Commentary: Toyota Corolla Hybrid ad brags about not plugging in

Don't need no stinking plugs.

 

That's why I like the Idea of a plug-in hybrid, You won't be left behind waiting for 5Hr for your car to charge and if you out of battery you can just use gas.
An BEV (Currently) is better for families with a secondary ICE vehicle

 

someone already posted this ad awhile ago.

i don't see or infer anything about not plugging in, i think the author is off his rocker

(okay, sorry. i missed the one second of the guy plugged in looking at his watch)

clearly, the ad was promoting hybrids as the most sensible sophisticated technology today. perhaps not totally correct, but isn't that what advertising is all about?

 

At 45 seconds you see them use the old troupe about having to stand by your car and wait for the charge. It is a relatively minor dig, but it is there and continues Toyota's dismissiveness of plugins.

 

no question. but you really have to be paranoid to make a big deal out of it.

 

Except Lexus ran that really blatant ad a few years ago. Without that, and comments from Toyota mouthpieces, we'd all be shrugging off the end of this ad.

 

Lexus was still advertising self charging and 100% hybrid range last year:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/electrek.co/2018/10/08/lexus-trash-talk-all-electric-vehicles-shameful-hybrid-vehicle-advertising/amp/

I think I know Toyota's strategy. They're late to the BEV game so they're going to let the Prime eat up all the EV credits. They're waiting for the price of batteries to fall below $100/kWh. When Hyundai, Kia, and VW used up their credits is when Toyota will release a 60 kWh BEV.

 

I think that's wishful thinking. The proper phrase for what Toyota's doing is "Rest on one's laurels". They've had wild success with their hybrids, with the Prius in particular. Such success often breeds complacency, which is what I believe we're seeing with Toyota.

 

Not everyone is ready for a plug-in or wants one at this time. I think what Toyota is waiting on is the market to want them, build what’s selling. Pretty realistic if you ask me.

 

I'd agree, but Toyota seems to have gone all-in on fuel-cell vehicles (see Toyota Mirai) with far less demand than plug-in hybrids.

 

Yes, but its still not a plug in. People can relate to it and in a perfect world Hydrogen will be available at fuel stations as is gas. No plug and no wait time. Fill and go.

 

also, they're getting a ton of guv mint incentives

 

While this is my need, commonly driving 400+ mile trips that exceed the range of even the best current Tesla ...

... I believe there are already far more people or families who could be well served by a BEV as their only vehicle, than you give credit. Not so many with just the Prime's AER, but plenty with the existing crop full BEVs.

Remember that an ever increasing number of people are now getting along owning no car at all, instead using transit, ride shares, and car share services. Others may need gasser range so infrequently that they could rent when needed, getting along with a BEV as their daily driver.

 

Mass Transit? What’s that?! No such thing in California, having a car is a must.

 

While Seattle's mass transit is nothing to be proud of, it is certainly improving. Buses have always been here, though when I needed them, their routes were poor for people commuting between suburbs, or anyone else not trying in to get to downtown Seattle or Bellevue in the morning, out in the evening.

Light rail won't reach me for some years, but already reaches from the airport, through downtown, to the University. Ridership exploded the spring break weekend that the U station opened a few years ago, exceeding year-out traffic forecasts before spring break was even over.

Rideshares are huge. Car shares (FlexCar at one time, now Zipcar and car2go), bike shares (Lime for some time, Spin and Ofo pulled out due to the new licensing program, but Jump stepped in and Lyft is coming) are also common.

With much new (but expensive) housing serving the Tech boom downtown and on South Lake Union, from nearby or along major transit corridors, very many younger professional folks simply don't need a car at all.

 

Not sure if you folks remember when Toyota first started selling the Prius in the US? The ads were of a similar nature. I can’t immediately find any examples of it, but it was basically in reply to the EV1, showing somebody trying to find a socket somewhere on the Prius body, saying, “no, you don’t have to plug it in.”

In any case, the phrase “self-charging hybrid” is totally “say whaaaa?!”

Yeah, I think it’s ridiculous to suggest that pure-EV drivers frequently get stuck waiting to finish charging their cars. On a true, purpose-built pure-BEV, most people plug it in for incremental charging overnight at home, or once week, say, at a commercial charger.

Now admittedly, I tend to be a bit of a slave to chargers with our Prius Prime. However, that’s just because it’s battery is so tiny and I’m so “eeewwww” when it comes to burning gas. In other words, if Toyota sold a real BEV, I’d almost never be a slave to the charger like they portray in that ad!

 

There is more to it than that.

First of all, the whole commercial is the Corolla Hybrid passing older technology. The message being, it's the newest, latest..and better. So passing a plug in as a the driver looks at his watch...is really not so subtle a dig. It's clearly meant to convey the superiority of a non-plug in Hybrid.
Couple that with the closing line..."the self charging hybrid".....and I think the message is pretty clear.

It's clearly a "Pro-Hybrid" anti-plug in message. No paranoia needed.

 

Nearly all the majors have their own fuel cell research going, or are in a partnership with someone else. Hyundai and Honda even offer one for lease only in the US. Toyota is the one that wanted to have the first hydrogen FCEV that could be purchased.

While hydrogen can appeal on being mostly like gasoline(its lobby doesn't mention a fill can take 15 minutes), there is a huge cost in order to have it. It will be much cheaper to install fast DC chargers of Supercharger capability across the country.

Honda did too, but those ads were being informative. People thought of hybrid electric and immediately thought of the recent BEVs. The hybrid car is now over 20 years old, and is now the previous technology. People have probably rode in or driven a hybrid and not realize it at this point.

This ad and others are attacking the newcomer. It isn't any different than the statements made against hybrids when they were new.

I don't want to curse like with the corn syrup lobby ads, but this is moronic. I get Toyota calling their FCEV hybrids, and labeling them as HSD for marketing. This is pure "the audience is stupid".

The passing a charging a BEV should have been between the horse and the ICE car to not be.

 

I would add this.
While I feel the Anti-Plug in message is clear and nearly fundamental to the whole commercial.

It is ONLY a commercial and only ONE commercial.

To believe it reflects the entire attitude or even the future direction of Toyota would be a mistake.
I think Toyota would like to revive the reality that Hybrids.....are still great products. I think they would like to get some people to step back on the "bridge", the bridge technology of Hybrids. I think they are trying to recover or create some of the lost panache that owning a Hybrid use to represent.

The Corolla Hybrid is a new product. But I think if Toyota doesn't promote it as being something greater than the sum of its parts, it could be easily looked over or forgotten.

That being said?
I'm not sure how successful this approach works.

I still see Toyota trying to promote Hybrids, on the basis of looks, handling, speed.
The commercial is as interesting for what it shows and mentions, as it is for what is doesn't show, and doesn't mention. What it doesn't mention is The Corolla hybrids efficiency, Eco friendliness, or most notably gas mileage.
One could argue a subliminal nod to Eco Friendliness when the the tail pipes of ICE vehicles are shown exhausting black smoke.

But contrast this commercial for the New Toyota Corolla Hybrid against the early campaigns for the Gen 3 Prius.
Toyota at that time unabashedly clawed, grasped, and ripped their way toward promoting the Prius's fuel efficiency and "Green" cred. I believe the tag line at the time was "Harmony between Man, Nature and Machine"...with the Prius driving silently and cleanly, through stylized visions of a friendly and happy "Nature" reciprocating to the efficiency of The Prius by literally singing and dancing.

Toyota it seems has taken this message for granted.
But I think it's a mistake.
Even at a time when gas prices are stable and relatively low, I still think the most marketable aspects to a Hybrid are the emissions efficiency and the great gas mileage.
I've always said....nobody buys a Prius, if it get's 32 miles per gallon.

I suppose you can't say that about Corolla....
BUT..I still think Toyota should remember the psychology that brought Prius to prominence and the mainstream. Which really wasn't looks, speed, it was efficiency.

Could you of added the Hybrid Corolla passing a gas station while a big truck fills up to the $50 or more amount? The idea shouldn't be that it's just faster and more convenient to own a self charging hybrid, but also that it's more fuel efficient and cheaper to fuel a Hybrid than a regular ICE.
If the plug in owner is looking at his watch while charging. The big truck owner should be looking at his emptying wallet as he refuels.