Toyota And Lexus Have Sold 15+ MILLION Hybrids Over The Last 10 Years. WHY, Are People Not As Down With Them As EV's?

Imagine begin a product manager at a car company and your job is to prove a business case for a technology. And you have two columns...Pros and Cons. And by the time you are done, the pros are 6x over the competing tech.

So you make the choice and in ten years you outsell the competing tech by a LANDSLIDE. YET, whenever you listen to the media YOUR choice is hardly EVER covered or praised. It's ALWAYS about the losing tech.

What I explained to you there is EXACTLY what happened to hybrid cars and trucks.

Did you know in the last 10 years Lexus and Toyota alone have sold over 15 MILLION hybrids. Pretty impressive.

I myself, have owned a few and personally like the hybrid solution second best to CNG.

I leased two, 2019 Ford Fusion Hybrids for my kids.

But that said the media is ALL about EV. You'd almost think hybrids didn't even exist.

So tell us WHY do you think hybrids ended up being the red-headed stepchild in the media?

Spies, discuss...

MDarringer - 5/14/2020 10:29:34 PM

0 Boost

At one time, hybrids were the next best step and now they are neither fish nor foul.

SuperCarEnthusiast - 5/15/2020 2:58:38 AM

-1 Boost

Why have both - gas and electric! Double the repair costs!

MDarringer - 5/15/2020 10:15:05 AM

+3 Boost

What an absolutely moronic statement. The record of the Toyota hybrids is one of excellent reliability with no more issues than a conventional Toyota. Stop being so ghastly ignorant.

PUGPROUD - 5/15/2020 9:29:53 AM

+2 Boost

Lets see, 15+ million divided by 10 = 1.5+ million a year. Quite a few manufacturers would be thrilled to sell 1.5 million vehicles a year of any type and call it a success...Jaguar, Volvo, Alfa, Mazda, Mitsubishi, to name a few.

CANADIANCOMMENTS - 5/15/2020 10:43:13 AM

+4 Boost

Airplanes were very cool, but jet planes are cooler. People chase what is shiny and new. With no range anxiety they are the perfect solution for many drivers. And the quality of certain brands like Toyota makes them a reliable ride. For years hybrid cars had odd "space ship" styling. They still sold well, but the numbers could have been even higher with more traditional looks.

MDarringer - 5/15/2020 12:17:40 PM

+1 Boost

What always made me wonder was why big crossovers, minivans, and 1/2 ton pickups, and BOF SUVs were not widely hybridized for the sake of MPG. Hybridizing a Corolla and putting an ugly body over the top to make a Prius wasn't an example of putting the technology where it was needed most.

CANADIANCOMMENTS - 5/15/2020 4:01:12 PM

+2 Boost

@MD- Correct. Bigger vehicles had more room for electric motors and batteries and could have benefited for more from this tech. It's a mystery....

dlin - 5/15/2020 12:57:31 PM

0 Boost

If something has good quality and works, why would people be down with it?

We only have problem with car with steering wheel coming off

MDarringer - 5/15/2020 1:53:31 PM

-1 Boost

The irony of hybrids is that they are outmoded technology.

SanJoseDriver - 5/15/2020 6:05:02 PM

+1 Boost

That happened one out of a million times to be fair. It also wasn't a product defect but an assembly issue where someone didn't bolt it on properly. Easy to fix (fire or retrain the person who did it) versus doing a recall.