[amadeuspagel]

> In another five years, and if a report in a Japanese newspaper is to be believed, Toyota will have the key technology for wide-spread adoption of battery-electric vehicles: Solid-state batteries with twice the range of today’s EVs, while charging only in minutes.

Well, it's six years now, but that doesn't seem that much of a delay?

[simondotau]

Toyota are still saying it's five years away. So that's a minimum of eleven years.

[labster]

But why get a battery car when fusion cars are just 20 years away?

[tiffanyg]

Hmm, I thought 2015 for fusion?

https://youtu.be/xvacBzZtYag?t=1m3s

There's just too much Bannon-esque "flooding the zone" these days...

And now, we wait for the entirely justified downvotes (though, this thread being so AG-ED* at this point, more likely I'm just talking to myself. Again...)

* https://youtu.be/V4gJfATGr9k?t=42s

[TheRealSteel]

The Tesla Model 3 has been out for six years. Toyota could release this tomorrow and still have alot of catching up to do.

[sieabahlpark]

Not really? Mileage is probably the single largest thing people care about. If they never have to go to a charger and can just do it at home then it's a win.

Getting an EV with 200 miles that effectively is 120 is a joke. I couldn't even drive to and from work comfortably with that.

[PaulDavisThe1st]

If you daily drive 60 miles (or more) each way to work, you might want to consider your life choices and what they represent. If nothing else, recognize that you're a far, far outlier and that technology and policy choices are not likely to be built around your needs & preferences.

[ke88y]

> you might want to consider your life choices and what they represent

For most people who commute that far, their "choice" is not being able to afford rent anywhere closer where it's sufficiently safe and schools are sufficiently good.

It's also a catch-22 because even if those people could live closer to work, they would then need to park on the street, which would make the range just as -- if not more -- important.

[xp84]

What’s funny is, you’re both wrong and very right at the same time.

I’m sorry to tell you, only crazy outliers commute 100+ miles roundtrip to work (feel free to prove me wrong with real data) so current gen EVs are just fine in range for mainstream[1]. Just as some people NEED a snowplow attachment on their car because they live on a 5 mile driveway in the mountains, or NEED a v12 engine to pull a 20 ton RV, you will always have special needs with that commute.

But!! As far as Americans tending to absolutely obsess about range you’re right. Even dozens of non-outliers I’ve heard worrying themselves sick about “what if they do that road-trip they’ve been meaning to do.” And in a country where suburbanites buy $90,000 pickups and never even get the bed dirty with any kind of cargo, people will be buying vehicles with odd priorities in mind like the once-yearly road-trip.

[1] they’re not fine in infrastructure though since owning one without at least some home garage charger is certainly worse, and tens of millions of Americans live in apartments with garages and carports not even remotely equipped for even a handful of residents to electrify, and others just have to find a spot on the street. This is the thing really capping adoption today.

[panick21_]

> Not really? Mileage is probably the single largest thing people care about.

And yet in lots of places we are 30% of total market and its growing.

Mileage isn't actually that important because most people don't actually need it very much.

Yes, if Tesla had some uber mileage car that would be nice, but that's not actually where the main market competition and limits are.

[theshrike79]

My EV has a WLTP of 300km. I can count with my fingers the times I've had to stop to charge it during my regular life. Half of those were just this month because I'm on my summer holiday.

All other times the car is sitting and charging while I'm doing non-driving things anyway.

[mowse_winded]

Range is find, if charging time was equivalent to filling up a gas tank and if EV chargers were as common as gas stations.

[Dalewyn]

About every 3 years[1], Toyota comes around to say they have a new battery tech coming out in about 3 years.

I wish this was a stupid meme, but apparently this is more reality than meme.

[1]: https://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=22960448&cid=6...

[throw0101a]

> Well, it's six years now, but that doesn't seem that much of a delay?

If Tesla can work that way, why can't Toyota?

[SyzygistSix]

Tesla also released the Model Y 4 years ago and now it may outsell the Corolla this year. What do the waitlist and sales for the RAV4 or Prius Primes look like?

[bdcravens]

They announced the Cybertruck that year and they still haven't delivered one, and ditto for the new Roadster 2 years prior. Tesla has demonstrated that long development cycles aren't bad, especially when creating a new tech (the Model Y is built on the Model 3 platform)

[SyzygistSix]

Weird how the largest pandemic in 100 years, supply chain issues, and huge demand for the Model Y made changing plans a good idea. That is what competent leaders do; make decisions in the best interest of the company, rather than adhere to arbitrary timelines. Maybe they should be making decisions like Toyota instead.

[bdcravens]

Perhaps pay attention to the topic of the thread, and not treat every Tesla discussion as an opportunity to prove your loyalty and defend the honor of Elon. We are literally discussing the idea that Toyota can take their time to get something right, because Tesla has done the same thing, to great success.

[pie420]

The cybertruck was largely a marketing exercise, and hype generator, same as the Roadster 2. They were "announced" in a time when Tesla needed all the spare cash it could get, so they opened up pre-orders that they had no intention of fulfilling for 4-5 years.

[sgarman]

It did outsell the Corolla, it was the 2 most popular car sold in America only behind the Ford F150 which has been number one for FORTY YEARS.

[theshrike79]

Nobody can cure America's fetish for TRUCKS =)

[jdeibele]

5 to 24 months according to this site: https://rav4resource.com/rav4-prime-availability/#:~:text=Ho...

I was looking at plug-in hybrids and ran across a reference to people having to wait 2 years for a RAV4 Prime.

[justsid]

I’m in the market for a RAV4 plugin hybrid and the wait time here is at least a year if not two. I’d love a Toyota EV though, I have no interest in a Tesla so if Toyota truly entered the market I’d be all over it.

[katbyte]

likely referring to cybertuck, tesla semi, actual FSD, and all the other promises from musk that were "next year"

[SyzygistSix]

When things like the pandemic and disrupted supply chains happen, companies sometimes need to move in a different direction than planned. Or is Tesla's massive growth in the last few years and sales numbers not enough to convince you they might actually know what they are doing? Successful companies don't adhere to arbitrary announcements and timelines; they change plans when necessary.

[bdcravens]

The world was hungry for EVs; Tesla had products to sell. As other options become available, their lead has shrinked over time.