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Toyota is taking the Corolla electric

446 points · 838 comments · cisc

  1. apparent · · focus · HN ↗
    I was surprised to read the headline because this is going in a different direction than most car companies. For example, VW, Ford, GM, and others have been axing electric vehicles that they started selling a few years ago. They discovered that most people who wanted EVs had already purchased them, and the rest of the market wasn't interested enough to pay the price premium.

    Then I read the key quote and realized that Toyota isn't transforming the Corolla into an electric vehicle. They're simply going to offer an electric option. That's much less of an interesting headline, which explains why it wasn't chosen.

    > “Whether it’s a battery EV, plug-in hybrid, hybrid, or internal combustion engine vehicle―whatever the power source―let’s make good-looking cars that everyone will want to drive!” Toyota’s CEO said at the Japan Mobility Show.

    1. gonzalohm · · focus · HN ↗
      I think the problem is not that people don't want electric cars. The problem is that people don't have a place to plug the car at home.
      1. stetrain · · focus · HN ↗
        I think the US is still pretty far from saturating the potential market of garage-owning car buyers with EVs, but that is a major hurdle for people who rent or street park and might be interested in saving gas money.
        1. TedDoesntTalk · · focus · HN ↗
          My electric panel is full. If I want to add an EV charger to my garage, I first have to replace the electric panel with a larger one. That’s minimum $5000 before I even get to the EV charger.
          1. quickthrowman · · focus · HN ↗
            You don’t need to replace your panel. You can remove two single pole breakers or one two pole breaker, install a 100A two pole breaker, buy some 3/#1 SER cable (two hots and one neutral for 240/120V) and use it to feed a $125 100A load center without a main breaker.

            Refeed the two removed breakers out of the load center and add a 60A two pole breaker to feed the EV charger, if it’s a cord and plug charger that you plug into a NEMA 14-50R you’ll need a GFCI breaker, if it’s hardwired you don’t need a GFCI breaker.

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