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Re:Toyota is quietly pushing Congress to slow the shift to e... by jeffbee on Monday July 26, 2021 @01:06PM (#27961970)
Seriously how hard is it to make an electric car? These guys are acting like they never heard of the sunk cost fallacy. It should be a piece of cake to retool Toyota for electrics, they are already a huge consumer of batteries and make plug-in hybrids.
Re:Toyota is quietly pushing Congress to slow the shift to e... by gibolt on Monday July 26, 2021 @02:02PM (#27962803)
Hard. Batteries are unavailable in required quantities, and extremely expensive to spool up. Doing so would make most of their existing factories and tooling worthless assets. (They will be anyway, just unwilling to make the transition proactively, and likely be a tiny shadow of their former selves)
Re:Toyota is quietly pushing Congress to slow the shift to e... by xedeon on Monday July 26, 2021 @02:32PM (#27963312)
Most people don't realize this. Even Panasonic, which is the most experienced and produce most of the Li-ion batteries today is still struggling to expand their GWh capacity.
Re:Toyota is quietly pushing Congress to slow the shift to e... by jeffbee on Monday July 26, 2021 @02:40PM (#27963426)
The global lithium-ion battery market is expanding at a CAGR > 25%. Hardly a struggle.
Re:Toyota is quietly pushing Congress to slow the shift to e... by xedeon on Monday July 26, 2021 @03:08PM (#27963866)
Not all li-ion batteries are the same. They have to be a certain chemistry and form factor.

With cylindrical (18650) being the most common that Panasonic manufactures. Because they can be produced quickly, hence the lower cost per kWh. They are also a Tier 1 lithium-ion battery producer. Meaning they produce the highest-quality lithium-ion batteries, for automotive use.

Samsung and LG Chem are also Tier 1. But Panasonic is certainly more mature and have more experience (but more conservative like Toyota). Which I already mentioned earlier.

Re:Toyota is quietly pushing Congress to slow the shift to e... by gibolt on Monday July 26, 2021 @05:33PM (#27965780)
That is the fastest they can go, while EV vehicle demand growth exceeds that CAGR. When the 3 industry titans can only together drive ~15-20% annual growth, it is most definitely a struggle.
Re:Toyota is quietly pushing Congress to slow the shift to e... by dartdartdart on Monday July 26, 2021 @02:15PM (#27963027)
They have already made an EV in the past in 2014 with the Rav4 EV. They certainly can do it, but they are more concerned about the efficiency of which the world is using battery materials.
Re:Toyota is quietly pushing Congress to slow the shift to e... by xedeon on Monday July 26, 2021 @03:18PM (#27964020)
AFAIK, Tesla designed and produced the battery pack and electric powertrain for the RAV4 EV. It's around the time Toyota also held a substantial amount of Tesla stock.

It's a shame they discontinued it. A lot of people loved them.

https://global.toyota/en/detail/152289

https://pressroom.toyota.com/all-electric-toyota-rav4-ev-fir...