Toyota didn’t get to be the world’s largest automaker by not selling cars. It isn’t surprising, therefore, that Toyota is the only major car company that hasn’t “committed” – as it is styled – to building cars that most people don’t want to buy.
Those being electric cars.
It is neither here nor there whether you believe – exactly the right word – that it is necessary to “transition” to electric cars to stave off what is asserted to be an imminent – for the last several decades (Al Gore has grown gray and fat in the interval) – “climate crisis” if you cannot afford an electric car and/or cannot afford to waste your time (which is even more valuable than money) arranging your life around range-recharge.
Toyota recognizes these economic and practical realities. The rest of the industry acts as if they do not exist. This is like acting as if gravity does not exist when leaning over the edge of a steep cliff.
Gravity does not care whether you believe in it, of course.
Anyhow, while the rest of the industry is operating on the “if we build it, they will come” philosophy and probably hoping that the surge of outright bans on the sale of cars that aren’t electric by 2035 will force people to – somehow – buy what many do not want and most cannot afford, Toyota is quietly building more cars that people do want and can afford.
None of them electric.
One magnificently contrarian example of this being the 2023 Supra GR, which is a “ludicrously” speedy car with the emotional appeal that’s lacking in even the speediest electric cars – which get boring almost as speedily because there is little to do and almost nothing to hear. You push the button and it goes – like a high-speed elevator and just as emotionally involving.
The Supra is very involving – literally. Toyota offers it with a manual transmission, which requires your involvement. As well as skill. This makes driving the Supra emotionally involving and that causes people to desire it and cherish it.
Things few feel about electric cars or high-speed elevators.
It is particularly interesting that Toyota is offering the manual in the Supra because the Supra is a BMW Z4 under its Toyota-skin. Both cars share the same BMW-built engines. But BMW doesn’t offer a manual Z4. Perhaps because BMW has “committed” to the “transition” to electric cars – and a manual Z4 would be too much a draw away from electric high-speed elevators on wheels.
Toyota also has a souped-up GR version of the Corolla on deck – also with a manual – and for a bit more than half the price of a $35k “entry-level” electric car. With 100 percent more personality and so, emotional interest.
Toyota also hangs tough in terms of not nixing the V6 that is still available in the Camry sedan – which is one of just two new sedans in the mid-sized/family car class that still offers one. The other one that does being the Dodge Charger – which Dodge has already announced will be “transitioned” come 2024.
But where the rubber really hits the road is Toyota’s commitment to hybrids – vehicles that eliminate the EeeeeeeVeeeeee affordability and practicality problems by not costing that much more than an otherwise-similar non-electric car and by not forcing the owner of the thing to arrange his life – and his work – around range-recharge.
It is interesting – it is telling – that the forces pushing electric cars in the name of staving off the “imminent” “crisis” of the “climate” are uninterested in and even actively hostile toward hybrids, which are affordable and which do not suffer from the practicality problems that beset EeeeeeVeeees. You would think – if the motive of the people pushing EeeeeeeeeVeeees really is to stave off the “imminent” “crisis” they assert is going to kill us all if we don’t “transition” that they would be gangbusters boosting hybrids, precisely for that reason.
What good is a (supposedly) “zero emissions” electric car if nine out of ten people cannot afford – or cannot afford to deal with it? Wouldn’t a partially electric car – a hybrid – that is at the very least an almost-zero-emissions vehicle that nine out of ten people could afford and would want to buy because it does not require them to plan their lives around range-recharge be preferable? Would it not be a more effective way to salve the supposedly “imminent” “crisis”?
The question answers itself.
And that answers another question – about the actual motives of the people pushing the “transition” to EeeeeeeVeeeeees that nine out of ten people can’t afford and/or can’t afford to deal with.
Toyota appears to understand that. And – more – seems opposed to that. It is probably only because Toyota understands that it cannot make money by not selling cars. But that is a perfectly honorable motive.
It is interesting – in itself – that it has become exceptional for a businesses to be concerned primarily with making a profit, by offering people what they want to buy and can afford to buy. The trending thing seems to be to tell the “client” what he’ll buy – and pay.
Thank the Motor Gods for Toyota.
. . .
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Does Toyota build Tundras with a manual transmission?
Hi Peter,
Unfortunately, no – in fact, there isn’t a single new half-ton truck that offers a manual. Imagine that.
I was afraid that would be the answer. I drive a F-150 and would love if it had a manual transmission. thankfully my Z4M has a manual transmission
haha more EV fires….lol
Electric Vehicles Catching Fire After Hurricane ‘Not an Isolated Event’: Federal Traffic Safety Authority
EV’s worst abortion ever made….lol
Incidents of electric vehicles (EVs) catching fire after being submerged in saltwater are not uncommon, a federal traffic safety authority said.
an EV ignited and kept re-igniting after Hurricane Ian.
“I joined North Collier Fire Rescue to assess response activities related to Hurricane Ian and saw with my own eyes an EV continuously ignite, and continually reignite, as fireteams doused the vehicle with tens-of-thousands of gallons of water,” he wrote. “I was informed by the fire department that the vehicle, once again reignited when it was loaded onto the tow truck.”
“I am very concerned that we may have a ticking time bomb on our hands,” he added.
The fires—which are caused by the lithium-ion battery—can happen right after the vehicle was submerged in saltwater or “several weeks” after being submerged.
“There’s a ton of EVs disabled from Ian. As those batteries corrode, fires start. That’s a new challenge that our firefighters haven’t faced before,
https://www.theepochtimes.com/electric-vehicles-on-fire-after-hurricane-not-isolated-events-federal-traffic-safety-authority_4798600.html?utm_source=ai_recommender
Hey Eric, what is your take on what Koenigsegg is doing with ICE engines. Like this one, a 3 banger pushing out 600 horsey’s. He seems on board with electric but seems to think ICE still has a future too.
https://www.roadandtrack.com/new-cars/car-technology/a31451281/koenigsegg-gemera-engine-specs-analysis
In 2008, I was in the automotive industry working for a vendor of Toyota. When the gas prices spiked, people were scrambling to dump their big SUVs for Toyotas, especially Prius’. A Cadillac sales manager friend of mine said that people were bringing in their leased Escalades and handing over the keys a year-plus early (destroying their credit). He told me that people stopped paying on everything except their credit cards which is what they were living on, paying the minimum on 2-3 cards. The Toyota car lots were quickly emptied and they started importing cars from Japan again (most were made in the US at that time). The car lots were refilled, but the music soon stopped. Toyota’s storage lots were filled when the economy stopped. Fortunately for them it didn’t last long and they were able to move them before the next model year began. They, as you pointed out, were selling cars that people wanted. They got hybrid technology right the first time using NIMH batteries instead of LI-Ion batteries as they didn’t like the heat problems. I’ve never heard of a Prius battery fire have you? Car companies went from points ignition, to electronic with a distributor, to coil-over-plug types. A guess the progression will not be allowed with electrics?
What I think Toyota is doing (and Honda, Mazda, Subaru, et.al.) is wise and reasoned.
It is often the case that first to market is last in the marketplace. The big Japanese players are letting Tesla, Rivian, GM, Ford, what used to be Chrysler, etc. do the heavy lifting and taking the risks (and the hits) with R&D trial and error.
Japanese car companies have historically done this sort of thing for more than 50 years—and have been wildly successful.
At the very least, they’re waiting to see how the whole EV thing plays out over the next several years before deciding to jump in. It may very well be that EVs are indeed a “bubble” and that the technology won’t be ready for prime time for at least the next decade—if ever. At most, Japanese car companies must know that EVs really won’t supplant IC on any significant scale, and thus are niche products best left to niche companies, not mass products for the mass market.
Hybrids, particularly electric-dominant hybrids in which the electric motor, not the IC engine, actually turns the wheels, actually make sense and they work. You have the electric option for when it makes sense, and the IC option for when it makes sense. You have no range limits or need for special chargers. You can refuel in 5 minutes at any gas station and plug in where there’s a plug. Your gas tank can carry you for months in some cases.
Those things make sense if you actually want to conserve energy—plus diversify your energy sources. Which is why Japanese car companies are focused on building hybrids instead of EVs.
Thanks to President Brandon and his Regime’s obsessive war on traditional fuels and SHOVING “Green energy” down everyone’s throats, this country is virtually guaranteed to fall…….
https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/markets-by-sector/energy/biden-has-ensured-the-fall-of-the-usa/
An electric vehicle (EV) owner who takes road trips between Cheyenne and Casper in Wyoming has revealed that his first trip of 178 miles took a staggering 15 hours to complete in his electric Nissan Leaf.
https://www.breitbart.com/tech/2022/10/18/electric-nightmare-ev-owner-details-15-hour-nightmare-trek-in-wyoming/
Horst,
With all these stories people have told about their experience with EeeeeeeeeVeeeeees, what are the odds that that’s the next thing social media will try to censor for “Misinformation” like they did with practically anyone who suffered an injury from the COVID vaxx and tried telling their story on social media? The various narratives involving the vaxxes started crumbling when there were sooooooooo many people with stories to tell about those vaxxes, and the narratives involving electric cars will inevitably start to crumble as well if stories like what we’ve seen in that Breitbart piece and elsewhere keep coming out, but I suspect these globalists and bureaucrats will double, triple, or even quadruple down on attempting to SHOVE this crap down the masses’ throats before their narratives collapse completely.
There is tons of advertising on social media promotimg EV’s, wind turbines, solar installations and huge storage batteries, they have all been catching fire…lol….
if you respond and post information against this crappy technology you are attacked by many trolls, bots, shills, etc., it is a war out there…..at least they aren’t banning these responces yet, they probably will….
the bat germ narrative is a different story…..you can’t say one word against that narrative or you will be banned immediately….lol
The EV movement is purely based on government mandates, not market principles and forces or normal supply/demand equations. Therefore, it is doomed to fail big time. Government is always too stupid to understand much of anything beyond creating wars and public disasters because the idiots in government are the dregs of society. They are agenda controlled and therefore brain dead to all reality…including gravity and human nature.
Can’t wait for it to fail, and the chips to fall where they may.
Those who sold out slit their own throats, and those who resisted will be left standing when the dust settles
The CDC is going to vote on adding the COVID vaxes to the childhood vaccination schedule. This is because the existing vaxes are under an emergency use authorization. Under emergency use authorization, the pharmaceutical companies have immunity from liability. When the emergency use authorization expires, the COVID vaxes will no longer have immunity from liability. To this this “problem”, they will be added to the childhood vaccination schedule. Apparently, any vaccines under this schedule are automatically immune from liability.
https://www.lewrockwell.com/lrc-blog/cdc-to-vote-thursday-to-require-covid-shots-for-kids/
Hi Martin,
How is it allowable to make a “vaccine” under the EUA a required shot? This defies logic. We are the only country pushing this jab for those under 18 years of age. Even European countries are only persuading older adults. The high possibility of myocarditis (especially for young men) makes the entire experiment dangerous. We know that the MRNA shots have an effective immunity of about 3 to 4 months. Do the kids get them every 4 months?
If there was an ever issue to pull one’s child out of the public school indoctrination camps this is it. I pray that parents will fight this. This is absolutely insane.
RG,
It’s “allowable” because it is, per Bill Gates, in both word and deed, the best way to dispose of “excess” population. A whole generation of sterility. If they live through the vaccine.
“to pull one’s child out of public school”, the “education” from which is the very reason it IS allowable.
Hi John,
Here in VA (and probably the rest of the nation) even homeschooled and private school students are required to follow the vaccine schedule. The luxury of homeschooling is there really is no one policing the issue. It is unlikely either of mine will be able to attend college because they are missing so many of them. My daughter wants to be a veterinarian. I haven’t done any research yet, but I bet the list of jabs is a mile long.
RG,
If they aren’t policing it, it’s not required. There are many laws on the books that aren’t enforced, at all. Which is the state’s luxury of having an overabundance of “laws”, in that it can selectively enforce them.
Hopefully, in your daughter’s case, time will be her ally, and much of this equine excrement will be disposed of by the time she needs to go to “college”. If by then she even needs to go to an “accredited” school. Hell, we may end up with something real. Where one does not need a license to work for a living. It certainly isn’t playing out well in the medical industry.
The entire extended time it took to get my recent degree they kept telling me I “need” some shots. Either they or I don’t understand what “need” means.
Mentioning Bill Gates, John.
I thought this was an interesting article. It looks like Gates has his hands in everybody’s pie. Next month’s takeover of the House by the Republican Party seems to be a continuation of the current political party. Nothing will change because they are all owned by the same donors.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2022/09/exclusive-bill-gates-bought-republican-wave-2022-full-list-congressional-republicans-funded-gates/
Note: I did not see Rand Paul or Thomas Masie anywhere on the list. 🙂
It is time to clean house America…all of it.
This country is now virtually guaranteed to fall thanks to President Brandon and his Regime’s obsession with ending traditional forms of energy and SHOVING Green energy down everyone’s throats……
https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/markets-by-sector/energy/biden-has-ensured-the-fall-of-the-usa/
“We know that the MRNA shots have an effective immunity of about 3 to 4 months.”
We do? That’s what they say, but who believes what they say.
Yes, homeschool is the responsible choice for any parents these days.
We’ve largely kept our three kids from getting any “vaccines” to date. Our oldest, 21, got some thru when he was about 8, the second ’til 5 or so, and the third hardly any if any at all. We’ve been incredibly healthy and a whole lot healthier than most people that we know.
In fact, we haven’t had the flu in our family in now in 167 man-years combined. We credit that to the avoidance of any flu “shots,” and notice that they call them “shots,” not “vaccines.”
Anyway, it’ll be a cold day before I let anyone in our family get injected with anything that sponsored by, endorsed by, coerced by, etc. the government(s). My son was coerced into two rounds at VA Tech with president Tim Sands being a coward and mandating them only for students, not for the admin/staff. He and VA Tech blather on about leadership, well they shot themselves in the foot over that one! No leadership to be found anywhere, only dictatorial edicts.
Anyway, I’m digressing and ranting! Hang in there!!
Big pharma never requires any logic to pedal its drug and vaccine poisons. All it takes are lies, propaganda, faked trials. fudged data and a willing public too lazy to question much of anything.
Hi RG,
Apparently, Pfizer wants to start selling the fda approved version of the jab, Comirnaty, rather than the emergency approved version of the jab. However, the fda approved version is not shielded from liability. Presumably, the government will not be able to maintain the fake state of emergency indefinitely. By placing the covid jabs as part of the childhood vaccine schedule, they will have permanent shielding from liability.
So children must be jabbed with these potentially lethal “vaccines” in order to protect Pfizer and Moderna from ever being sued for all of the people who have died or suffered serious health consequences from the jabs. If a bunch of children die or suffer permanent heart damage or cancer or sterility as a result of the jabs, it is “worth it” so that Pfizer and Moderna will never have to pay out any money to those they have injured or killed.
“We know that the MRNA shots have an effective immunity of about 3 to 4 months.”
Where do you get that “we” business? As for me, I know that MRNA shots offer no immunity whatsoever. They aren’t even designed to make anyone immune to anything. Maybe you watch too much TV if you think that we know any such thing
Not only immune from liability, but then required for children. I put in a detailed comment last night referencing VAERS, NIH, CDC, etc.
I am standing up for my children and future grandchildren, come what may.
and there are over 31,000 comments thus far, but only about 1,300 can be seen by the public. Mine isn’t visible. I wonder why?
Anon,
My suspicion is that most of the comments are hidden because they’re AGAINST the CDC adding the COVID “vaccines” to the childhood vaccination schedule. If they actually go through with adding those vaxxes to the childhood vaccination schedule, the manufacturers of those vaxxes will be permanently immune from being sued for any injuries from their concoction, and it would also be more proof that the CDC is looking out for the interests of Big Pharma instead of “Public Health”.
And yet, various public health bureaucrats are STILL pushing for people to get themselves and their children vaxxed (and getting the new bivalent booster if they’re eligible) despite the narratives about the vaxxes continuing to crumble, and the dreaded original ‘Rona having a survival rate of 99 point some percent for people under 70 years of age, and the OMICRON variant having symptoms similar to that of a Common Cold.
Two of the guys in our trail crew, both of whom currently drive Toyota RAV4 hybrids, have reserved Aptera solar vehicles.
https://aptera.us/reserve/
One of them, a retired aerospace engineer, thinks he won’t need to plug in it at all (thanks to the solar panels) just for bopping around town. Having seen product development cycles, he admits that the Aptera may never enter production at all. But it costs only $100 to reserve one — obviously a teaser price to maximize pre-reservations and suck in punters to invest $1,000 minimum in its non-traded shares.
I’m deeply skeptical that solar panels of such limited size can produce a meaningful amount of power. Enough to run the infotainment system and charge your phone, sure, but not enough to make a dent in propulsion demands, even at high noon on the downhill highway to Phoenix.
But EeeVee Fever is strong, and peeps wanna believe in the solar-electric magick of “Biden’s” brave new world.
Jim, I’m wondering the same thing about our neighbors’ decision to spend a fortune installing solar panels at their home, in part to charge their new Bolt “for free.” It’s reported that a 12-hour charge at 120 volts only gives you 48 miles, so how can a few photovoltaic cells get you much farther than the mailbox?
Coming home one night from Payson (that road always reminds me of Speed Racer) I put her in neutral and just rolled, mile after mile, and by the bottom my “miles to empty” read 1235.
Sorry, don’t have an mpg estimate.
These Climate Change zealots have gotten ever more brazen and insane. A woman in London has had enough of their craziness……..
https://www.wnd.com/2022/10/watch-fed-woman-brilliantly-destroys-eco-terrorist-blocking-traffic/
Oh, my gosh, I am steaming right now.
I actually just visited with a new client. One of my rules with clients is not to talk politics. I stay away from it. I have only had one client and I ever get into it (he a proud socialist). He made a remark about how guns should be banned; at that point we were off to the races.
Well, today, we can add two. I just had a proud Biden supporter walk through my door. She threw down the gauntlet first. I just picked it up. I would have never pegged this lady as a firm Democrat, but damn if she wasn’t. I now wonder what kind of clients I have among the mist. 😉
It started with how Biden was trying to do so much and how the mean Republicans (all of a sudden, they became MAGAs by her definition) were trying to destroy him. Honestly, I didn’t think anyone was supporting Uncle Joe. I could not believe what I was hearing. I couldn’t stop myself…. words just started spewing from my mouth. When the topic turned to Ukraine – I am against sending any aid to them and believe they are as corrupt as any other government in the world (if not more so) it got tense. I got hammered with “you are a conspiracy theorist” at times, but I held my own. I didn’t call names. I didn’t have to… I knew facts to which I gladly shared. The most fun was the MRNA jab. I think she was surprised that I knew as much as I did about the topic. The client actually stated she had to leave and actually said, “this was a very good debate.” The debate ended at that point.
I am still shaking my head. I am astounded that many in the country believe we are doing well when all of the facts show we are not and to defend a man who is undefendable I am still aghast.
Morning RG!
Is she still a client?
“I am still shaking my head.” That’s all I’ve been doing for almost three years now. At least 90 percent of the people in the world seem to have lost their minds. There is no reasoning with them and they are eager to believe the unbelievable, like that masks and fake vaccines work and that a pathetic doddering old man is an eloquent statesman (there has been no better example in my lifetime of the emperor having no clothes).
It can’t be that they are all stupid. If that were so, then how could we have so many amazing and beneficial inventions all around us, from automobiles to cataract surgery? A society of stupid people doesn’t create things like that.
Mass formation is the only answer that makes sense. With modern communication, it has become easier than ever to hypnotize large numbers of people by manufacturing a crisis and then pounding them with a narrative 24/7. And they have been bamboozled into believing that any issue that is important must be settled through politics and the result then forced on everybody. Heaven help us.
It is not surprising that Biden and his flunkies have fixated on the MAGA label. It sounds a lot like “maggot.” If not for the repulsive imagery that the acronym conjures up when spoken, it would be just another boring campaign-hat slogan.
“It is not surprising that Biden and his flunkies have fixated on the MAGA label. It sounds a lot like “maggot.” If not for the repulsive imagery that the acronym conjures up when spoken, it would be just another boring campaign-hat slogan.”
Roland, I believe a lot of liberal douchebags use to the term MAGAt. In fact, I just saw that lovely cherub Patton Oswalt use the term in a tweet. I only saw it on a YT video, I think it was one where someone showed Lauren Boebert mocking Biden’s ‘two words’ gaffe.
Either way, never underestimate how blind and stupid even smart people can be.
Lo, what fools these mortals be.
at that point we were off to the races.
LMAO
Well, don’t worry, pretty soon the priorities of every American are going to change drastically. My parents told me stories about going thru WWII as German citizens and in particularly towards the end and after the war when food, coal/energy, etc. was scarce. It’s amazing how circumtances can recalibrate a society.
If there’s any silver lining to the horrors that await us, it’s in watching what are your clients and the minions like them, scurry and scamper during that time with their defunct noodles trying to piece together “what just happened” while all of the people that they currently support run roughshod over them in the grandest of entirely ungrateful demeanors. LOL
Keep the faith!! Be sure to be within the “camp of the saints.” Life is short, eternity is long.
re: Raider Girl October 18, 2022 At 5:52 pm
Think about school.
“smart” people repeat what authority says.
The problem is that most people are lazy. They outsource thinking and research to authorities, experts, media, etc. Then they apply the school conditioning. They are “smart” because they repeat what teacher says.
This is why it is so draining for those of us that think for ourselves.
If authority was correct then why is that those of us who think for ourselves arrive at such similar conclusions, at least about where the problems come from, independently coming from different angles and predispositions?
There’s only one real divide. Those who repeat what authorities say and those who do for themselves.
The big divide within the left especially is between those who are with the establishment and those who think for themselves. The later see right though Biden et al.
So I keep coming back to it, we have to get the schools back. That’s the root of it. While this authority problem did exist before schools were transformed it wasn’t as bad and could often be held in check.
BrentP: The lack of curiosity is what astounds me. Every parent has seen that stage in kids when everything you say to them is met with “Why?” Job One for the government schools is to beat that instinct out of them, pronto.
They are succeeding, Roland. My youngest has recently joined 4-H. The difference between her (and the other 3 children that are home schooled in her club) is night and day from those in the public school sector. The home schooled kids are engaged. They ask questions. They answer questions. They are not afraid to take charge. Even my husband made a comment about it. The public school kids have no desire to hold any positions of authority (e.g. officers of the club). Guess who volunteered themselves to take over? Every single one of the four home schooled kids.
I was worried on how bad I screwed up my kids being the lenient, unschooled method, home schooled mother that I am. Were my kids going to be able to make it in today’s world? Maybe my kids are not as knowledgeable or as social as the public school kids. After last month’s meeting which showed me the stark differences between them and their peers – I am not worried.
Hi Brent,
I agree with everything you have said, but very much like the allopathic medical institutions the indoctrinated school institutions have to be annihilated. I don’t see how we are able to save them. The only way they can be destroyed is take the power away from the DoEd and the teacher unions. Parents will have to make huge sacrifices. Good teachers need to leave the public sector and become private. Can we even save the current generation making their way through the school system? When the focus is on gender reassignment surgery and drag queen reading time I see years of regret, remorse, and therapy involved for today’s children.
That’s the stunning part. They walk in and assume you agree with their opinions and want to hear them.
“Biden is just terrific!”
Would you like fries with that, M’am?
At the rate we’re going, we’re going to need Toyotas all right — HiLuxes with a bunch of hairy guys riding in the back toting AKs.
Seems that they’re the only people to have successfully stood up to the government bullshit lately…
I would love to have one of those Toyota pickups that all the ragheads drive around in. The roads around here are probably in worse shape than over there in North Africa; probably would drive as well in the snow as they do in sand 😆.
Compliance is violence!
>BMW doesn’t offer a manual Z4.
However, the 2023 comes standard with a six speed manual.
AT is an extra cost option.
https://www.caranddriver.com/bmw/m2
Meanwhile, I believe Toyota is the only mass market manufacturer with a functioning hydrogen fuel cell powered vehicle on the market (though limited availability). So, Toyota is hedging their bets more ways than one (and who knows what might be “confidential” in Toyota’s research labs?)
‘However, the 2023 [M2] comes standard with a six speed manual.’ — Adi Heidler
Thanks; hadn’t thought about the M2 as an alternative to the automatic-only Z4.
I’d consider it if they would excise the butt-ugly 14.9-inch touchscreen, growing like a tumor in the center of the dashboard.
Not in the market for Tesla lookalike.
The Biden Regime has an idea for “Dealing with climate change” that sounds like something Bill Gates concocted…….
https://www.technocracy.news/chemtrails-white-house-openly-exploring-ways-to-cool-earth-by-reflecting-back-sunlight/
I read about that. Blocking the sun is one of their most insane ideas yet. Its unbelievable that any government would be even considering doing this. Real Dr. Evil stuff.
Good on Toyota. The Asians I’ve worked with are all too autistic dealing with the west, ie focused on facts and nothing else, to believe in globohomo warming. They’re just like “it’s the same as it always was.” (if their own rulers tell them some bullshit, like covid is the scariest thing ever, they eat that up)
Anyway, a small win is still a win. Can’t wait for Toyota, the most benign and bland company ever, to be vilified in Jew media with stories like:
“former workers recount horrendous working conditions in Toyota factory”…
“ex staffers recall with sorrow the sexisracistransphobanism they experienced by Toyota execs”…
“how Toyota cheated its customers suppliers and regulators to the top”…
“Toyota ignored defect in engine putting millions of customers at risk of death”…
“Exasperated Toyota customers pleaded for changes to vehicles, ignored by high level execs”…
“Why toyotas aren’t as reliable as you think…”
All the same, all so tiring, so boring and fake, gay and retarded
LOL
Patton Oswalt = Ugly, talentless j oo dwarf.
If they would make the hybrid with a small gas motor, an easily fixable battery (cells that can be plugged in like a circuit breaker panel) then you would have something.
and the Prius doesn’t have a stick shift, and my antiquidated geo metro still beats it’s hybrid drive system (because the car weighs and extra 1,400 lbs and has a 4 cylinder 1.5 liter)
Prius weight 3,080 lbs
Geo Metro weight 1680 lbs
——————————
net weight diff 1400 lbs
(that is a lot of extra weight)
But what if you had a 1.0 liter 6 spd manual with electric assist?
And this car got 70-80 mpg?
And weighed less than 2,000 lbs?
The you would have something worth a shit.
Hi Jack,
I wish – wish – I had bought a Metro when I could have, years ago, for essentially the cost of a weekend at the beach. I have driven them and they’re fun to drive, in that the experience requires involvement, ebbing and flowing with the traffic and anticipating it. With a six speed and some tuning, I bet one could get 60 MPG out of one…
WAAAAY back when in pizza-schlepping days for the great Round Table Pizza, about twenty years ago (not a bad side gig), I had a driver who had a Geo Metro with the three-banger and five-speed stick. He rigged an exhaust bypass, a sort of “Lakes pipe” for it, and you could hear his little buzz bomb about a block before he pulled into the store! But that Metro got over 50 mpg around town, back when we were having a conniption fit about gas hitting $2/gallon. Who knew?
I’ve also had a Ford Festiva, a little ’88 (Korean-made job, I think), and it was a perfect commuter. After about four years, couldn’t figure out how to get it to “get pass the Dragon”, or “Pass Smaug” (Smog), was getting re-married (what a MISTAKE that was!), so I sold it to an associate for cheap that could register it where it didn’t have to have a smog check. Had two Mopars (’86 Dodge Aries and ’91 Chrysler 5th Avenue, they’re all gone now, and I miss ’em all…) and my bride had her ’99 Ford “Prostitute” (Escort) with about 40 payments left, so, something had to go. Damn fun little car, that Festiva was!
I don’t know about “fun to drive”, the (only) reason anyone drives a metro is to minimize fuel purchase. When I bought my first one, the gal said it got 52 mpg and I did not believe her, so I paid her $800 and filled up the tank and drove it all over north Idaho and it got exactly 52 mpg. I could NOT believe it because I had owned several small cars, like 1980s Civics and could NEVER get more than 42 mpg.
But 60 mpg is very attainable in a Geo Metro if you have the 1.0 liter engine with the 5 speed (the 4 cylinder version, or the automatic transmission ones get significantly less mpg). My current 4 door hatchback gets 52 mpg +/- on a regular basis, the highest I ever got doing hypermiling (never going above 40 mph in 5th gear) I got 74 mpg.
This chart is dead on:
https://metrompg.com/posts/photos/mpg-vs-speed-chart-z.gif
What that chart proves is that air drag is very significant at highway speeds. So if you study that chart, you WILL get 60 mpg in a geo metro if you slow down to 50 mph.
60 mpg is amazing when you think about it, for one thing to get that kind of fuel economy in a new car you must buy a $25,000 hybrid, no ICE engine gets that except the metro (or the 1984 Honda CRX):
http://smclassiccars.com/honda/361919-gorgeous-66k-actual-mile-1984-honda-crx-sport-coupe-ac-at-nice-.html
https://afdc.energy.gov/files/pdfs/1984_feg.pdf
I am on my 9th metro, and two of them consistently got over 60 mpg if I drove conservatively (no massive accelerations, coasting with engine off on hills). So 60 mpg is not shangri-la pie in the sky goal. It is very attainable in a 1990s era car.
https://metrompg.com/posts/99-mpg-metro-green-grand-prix.htm
And then there is the infamous and coveted Geo Metro XFI model, only built in the early years, and never more than 10% of the sales, so it is rare and hard to come by when fuel prices are high. It comes with only 2 piston rings, a special cam, and no passenger mirror, and its mpg is even better! It was rated by the EPA as 53 city, 58 highway:
https://offerup.com/item/detail/871843917
So with improvements, 70 mpg should be attainable, and maybe 80 mpg if it was a hybrid. For one thing, the best way to get the freeway mpg up is to lower the drag coefficient and increase the tire pressure, and that is very possible as there has been a steady improvement in lowering CdA (the drag area). I am sure the engineers who design electric cars really push CdA down as much as possible.
Find your cars CdA on this list:
https://ecomodder.com/wiki/Vehicle_Coefficient_of_Drag_List
So Eric here is the bottom line reality, I am driving a 1992 car that I paid $500 and it gets better fuel economy than a hybrid Civic, or a Prius which costs magnitudes more. And the hybrid has a battery that when expired costs $4000+ to replace.
Which is why no Toyota dealer will touch a used Prius. The dealer will not pay for a trade in Prius. The battery is a liability.
The Geo Metro, is therefore, the most “green” car ever produced. And everyone hates it, it is made a joke in movies. But I can buy any part I want for cheap, even on Amazon, and keep it running forever.
But fun to drive? LOL Not a chick mobile either. LOL My wife refuses to even get in it.
I am a Michigan native. A car guy from a car family. I have never had a none GM, Ford, Chrysler or AMC, (I owned a Gremlin in the 70’s, actually loved the car, til I wrecked it, manual tranny). I looked at your review of the Subaru Crosstrek one of few offering a manual. I bought one a 2023 Crosstrek with the 6 speed manual Tranny. 27K. Will get it in February. Only orders for the manual. I figure at worst it has a decent resale and the tranny has to be more repairable than the current crop of CVT’s and super # gear auto’s.
Hi Ugg,
I think you’ll like the Crosstrek! My sister recently ordered one, too (Jan. delivery). I think you’ll especially like that the EyeSight “safety” system is deleted with the manual!
Yukon Jack, I always thought similar, changeable batteries, either at a quick change station or even as you mentioned would work to at least make them somewhat palatable. But as we all know, this is not about ‘better’ vehicles.
Yes, they should make the hybrid battery easy to fix, and not at the cost of the whole damn thing. When rechargeable batteries go out, it is always the ones who are getting the charge first. Thus not all need to be replaced and, in fact, used Prius batteries are salvaged for the good cells.
Visualize your home’s electrical panel with only the circuit breakers and no wires. Now imagine lithium battery cells, in a box, that plug in just like a circuit breaker. To get them out you pry with a screwdriver, to put them in, you just press them in. NO BOLTS.
I am damn sure Henry Ford would of designed it that way.
IMO, he car companies are run by very stupid people. They don’t have a clue what we need or want.
What if the ice was single speed with no fancy transmission and was there only to generate electricity?
Yukon Jack,
They already had it. First generation honda insight. 70 mpg. Manual equipped. Small battery pack. Light as hell with an aluminum body.
I believe Honda also has largely bet on hybrids.
Every now and then the Enviros talk about the Carbon Footprint and such. They apply this to the entirety of a product. Hence, once the EeeeeeeeVeeeeee takes over they will suddenly find that, “Gosh, just look at all that cobalt and mining and stuff that goes into an EeeeeeeeeVeeeeee! Gotta ban that right NOW.”
This assumes that a total collapse of Western Civ doesn’t shove us back from the 21st century to the 12th.
Akio Toyoda, the grandson of the founder, is a car guy, has raced and is responsible for Toyota going from ho-hum appliances to more involving.
https://s3mag.com/toyota-stands-up-to-ev-pressure/.
Can’t wait to see whatcha think of the GR Corolla Eric.
Side note, anyone see this EV push dying out one day and those who resisted still standing vs those who sold out?
Now the professional studiers (who say, of course, that more study is needed) warn that winds are “stilling” – because climate change. Among the claims is that “Slower winds make it harder for planes to take off.” News to me.
What is availability like? Would I be waiting an eternity for a new Corolla hybrid?
Answer from local Toyota dealer: Four to six months, and no hybrids available to test drive.
That’s great news. Hopefully Honda has the ability to make enough cars to keep the refineries in business. And whether the holdout works is entirely dependent on the belief that governments are not powerful enough to regulate gas stations out of business. Regardless of whether EVs are a good idea, if there are chargers every off-ramp, but you have to find a black market seller to refill your IC…
GM earnings are coming up next Tuesday (25th). You can’t trust mainstream analysts because they, more than anything else, try to steer the market with their opinions. So it’s hard to say whether or not they’re going to feel the pain of their unwise decisions… yet. I think maybe it’s too soon.
Ford earnings report will be on the following day (26th).
Personally, though I have no stake in either, I think they’ll still have rosy sounding reports and will be propped up by “investors” that are trying to keep the faith. That can’t go on forever though.
EeeVee Feeeeeever jumps the shark:
It’s official, Rolls-Royce is going all-electric by 2030. To kick things off it has unveiled the much-anticipated Spectre, the world’s first “Ultra-Luxury Electric Super Coupé.”
https://hypebeast.com/2022/10/rolls-royce-spectre-official-look-reveal-electric-car-ev-british-luxury
Pricing is not mentioned, but presumably around $500,000 (if you have to ask, you can’t afford it). This will go over in Britain’s collapsing eclownomy like V-16s did in 1932.
Twenty renderings accompanying the linked article show that the Spectre would be a rather sexy vehicle … if it only had a silky-smooth V12 up front.
‘A spectre is haunting Europe.‘ — Karl Marx
Hi Jim,
I can’t help but asking, but what do these companies know that the rest of us don’t? Several of us here are business owners – would any of us take the chance of converting 100% of our businesses to a product that doesn’t look at all promising, especially since we already have a successful product. I can understand a new business coming in and taking a chance or an older business dabbing their toes into something new. Times change and people change, and one must stay ahead of the trend to remain prosperous, but to go all in when the reports don’t show an outlier for expansion or potential growth. Seems very risky to me. Does a 100-year-old company bet their bottom dollar on this?
I just hope GM, Ford, Rolls Royce, Dodge, etc. realize what they are doing because if proven to be unsuccessful these companies’ failures that can only be redeemed in the court of bankruptcy. I just hope the American taxpayer does not have to pick up the pieces.
What these ‘companies’ know is that they’ll get a big fat bonus check and retire set for life.
Bravo to Toyota for not drinking the koolaid and committing hari kari like the rest of the lemming auto makers. 2 of my 3 cars are already Toyotas and it may be all I buy going forward.
‘the surge of outright bans on the sale of cars that aren’t electric by 2035’ — eric
Today the NY Slimes admits that R-party gubernatorial candidate Lee Zeldin is catching up to D-party incumbent Mortitia ‘Ho’chul, who boasted that ‘When it comes to fighting climate change and supporting clean transportation, we’re putting the pedal to the metal.’
https://twitter.com/GovKathyHochul/status/1575853642556768256
‘Ho’chul’s New York joined Commiefornia in banning ICE vehicle sales after 2035. Whereas Zeldin wants to end NY’s fracking ban to produce more natgas, and has little interest in EeeVees.
Shitcan this bitch.
It is a dream, Jim. New York loves the Dems position on high crime and even higher taxation. I would love to see Zeldin take a “come from behind” victory, but at the end of the day it is still New York, and they only vote blue.
Eric,
Isn’t Mazda still mostly building ICEVs too? What about Subaru? I’m not aware of their plans to electrify their cars, either.
It’s interesting that Toyota has an interest in both Mazda and Subaru. Those are also cars I’ll consider.
Hi Mark,
Yes. Subaru isn’t going along, either. The more the better!
The more, the better indeed! I guess my next car will be from a Japanese marque. While I’d like to see EVs succeed; while I might like to own one; they’re not ready for prime time; and they’re not affordable-especially for a retiree…
‘Toyota recognizes these economic and practical realities.’ — eric
Consistent with Japan’s deeply-ingrained “export or die” mentality, Toyota serves auto markets worldwide. Although it can’t match the rich countries’ buying power, the developing world has several times the population … and ZERO interest in crippling its future with impractical, unaffordable vehicles.
Already struggling with debt, oil import bills, and unreliable power grids, emerging markets aren’t about to borrow trillions of dollars more for ‘electrification’ and charging stations. Some of them (Egypt, as a poster-child example) can barely feed their people with subsidized bread. But the rich West impudently advises to let their peasants eat nonexistent cake. Baka! as they say in Japanese (translates to ¡loco! in Spanish).
Imagine bearded, turbaned militants in the middle eastern deserts, exchanging their near-bulletproof Toyota Hilux pickups for effete Rivians because Al Gore told them to. It is to laugh, comrades!
EeeVee Fever could turn out to be an ephemeral Bubble phenomenon — either because buying power evaporates as asset prices collapse, or because the Ice Age recommences its remorseless advance as this brief, long-in-the-tooth interglacial period succumbs to the secular climate cycle known to everyone but cockamamie “scientists” with PhDeeeeeees in obscurantism.
Long firewood; short EeeVees.
I pray that Toyota can withstand the onslaught from the Psychopaths In Charge.
How surreal, that a car company that sees the reality of the market is an exception. A lone exception. For the rest of the car market, delusion is seen as the proper path forward.
There is nothing remotely green about EVs, unless the desired effect of getting people out of their cars is realized. Car makers pretend that isn’t the case, or the goal, and they can continue to make money from people no longer driving, except for Toyota.
I fully expect, and surprised it hasn’t yet happened, that Toyota will be singled out and vilified to no end by those psychopaths. Much like what happened to VW, on steroids. The banks, being a de facto arm of government, may get involved, again, and refuse to lend money to buy one.
‘I fully expect, and surprised it hasn’t yet happened, that Toyota will be singled out and vilified.’ — John Kable
That ship’s already sailed, John. Check out this essay titled “Toyota’s Green Image Isn’t What You Think. For One, Where Are The Electric Vehicles?” by Katherine García-Loco:
https://www.sierraclub.org/articles/2022/08/toyotas-green-image-isnt-what-you-think-for-one-where-are-electric-vehicles
Now that ain’t workin’ that’s the way you do it
You plug the charger in your new EeeVee
That ain’t workin’, that’s the way you do it
Electrons for nothin’ and virtue for free
— Dire Straits, Money for Nothing
Jim,
I was thinking more along the lines of the Psychopaths In Charge going after Toyota, instead of the Sierra Club, which I proceeded to ignore decades ago. Time will tell, but that time is not here yet.
Walking across campus one day I got buttonholed by youngster. He wanted to run for city council or something. Would I sign his petition cuz running requires names? Of course I would. If they’re going to claim democracy then they have no business withholding participation. The practice is vile. Let the kid run.
As I was taking his clipboard I happened to ask, out of idle curiosity, what his interests were, what planks in his platform, what issues he thought important?
“Well, I pretty much support anything advocated by the Sierra Club.” Such as…? “Well, I’m in favor of their stances on the environment and the like.” Are there any in particular you think stand out? “I pretty much flavor all Sierra Club goals.
I didn’t sign.
Oh my, gosh, Gruhn. This is what scares me with today’s youth (and many adults). They have no idea what they are supporting or voting for. If someone wishes to side with the Democrats or Republicans, fine, but understand what you are electing. They have to know the issues and how it is going to affect them. So many people join, elect, and associate with people and establishments without realizing why they are doing it. This person’s name has a R next to it so I will pull the lever, or this person says they are Democrat so I will support them. Sad times we are living in. It is amazing what people could learn if they were willing to take 30 minutes to research the issues and institutions.
Hi John,
I don’t believe any of the Japanese auto makers are going fully electric. Honda is introducing two EVs, but this is only because of their partnership with GM. I put a great amount of faith in Japan. I would be willing to bet that Toyota and Honda may be the last men standing by the time this whole debacle takes place. For some reason the US government and US corporations are intent on bankrupting themselves, as well as her citizens.
I think/hope Honda is hedging it’s bets, rather than going all-in.
Also notice their stated goal is 2040…10 years after everyone else. Hoping to sound good while waiting for the electric bubble to crash and burn?
There’s a time and place for delay tactics.
RG,
The question being, can Japan keep its economy in gear enough to support a car industry. Theirs is worse than ours.
Amen! Part of my recent decision to look at Genesis (amongst many Audi-specific problems) is that I don’t want my dollars to support any virtue signaling German manufacturers. So, while I was originally looking at moving to an E-Wagon, the wife and I have decided… screw the Germans!
The Koreans, at least the ones at Hyundai/Genesis, while they are participating in the EV shift to some extent, remain one of the few choices for 2.5L I4 or 3.5L V6 in anything! I was almost going to go with a Toyota Venza hybrid as a compromise and that’s still a fine choice in my estimation.
But, I can get 3.5T V6 in a luxury midsize SUV that outperforms Audi (in that category), doesn’t support the transition advocates, and will likely last me a good 10+ years at significantly lower maintenance costs and fewer parts issues.
I’m putting in my order next week when I get back from my mini-vacation. The only thing left to decide is the color combo!
The more I read about these electric cars and the MASSIVE push from bureaucrats and politicians for the masses to buy one, the more I’m convinced it’s not REALLY about “Saaaaaaaaaaaaaaving the planet” but rather doing what the Herr Schwab wants, which is FORCING the masses to abandon owning a car altogether. We need to stand up and say “NO!”
I agree, John –
How else to account for the unreasonableness of it all? If the “crisis” were real, the last thing a rational person would do would be to advocate for grossly, gratuitously power-consumptive high-performance electric cars. Instead, the emphasis would be on light/efficient/affordable cars, so as to get as many as possible into the hands of as many people as possible… as opposed to a few expensive EVs in the hands of a few elite people.
Eric,
As you may already know, these same people are also pushing for the masses to eat bugs and/ or artificial food grown in a lab, using “Cliiiiiiiiiiiiiimate Crisis” as the excuse. I’m surprised that after they pushed mass mask wearing to “Stop the spread of the dreaded ‘Rona”, they didn’t also push for indefinite mask wearing to “Stop the spread of CARBON DIOXIDE” as CO2 is what comes out of our noses when we exhale.
Hi John B,
The “scientists” have also learned how to develop a new COVID strain with an 80% kill rate. Why would we ever need this? Seriously. Why? Why are we making biological weapons that could wipe out humanity? What does Boston University hope to accomplish by achieving this type of “science”? It is sick.
https://www.foxnews.com/us/boston-university-lethal-covid-strain-lab
My next question is why only 80% and not 100%? What saves the other 20%? No jab?
It doesn’t make a lot of sense, when you think about it, unless:
a) They have somehow acquired inside knowledge that an enemy is working on this for a weapon, and they need to research an antidote. This is what they want everyone to think. I have no idea if it’s true.
2) They want our enemies to fear the capabilities of our biowarfare labs.
iii) They are actually trying to kill a lot of people, and don’t care if everyone knows about it.
D) This is actually a cry for help from an overfunded, ethically rudderless scientific community.
Hi RG,
I read about that this morning on Patrick Wood’s Technocracy News page. It appears that these “scientists” wish to be a real life Frankenstein and create a monster virus so to speak. I suppose then, if they’re successful, they, or someone with Big Pharma, will create another experimental mRNA vaccine purportedly targeting said virus like they did with the ‘Rona, and the federal government and corrupt pubic health agencies will scare the masses into getting vaxxed or even implement mandates for people to get that particular vaxx. They already succeeded to some degree with using who knows how many humans worldwide as guinea pigs over the past going on 3 years with these COVID “vaccines”; now they’re emboldened to do the same thing with any other experimental mRNA injections they concoct, and potentially also add them to the childhood vaccination schedule like our public health agencies want to do with the COVID injections.
Heck, they’ve already been experimenting using GMO mosquitos to vaccinate humans against malaria and who knows what else.
There’s also a push to inject the masses with a CARBON FOOTPRINT TRACKER, because CARBON!
Not to say they have not already done so…
It sounds like science fiction and three years ago I would never believe it, but three years ago I wouldn’t have believed a lot of things that are now true.
They’re betting the few “elites” that get the High-Performance EVs (yeah, seems oxymoronic) will be the “influential” that get the “Gubmint” to force we proles, at least those of us that will lay down the considerable extra shekels, to buy the EVs, as other choices will be eliminated with the bureaucrat’s or politician’s pen. Then, supposedly, they cash in, in the ultimately expression of rent-seeking.
You are so right about the hostile attitude towards hybrids. You would think a carmaker like Tesla would have also already had those in the fleet. But nooooo. One of my coworkers has had the Camry hybrid for a couple years and really likes it. I think it would be hysterical to switch from the BMW to a Supra lol! I forgot about it having the same engine as a Z4.