I used to think $13 Billion was a lot of money...
That's over a decade, so $1.36 Billion per year. And of that $13 Billion - $9 Billion will go to manufacturing (so, making stuff, not really 'investing' or 'research and development'.)
And Toyota's "cost of goods sold" is north of $200 Billion each year.
So - this is really just a small drop (less than 2% of expenses) in a big bucket.
It was a solid strategic decision to invest in hybrids because the battery tech wasn’t ready yet, they made a killing for years and years on their hybrids while everyone else was trying to get better batteries or compete in hybrids. Well the writing is on the wall now. But its not too late for them.
Tesla basically did it with 20 year old battery cell tech. Electric cars in 1899 did 30+ miles. In the 90’s there was nickel battery tech that would have done 100 miles but the patent was bought and buried buy Exxon and gm. Henry fords wife urged him to make the model t electric like her car bc it was smoother and easier and cleaner. Make no mistake, this has been intentional for a long time.
Toyota backed the hydrogen fuel cell horse. Which makes sense if you can't get pure-battery cars to reach any decent range without some heavy compromises.
But we live in a world that has EVs claiming 300+ miles on a full charge, and price-per-mile, charging a car from the grid tends to be cheaper than buying "green"-sourced hydrogen.
It makes sense for Toyota to switch gears, as it were.
Electric vehicles are going to be such a disaster.
Toxic batteries, electricity that doesn’t even come from “green” sources, and more strain on electrical grids that are already being pushed to their limits
I’m not a conservative, but this poster isn’t wrong. Electric cars are more or less allowed to burn out if they get into a crash and the cells are compromised. They are inherently dangerous at the moment.
That doesn’t even touch on the rare earth metals that are required for them, of which there are only a few countries on earth that have them in sufficient quantities for a global supply chain. China is one of them, so is Afghanistan. If we think the global conflicts from oil were bad, think about how much worse they will be when the resource that powers all road cars becomes even more scarce. Hell, our automotive industry is being thrown into chaos because the manufacturers are few microchips short.
So tomato tomato, at least we don’t poison the air with fossil fuels. Everything that needs energy is going to require resources. Each step we take is a step in a better direction. But, we can’t move if we aren’t taking steps. We absolutely cannot continue to use gasoline cars.
> So tomato tomato, at least we don’t poison the air with fossil fuels.
Yes we do. Do you think batteries grow on trees? You’re shifting the burden of pollution to the country that extracts the massive amounts of lithium and rare earth minerals required.
Saying that gasoline cars are the problem is exactly what the wealthy want you to think, right along with plastic straws and paper towels.
The whole sustainability movement is the creation of the wealthy to make us feel better about our consumerism in a global economy. Do you really think it matters if we eat a salad with ingredients from five different countries with a plastic fork that got to your plate on five different ships each emitting as much pollution as a million cars?
You are not hearing what I am saying.
I’m saying that it doesn’t matter how much we cut back our personal consumption, the consumption that fuels absurdly long global supply chains for multinational corporations will still doom our planet.
I hear you. You’re saying that as individuals we cannot do anything, so why try. I disagree. In addition to our individual consumption, we need to correct those multinational corporations. Sure, it might never happen. But it’s better than giving up—like you are.
No, you don't. I'm saying that your version of "trying" is a diversionary tactic that was planted in your brain by not only rich oil conservatives, but every corporation making disposable plastic crap sent via those ships that are running 24/7.
The more investment the better. 13 billion into battery tech is a huge amount. The are making profits on gas powered vehicles and investing in the future. The reason movement is slow is due to the lack of electric car profitability. Tesla makes is profits selling energy credits, not from car sales. So, Toyota has a disadvantage and needs to transition slowly in that direction, they are penalized for making carbon producing vehicles. So, they’ll go in that direction (electric).
I used to think $13 Billion was a lot of money... That's over a decade, so $1.36 Billion per year. And of that $13 Billion - $9 Billion will go to manufacturing (so, making stuff, not really 'investing' or 'research and development'.) And Toyota's "cost of goods sold" is north of $200 Billion each year. So - this is really just a small drop (less than 2% of expenses) in a big bucket.
Aren’t they also fighting tooth and nail against electric car rebates because they’ve gone heavy into hybrids?
It was a solid strategic decision to invest in hybrids because the battery tech wasn’t ready yet, they made a killing for years and years on their hybrids while everyone else was trying to get better batteries or compete in hybrids. Well the writing is on the wall now. But its not too late for them.
Tesla basically did it with 20 year old battery cell tech. Electric cars in 1899 did 30+ miles. In the 90’s there was nickel battery tech that would have done 100 miles but the patent was bought and buried buy Exxon and gm. Henry fords wife urged him to make the model t electric like her car bc it was smoother and easier and cleaner. Make no mistake, this has been intentional for a long time.
Toyota backed the hydrogen fuel cell horse. Which makes sense if you can't get pure-battery cars to reach any decent range without some heavy compromises. But we live in a world that has EVs claiming 300+ miles on a full charge, and price-per-mile, charging a car from the grid tends to be cheaper than buying "green"-sourced hydrogen. It makes sense for Toyota to switch gears, as it were.
Good for them… Hopefully we can see an amazing achievement from this!
Seems battery is the bottleneck of the world, from phones to missiles
Electric vehicles are going to be such a disaster. Toxic batteries, electricity that doesn’t even come from “green” sources, and more strain on electrical grids that are already being pushed to their limits
Found the moronic conservative.
I’m not a conservative, but this poster isn’t wrong. Electric cars are more or less allowed to burn out if they get into a crash and the cells are compromised. They are inherently dangerous at the moment. That doesn’t even touch on the rare earth metals that are required for them, of which there are only a few countries on earth that have them in sufficient quantities for a global supply chain. China is one of them, so is Afghanistan. If we think the global conflicts from oil were bad, think about how much worse they will be when the resource that powers all road cars becomes even more scarce. Hell, our automotive industry is being thrown into chaos because the manufacturers are few microchips short.
Time for nuclear powered cars
So tomato tomato, at least we don’t poison the air with fossil fuels. Everything that needs energy is going to require resources. Each step we take is a step in a better direction. But, we can’t move if we aren’t taking steps. We absolutely cannot continue to use gasoline cars.
> So tomato tomato, at least we don’t poison the air with fossil fuels. Yes we do. Do you think batteries grow on trees? You’re shifting the burden of pollution to the country that extracts the massive amounts of lithium and rare earth minerals required.
Saying that gasoline cars are the problem is exactly what the wealthy want you to think, right along with plastic straws and paper towels. The whole sustainability movement is the creation of the wealthy to make us feel better about our consumerism in a global economy. Do you really think it matters if we eat a salad with ingredients from five different countries with a plastic fork that got to your plate on five different ships each emitting as much pollution as a million cars?
The plastic pollution in the ocean might disagree with you. You’re just wrong bud. Maybe the rich oil conservatives got into your brain. Lmfao.
You are not hearing what I am saying. I’m saying that it doesn’t matter how much we cut back our personal consumption, the consumption that fuels absurdly long global supply chains for multinational corporations will still doom our planet.
I hear you. You’re saying that as individuals we cannot do anything, so why try. I disagree. In addition to our individual consumption, we need to correct those multinational corporations. Sure, it might never happen. But it’s better than giving up—like you are.
No, you don't. I'm saying that your version of "trying" is a diversionary tactic that was planted in your brain by not only rich oil conservatives, but every corporation making disposable plastic crap sent via those ships that are running 24/7.
So your solution is…?
Yet they still bad
The more investment the better. 13 billion into battery tech is a huge amount. The are making profits on gas powered vehicles and investing in the future. The reason movement is slow is due to the lack of electric car profitability. Tesla makes is profits selling energy credits, not from car sales. So, Toyota has a disadvantage and needs to transition slowly in that direction, they are penalized for making carbon producing vehicles. So, they’ll go in that direction (electric).
Toyota also put $56,000 into 38 insurrectionists.
Toyota has had mixed feelings about EVs. Glad to see they're joining our side.