this post was submitted on 29 Nov 2023
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The same Toyota that declared that electric vehicles were a non-starter and that hydrogen vehicles were the future?
I think hydrogen will be in the future, but not for a while. Toyota is having to make lots of promises to make up for Kia and Hyundai eating their lunch.
That was several years ago when they wanted their developed hydrogen cars to get market and IMO, right now, they're still right. All electric with current batteries are still no good. Range anxiety, charge issues, batteries that are huge and have to be built under the vehicles in a way that extremely expensive to replace 10 plus years down the line when they start going bad. It's no good. Basically any car built that way in the sub $50,000 market will be worthless in around 15 years. Won't be worth the battery replacement cost.
Right now, until batteries are better, like solid states are supposed to be, hybrids are the way to go. Smaller, cheaper, easier batteries to replace, still great gas mileage, and no range anxiety or charge location issues. All electric just isn't realistic right now for most people. Now if you're a home owner with a garage and get a new vehicle every 5 years and don't need to take many long trips, or use a different vehicle for long trips, it could be great, but those people aren't most people.
I'm privileged in that I live in perhaps the country with the densest coverage of EV infrastructure anywhere (except for maybe a microstate or two), but in the 7 months of driving an EV I've not once experienced range anxiety.
You can't do huge roadtrips without a recharge every 250-350km in this relatively more affordable model, but for daily driving it's like waking up with a full tank every day. If I visit friends 200km away, I just park at a destination charger and walk the last 200 meters.
At least right now that's is a lot more viable than hydrogen. I can't fill up in my town. I can fill up near my work 35m away. But it would a hassle.
I speak more of the US market. There are plenty of other countries where an ev with a 200km range would work great, but in the US dense cities that no one ever goes anywhere from all have people living in apartments that can't charge at home and due to how expensive real estate there is, going to a rapid charge place and waiting there 30 minutes costs more than gasoline.
Then in the less dense places....well, I am a more extreme case, but my drive to work is 140 Km each way. The US is so huge and so many people at least have to occasionally drive do far, that a 200km vehicle just isn't enough. Doubly so for colder areas/times when that range is drastically reduced.
I think hybrids need to be built like EVs with on board range extender generators. I believe the Volt was that way but if you had enough battery to cover 120 miles full EV with plug-in recharge most of the time it would be full EV. Long trip? Generator kicks on at mile 100 and takes you an absurd distance.
The latest Toyota hybrids are pretty great but they need competition. Sadly the Volt died.
Kia/Hyundai/Ford/Audi should make "Range extender" versions trading half the battery pack for generator and fuel weights to up the pressure.
Full EV might not be great for long trips, but full ICE is silly compared to a hybrid.
Make the F-150 standard truck get 40mpg on gasoline on trips, EV around town and you have a winner.
They already have those. They're just called plug in hybrids. The prius plug in hybrid for instance, will go about 40 miles on electric only.