Toyota has not jumped on the EV bandwagon. In fact, according to the New York Times, a top Toyota executive has met regularly with US government officials to attempt to slow down the government’s efforts to push EV sales. From Byron Preston in PJ Media:
It’s no secret that Toyota has cautioned the whole world on shifting to EVs. It’s no secret why Toyota is taking this stance, nearly alone, when other less successful manufacturers have long since bent the knee to the green left.
Toyota has run the numbers and doesn’t think the power grids are ready to handle electrifying billions of cars. We’ve reported on this for months now. Our first piece on Toyota’s power stance went live in December 2020. Our second hit in March 2021. Both of those articles followed Elon Musk, the world’s most prolific EV maker, issuing the same warning: We’re going to need a lot more electric power generation before we can go electric with our cars and trucks.
The answer won’t be wind and solar. Both California and Texas who rely on wind and solar to fill gaps in power generation have fallen short. Texas during a severe winter and California during a hot summer. And that’s without the extra requirements of folks charging their EVs.
An expectation that EVs will become the norm in the next nine years seems a tad overblown. The number of EVs in the vehicle fleet in the US has not exceeded 2% in the past four years, and it doesn’t seem to be projected to do so. If the cars were becoming more popular, it would seem that the numbers should be increasing as a percentage of the total fleet.
If anything, the sales of EVs dropped around 3% last year. It seems that the reduction in government subsidies, range anxiety, length of charging time, the tiny size of many models, and the lack of charging stations all combine to make EVs a more difficult sale.
These pesky facts aren’t in the headlines from Silicon Valley and Detroit. We should be tracking EV sales closely and ensuring that government edict doesn’t destroy the ICE fuel marketplace. With gas prices increasing nearly $2 a gallon in less than six months this year, perhaps it’s time for the government to back off and let the free marketplace do its thing. If we really care about the less advantageous folks in our population, we will do everything to lower fuel and energy costs, not raise them.
By the way, Toyota is agnostic on the cars it builds. It seems to create low cost, high quality vehicles that people want to buy. Maybe we should listen to someone who not only knows what they are doing, but also performs.
JVH
3 Responses
“Maybe we should listen to someone who not only knows what they are doing, but also performs.”
You mean we should pay attention to silly things like facts and actual numbers?
And the same article said clearly that Toyota acknowledges that EV is the ultimate way to go. Some years ago they bet on hydrogen fuel cells instead of electricity-fueled batteries and now they are way behind on Electric. What they are really trying to do is slow EV’s down so they can catch up. Their lobbying is purely in their self-interest, which is entirely appropriate under today’s rules of the game. But it isn’t some magnanimous advice to Congress.
The fact is every other manufacturer is racing to EV. Isn’t that facts and actual numbers?
BloombergNEF projects that the cost of batteries will decline further so that cost-benefit parity with ICE is achieved in 2023. That is when the consumer tide will start to turn, naturally.
Until, and “unless” there are significant upgrades to our overall power grid, and “unless” there is some major innovation on charging options (don’t need a plug) the idea of EV’s taking over the market just can’t happen. I see hybrids as something more practical, and achievable than full on EV’s as being able to become the dominant force in the personal vehicle market. But, that’s just my opinion. I’ll believe the hype on EV’s when I see it actually happen.