Item — HN Reader

RAV4 Prime

- hybrid motor + battery

- 500 mile range on gas hybrid, 40 mile range on battery

- AWD

Commute to work during the week without touching gas, then on the weekend take roadtrips to the mountains at 50 mpg. And get cheap Toyota repairs/maintenance for everything. It's the quiver of one.

1 comments

Except:

* Still need oil / change spark plugs / timing belts / all the ICE junk

* But have a degrading battery like an EV

* Have weight of both ICE and EV at the same time

* Deal with legacy dealer network (slimey sales, have to pay a big cut to dealers)

* There are an entire 5k being made for the entire US (vs 400k? Model Ys), so you can't even get one if you want one (source: https://electrek.co/2020/06/30/toyota-cuts-output-of-rav4-pr...) . IF you can find one, expect to pay 5-10k over sticker price.

So a little bit of worse of both worlds.

I will gladly take my model Y, thanks ;)

> ICE junk

Significantly less often. If 90% of your driving is on the battery, then you might be able to go the life of the car without replacing belts and plugs. You'd still need to change the oil, but could probably get away with only doing it once a year.

> But have a degrading battery like an EV

Depends on the battery. Also, even if it degrades a whopping 50% (Which would probably take 20+ years), you still have the ICE to keep you going.

> Have weight of both ICE and EV at the same time

With only a 40 mile battery, not a big deal.

> Deal with legacy dealer network

Yeah, that's pretty stupid. Dealers just get in the way, and I really wish haggling wasn't a thing at all.

> There are an entire 5k being made for the entire US

I'm guessing that they don't profit much if any on each car sold.

I'm a Model 3 owner, but I don't expect everyone to be able (or want) to drive a BEV. Honestly I wish more plug-in hybrids were being made. They can be electric for most people's commute, yet have the ICE to prevent range anxiety.

As a Y owner, I think plug-in is a false path. It gives you downsides to both, while not being great at either.

Drive ICE until you can switch, and then switch. For that 1:1000 place you absolutely need an ICE (I need to drive to the top of a mountain in the winter), rent an ICE. Just made my switch this year, because there was finally a BEV that was cool enough to compel me to drive it in a form factor I wanted.

I guess it depends on what you consider to be the greatest downsides to ICE. Maintenance was never a concern for me, but emissions was. Also, I like quick cars, but hate how loud they can be.

It's why I got a Model 3 Performance. Insanely quick acceleration (that doesn't yell to every cop within a mile that I'm gunning it) when I want it, and crazy good efficiency when I don't. If someone made an ICE that could do 0-60 in under 3.5 seconds while still getting 50+ mpg on the highway, I probably would have gotten one. There aren't even any plug-in hybrids that can achieve that.

> Drive ICE until you can switch, and then switch. For that 1:1000 place you absolutely need an ICE (I need to drive to the top of a mountain in the winter), rent an ICE.

I could definitely support that plan.

I haven't road tripped in my Tesla yet. I planned one this year (Portland -> San Diego, about 2400 miles round trip), but cancelled it due to COVID closing everything we were going to do. Though I've taken a couple 300-mile day trips. 150 miles out, then recharged for the return trip while eating dinner or shopping. Easy and fun.

The 5k units is due to COVID affecting battery manufacturing, there's no question this is circumstantial and nothing inherent to the vehicle itself. They say 20k vehicles for the next year. With the current crazy dealer markup, that's supply & demand.

So 20k Rav4 primes vs 800k? Teslas made in 2021 (not sure exact date Texas will start producing)?

If the car is any good, 20k should mean you can't really get your hands on it without paying over MSRP. If the car is a dud.. well, you won't want it anyway

Ah. Thank you for the clarification.