I think that third party car battery “service” or remediation is going to be a very real business in the coming years.
Like, people are going to troubleshoot batteries and replace whichever cells are bad rather than a massively expensive battery swap. I mean, a $2-4k gasket/belt type service is perfectly acceptable and reasonable in a higher end car with ~120-150k miles on it… that sort of service in an electric car would make sense.
I have a feeling that Toyota is very politically fragmented. They must be a super calcified in their views with practically no new viewpoints and no real ambition to be cutting edge in any way. To be fair, I doubt that being “cutting edge” has ever been Toyota’s thing, but dragging their heels is pretty off-putting.
Yes, 1000%.
$20k should be easily do-able for a daily driver.
I am still under the belief that a hybrid is inherently more costly than an EV (with it’s engine, transmission, complicated vacuum, oil and hydraulic systems, etc.), but I know that $20k hybrids are on the market (maybe not in the US, but definitely in Europe).
Consider how China just made Apple change their programming in an absolutely direct and hard way. Compare this to how the EU is pushing Apple toward more open features that benefit citizen/consumers.
Finally, consider how inept the US is at doing anything for its citizens. People’s interests vs corporations? The corps always win in the US.
Even though it’s slow, the EU is demonstrating a willingness to advance its citizens’ interests. China is clearly an authoritarian state that puts the ruling regime’s interests first, and the US is an oligopoly that is indifferent to its citizens needs.
Makes sense that the appeal of “Apple-style” packaging would exist. Or at least be tempting from a design standpoint.
I was thinking along the lines of these “transmission” shops and stuff. I mean body and glass shops, as well as tire shops are almost be default third party by default (you kind of have to go out of your way to do your tires in a dealership, etc.).
I see battery service for cars that are past initial warranty existing in that realm.
I get that legislation and initial design might very well ignore these long-term ownership issues, but just like houses, cars have a very long serviceable lifetime indeed, and should be treated and regulated as such.