Toyota: GOOD. Now give me my new PHEV Celica!

I like Toyota’s PHEVs. But i won’t consider buying one until they start selling below MSRP. And not the “buy for $100 below MSRP and wait a year for delivery” deal like Maverick buyers get suckered into...

Range and battery cost (and supplies to make or update) are probably the primary concerns and those are being somewhat mitigated by increasing range, lithium supplies and high fuel prices. The potential to make the batteries easier to update with slotted segments - or having two that were easily swappable so one could…

Battery prices haven’t exactly plummeted.... in 2019 packs cost an average of $160 kWh and in 2023 it was $139. That’s not even a 15 percent drop. Maybe by 2030 it will be sub $100 kWh, but that’s pretty far away in the big picture if we have to wait until then for “affordable” EVs. 

I think that Toyota is exactly where America is right now with the Prius Prime, the Rav 4 Prime and whatever other plug-in hybrids they offer. The car is electric until you need it for a long trip and then its a gas powered car.

I was saying the same a year ago, when everyone was ragging on them, calling them reactionaries and fools. I mean, I still mock Toyota for the hydrogen vehicles, but EVs are merely part of an answer.

PHEVs are the right choice for most people with just one car in their household while 2 car households would most benefit from a PHEV/BEV combo. For anyone that doesn’t have any convenient place to charge an HEV is still better than no battery option. 

Feel like Toyota got a lot of hate for their failure to jump straight into EVs. But it always struck me as really the only sensible approach. Maximize hybrid efficiency while investing in PHEV; maximize PHEV while investing in EV (and watch what everyone else is doing); have a reliable, fast-charging, long-lasting EV…

Can you imagine the quality control issues after most of your workforce was hung over and angry for five days?

Workers are not paid directly by the company during a temporary layoff. They are considered unemployed and are eligible to collect unemployment benefits (as long as they meet all other eligibility requirements, e.g. they don’t have another job)

Yes, that’s a better word. But my uncle used “layoff” when he worked at GM. The would often extend shutdowns (like, they had a week for a summer shutdown but they needed 2 weeks less production) by a week long layoff. But yeah, if you know when you’re coming back it’s not really a layoff.

More likely it was like an extra week of paid vacation. 

I can’t speak to the details of what they did during those five days, but you’re right that “laid off” in this context does not mean what it would in the usual sense.

Furlough. The word You’re looking for for “temporary layoff” is “furloughed.”

Yeah until my brother in-law in Denver had garage space to store his off-season wheels, chains were usually enough.  A pain in the ass, but got the job done.  There were several passes outside of town that required them if you weren’t sporting winter tires.

I will grant that kitty litter (or sand, or whatever) is no match for a good set of winter tires, but if/when you get stuck in the snow or come across someone else that is, being able to dump it out for traction is invaluable.

As usual, the answer is “it depends”. The better 3PMS-rated “all weather” ones, like the Toyos we’ve had on our Yukon XL the last four years, are comparable to a mid-tier winter tire on snow and ice, but can be used year-round. They are noticeably not as good on smooth ice as a true winter-only tire like a Blizzak.…

Wrong. Not driving always beats driving in snow. And it’s less expensive.

There’s nothing that beats true winter tires but this new crop of 3 -peak rated “All Weather” tires- e.g. Crossclimate 2 which seem to get a lot of positive reviews. Want to see tests where if it is “good enough” that for some that is an alternative to getting and changing a winter set each year.

The issue is that it’s getting increasingly difficult to justify a $500+ purchase for something you may or may not even need any more. In NW Ohio we have gotten one significant snowfall this year where winter tires would have been nice to have, but if past winters are anything to go by, it’s doubtful we’ll get another…