Research on that article is lacking. The Hybrid Highlander is not new. It was introduced in 2004 and has been sold for years. What is new for the US is the Corolla Hybrid which got missed completely.
u ever watch a tesla person sitting at a recharge station *traveling more than 200 miles on trip*? they are either board, upset or on their phone /laptop getting things done, or taking a nap, but for older people who arent being productive they look upset that they have to sit there and cant just fill up and go !
thanks. a reasonably balanced article presenting industry statements without bias, from my perspective. the basic 411 is simply that companies who have decent hybrid tech, and can sell them profitably, will continue to do so, whilst continuing r&d on bevs. companies that have tried hybrid tech but failed have given up and will start/continue r&d on bevs because the tech is much simpler, and they get a bit of green swag making statements, regardless of actual intentions or follow up. to me, it lays out like this: toyota: great hybrids and plug in hybrids. expanding both and researching bevs ford: off and on with a copy of toyota hybrid tech, making promises of new hybrids coming, and researching bevs gm: failed hybrid tech, one decent bev, and more on the way, if you can believe them chrysler: will die with the dinosaur honda: luke warm hybrid interest and likely bev research nissan: failed hybrid, one decent bev, ceo in jail and the future is cloudy hyundai/kia: promising offerings but mostly compliance to date vdumb: clumsy past few years, a lot of promises, but a lot of criminals still running the company the rest: who knows?
Seems a little overly biased towards Toyota. I understand being a fanboy from the history of hybrid perspective, but Honda at least isn't even using transmissions anymore - from what I have been led to understand, their 'transmission' is an electric motor, which is the way it should be. The CVT in the Prius is smooth and reliable, yes, but as of a few years ago extraneous. Hyundai/Kia have a nice little hybrid platform with a highly questionable transmission. It's a dual clutch - which is in no way needed, desired, or trusted ... Ford is having massive issues with their dual-clutch transmissions in their gasoline platforms. Just like automated manuals (have clutch plates, no clutch pedal) in the trucking industry needing a couple of generations to get to be reliable, that was one of the major deciding factors why I steered away from the Kia Niro despite liking the test drives I did in it. VW keeps telling us (in the industry) that they're so big and wealthy that anything is possible, but until they start delivering on Tesla-competing all-electrics, I am doubting them more and more every day. VW has every reason to push the all-electric envelope for little and big vehicles if they're really that big and able. Their chance is now to own the market in the Americas and Europe, or be seen as just a follow-up, me-too, company. It just seems that the Germans were caught off-guard by how fast and how soon the world wants hybrids and electrics.
you only have to look at sales to make the toyota connection. i'm not sure why you think honda's system is better when it hasn't proven itself in the long term, and honda just pulled their phev off the market in 49 states. honda has dropped the ball for two decades
They call it an eCVT - the journalists described it as "consists of a multi-plate wet clutch and controller system connect it" - and in the diagram, quite a few gears. No, I haven't seen one close (they didn't bring them here) - but it's not as simple as it sounds.
Not really. We find the nearest ICE vehicles and duck behind to piss on their exhaust pipes. Pickups and SUVs are best for privacy. Ones parking at a charger get a BM at the driver’s door. Bob Wilson
There's a row of Superchargers behind a Wawa and an Aldi by me and while the Teslas are charging, the occupants get out and go to either store.