EV Battery with 700+ Mile Range

[NowISeetheLight]

Toyota announced a battery breakthrough in solid state batteries. The article says they're the successor to Lithium batteries. They claim a 10 minute charging time too. I don't know a lot about batteries but this sounds like a big deal.

https://insideevs.com/news/675517/toyota-battery-breakthrough-745-miles-range/amp/

[Emile]

1. Amazing

[Think. Again.]

2. I'd like to know more....

...about this, what materials are used? Can this be scaled up for household or grid scale storage? Life span? Recyclable?

[WhiteTara]

3. good questions, all.

no answers

[brush]

4. Sounds like what everyone's been waiting for. Even gas-powered cars...

don't have a 700 mile range...and then 10 minute charging time?

If so, it's the holy grail.

[NowISeetheLight]

5. Salton Sea

I'm close to the Salton Sea here in Palm Springs. I know they've been talking about investment there for Lithium mining. That'll be a short investment if this comes true. It also makes me wonder about Tesla's battery plants. I won't cry to see Elon lose a few billion more.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

6. 10 minute charging time?

Why am I skeptical?

But if that's true, I'd consider buying one, so long as it cost about what a Honda Fit (my current car) costs. My current one, a 2017 purchased in 2018 (so it was used) cost me about $19k. I'm not remotely a fan of expensive cars, and to me expensive starts at around $25k. So no, I will not be spending tens of thousands of dollars more for the privilege of spending hours recharging a car.

[NowISeetheLight]

8. Daily Car

If someone could come up with a $30k or less 500-mile range full EV that recharges in a couple hours, they'd have the holy grail. I'd seriously look at one. The longest drives I take are 80mi to the VA. One a year I might drive to Vegas, that's 250 miles.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

10. Even a couple of hours is ridiculous.

I make several drives each year of 400 or 600 or 800 miles. I'm sorry, but pausing for two or three hours to recharge is ridiculous.

Also, the price of most EVs. I have NEVER spent more than $22k on a car, and that was a foolish extravagance some 20 years ago. My current car is a 2017 Honda Fit that I purchased in 2018 for around $20k. I am always astonished when I read the current typical price of a car, and I always ask myself, "What are they thinking?"

I get needing to finance your first car. But at that you should be financing as cheap a car as fills your needs. You pay it off. You put the car payment into a savings account, and when you go to buy your next car you have enough money to pay for it outright. You do NOT take on a loan that has your car "underwater", meaning you owe more that it is worth. You buy what you can afford, preferably with money saved.

When my older son was buying his first car he had about $5,000 to spend. This was in about 2004, I'm forgetting the exact year. We looked around, and he found a car within that some of money.

Several years later older son had only about $4,000 to spend. We found a car within that limit.

Both sons paid cash. No car payment. It's not that hard.

[NowISeetheLight]

11. Warranty

I just purchased a five year 60k mile warranty on my 2019 now that the CPO warranty is up in a couple weeks. I used to always lease and not cheap cars. This one I paid $23k for two years ago. I plan on running it into the ground. He warranty is piece of mind. Nice thing is in another two years I won't have a car pymt. I could get used to this.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

12. Two years and you won't have a car payment.

Good for you, but you should have done away with car payments a long time ago.

I only had a car payment when I bought my first car. It was 1967. A friend at work offered to sell me a car she no longer needed (a 1959 VW convertible) for something like $150. Needless to say, I didn't have the cash and so I took out a loan through the credit union we had. I think it was paid off in something like 10 months. That car got sold when I moved across the country.

Next car, another VW, was purchased in 1976. A co-worker had bought herself a new car, thought she'd keep the Beetle for a bad-weather car, and after a few months realized she loved the new car so much she wasn't willing to drive the old one. Offered it to me. I think for $300, but that was a long time ago, so I probably have the exact amount wrong. Point being, I had the cash to write her a check.

I have never understood leasing a car. Apparently the whole point of a lease is to get a fancier, more luxurious car than you could otherwise afford. Why?

I've always thought of cars as things on four wheels that get you from place to place. I realize that makes me quite weird, as a lot of people are heavily invested in other aspects such as luxury details.

In any case, I will still make the point that financing a first car makes sense. After that, it doesn't. DO NOT buy a car you cannot afford. DO NOT assume a car payment that stretches your budget. DO NOT take on a loan that makes you underwater, meaning you owe more than the car is worth. If that car is in an accident and is totalled, you still owe money. Buy a lesser/smaller/not so luxurious a car. Buy a used car. And pay cash.

Some years ago, when one of our cars had died, my husband got a rental, and we drove it for several weeks while he was looking for a replacement car. At some point I expressed impatience with the process, and he told me, "Most people are not really buying a car. They are buying a car payment." That resonated with me. And even though I was already in the habit of paying cash, his comment made a lot of sense.

[NowISeetheLight]

13. Cars

I've always been a car guy. As I climbed the ladder, I focused on image and status. My last leased car was six years ago. I think because I had about 15 years of driving a completely POS used car that was a money pit, I was comforted having a warranty.

I can't imagine leasing now. My view has evolved to reliable transportation. My car is comfortable and pretty reliable. Having the warranty (which will cover a rental) is piece of mind. I'll run this one until 2028, then look for a newer CPO car. By then, I'll have the cash to avoid a loan completely if I'm lucky.

I'm hopeful the next car will be an EV. I'll probably keep my current car anyway but only for special stuff like nights out. With the solar on the house the EV will be the way to go.

[mnhtnbb]

7. The article mentions

plans for a new vehicle with batteries to be made here in North Carolina. It was a big deal when the announcement was made about Toyota's plans to build a plant here to manufacture the batteries.

https://pressroom.toyota.com/facility/toyota-battery-manufacturing-north-carolina-tbmnc/

[Fla Dem]

9. Earth shattering and wonderful, if true. Could do a lot for our environment.

Last edited Mon Jul 10, 2023, 12:04 PM - Edit history (1)

[NowISeetheLight]

14. Big Oil

Big Oil will be dead if this works. It'll be interesting to see the reaction of states like Texas if this happens. They've already dumped a penalty tax on EVs. Maybe they'll just outlaw them? LOL