push comes to shove then I have little doubt that the Chinese will launch missiles into the Japanese harbors to deny the USN and JMSDF capability of repair and rearming via kinetic means. But I'm certain they'd prefer to pressure the Japanese into reducing or removing the US presence from Japanese docks.
Pressure like say being able to potentially cripple 10% of Japanese GDP that's in it's automotive sector if hypothetically Japan was dependent on Chinese exports of BEV batteries. Not exactly with precedent either; China tried to cut off Japan from rare earth metals once (admittedly that backfired on China) and China's recently put on export license restrictions on graphite.
Like it or not, the Japanese know it, the Chinese know it, and even the US is fully aware of it. The US is right now building new US navy bases in the Philippines just in case Japanese harbors become denied to the USN. Also why the Japanese are building up it's capability to strike not just far off Chinese naval assets but potentially into the Chinese mainland as well; the first an order for 500 US made Tomahawk missiles are already being installed right now on JMSDF destroyers.
On the other hands, if it's the former and the US chooses not to intervene... well it's gonna get very lonely for Japan out there all by itself.
You know the really sad part though? The Japanese were relenting a bit because they signed the US Japan Critical Minerals Agreement in 2023 which in effect promised no undue burden for the Japanese to get access to critical minerals. They just didn't dive head in because it was signed under the Biden administration.
Given the Trump administration's open hostility to BEV's, his erratic trade policies, and his open musing about withdrawing from mutual defense agreements (normally NATO but not a stretch to think he'd extend that to the Japanese US one as well I don't think they've made the wrong choice. Or rather more accurate that it's the least risky choice out of a bunch of awful choices.
That's great, but the writing is still on the wall if Toyota doesn't get serious about electric cars. With their current trajectory Toyota is headed at 1000mph directly towards being the next Blackberry, Kodak, Nokia or Blockbuster. I say this as someone who owned a Prius for 10 years and loved it, and have also driven their hydrogen car. The BZ4X is badly named overpriced garbage, not enough and not good enough. The…
Why make electric cars when you can bribe politicians to tax EVs and promote hybrids?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Really? I think Renault are on a roll at the moment. The Renault 4, Renault 5 and Megan seem really competitive. The new Nissan Leaf (made in UK) also looks pretty good. VAG seem to have lost the plot (“let’s replace all the controls with a small, janky touch system that leaks personal information to hackers”) but their ID.7 isn’t total crap. Comparing Renaults to the Chinese brands I’ve seen (MG and BYD) the Chinese…
ID.7 is the most sold EV model in EU so "not total crap" is an interesting definition. Other ID models are selling well too
That's great, but the writing is still on the wall if Toyota doesn't get serious about electric cars. With their current trajectory Toyota is headed at 1000mph directly towards being the next Blackberry, Kodak, Nokia or Blockbuster. I say this as someone who owned a Prius for 10 years and loved it, and have also driven their hydrogen car. The BZ4X is badly named overpriced garbage, not enough and not good enough. The…
Toyota won't build BEVs in scale, nor will most of the Japanese brands. They can't. Japan can't build the batteries for BEV's at the necessary scale for global production. Yes China controls lithium but they also control some 95% of global battery grade graphite production, and anywhere from 60% to 90% production of manganese, cobalt, and nickle. Not to mention all of the components that those produce like the anodes…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Really? I think Renault are on a roll at the moment. The Renault 4, Renault 5 and Megan seem really competitive. The new Nissan Leaf (made in UK) also looks pretty good. VAG seem to have lost the plot (“let’s replace all the controls with a small, janky touch system that leaks personal information to hackers”) but their ID.7 isn’t total crap. Comparing Renaults to the Chinese brands I’ve seen (MG and BYD) the Chinese…
I have a BYD Seal and it's by far the most luxurious and best quality car I've owned, and my previous car was a Mercedes. I don't know what you've tried, but it doesn't feel cheap at all
I view all cars as depreciating liabilities and so have little interest in buy either Seal or its Mercedes equivalent.