Over the last few days, a couple of articles have caught my eye. The first describes a new kind of wire coating that has debuted on the new Toyota Tundra. The second article reports that Toyota is considering reducing features in the new Tundra in order to be more cost-competitive with the domestics. Seems like the problem is obvious to me…
First, the new wire coating. Developed by Delphi, the new wire coating has a thickness equivalent to two (2) pieces of paper. The material being used isn’t the standard PVC, but a new material derived mostly from recycled plastic. The big benefit to this new material is that it requires much less of it to sufficiently coat a wire, reducing the size and weight of the wiring in the vehicle. Also, because it’s created from recycled plastics, it’s better for the environment. Pretty slick stuff.
Knowing Toyota, this is probably a change they’ll make to all of their vehicles over the next few years. Toyota is committed to making the best vehicle on the road, and this new material will help both reduce weight and help the environment. You can read the Delphi press release for more info.
As for the second article, the words “jaw-dropping” come to mind. A little background: for years, we’ve read about domestic auto manufacturers removing standard features from their vehicles in order to cut costs. Manufacturers call it a “product realignment”, but what that really means is that the same vehicle is going to have less equipment than it did before but still cost the same. This practice was so wide-spread in the late 90’s that it received the moniker “decontenting”.
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