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      12 V battery problem forces Toyota to recall 1.8 million SUVs

      news.movim.eu / ArsTechnica · Thursday, 2 November, 2023 - 18:48

    A 2017 Toyota RAV4 engine bay

    Enlarge / This is the engine bay of a 2018 RAV4 Hybrid, but the problem is not the hybrid traction battery. (credit: Alun Taylor)

    There's plenty of fear, uncertainty, and doubt about electric cars and the potential risk of battery fires , but the regular old 12 V battery is responsible for Toyota issuing a recall for more than 1.8 million cars this week.

    Toyota says the problem is due to differences in the sizes of replacement batteries—some have smaller tops than others, and if a smaller-top battery isn't held in properly by its clamp, the battery could move under hard cornering, letting the positive terminal contact the clamp, causing a short-circuit and possible fire risk.

    The problem affects 2013–2018 RAV4s —about 1,854,000 of them, according to Toyota. The official National Highway Traffic Safety Administration safety recall notice has not yet been posted, but NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation has had an open case looking into the problem since February 2021 , after 11 complaints about "non-crash thermal events" starting in the engine bays of RAV4s.

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      Toyota shows electric concepts at Tokyo show, but it may never build them

      news.movim.eu / ArsTechnica · Thursday, 26 October, 2023 - 14:10

    A man stands on stage with a concept car either side of him. In the background it says TOYOTA in large red letters

    Enlarge / Toyota CEO and President Kaji Sato on stage with the FT-Se (left) and FT-3e (right) concepts. (credit: Toyota)

    Toyota provided flights from Halifax, Canada, to Tokyo, Japan, and five nights in a hotel so we could attend the Japan Mobility Show, plus subsequent briefings and test drives. Ars does not accept paid editorial content.

    A booth full of concept cars is nothing new at an auto show. This year at the Japan Mobility Show, though, Toyota called its entire booth a concept. The concept was "Find Your Future," and it was meant to show how electric vehicles can be fun and flexible in ways that internal combustion vehicles can't.

    Toyota also highlighted an internal combustion vehicle that offers even more flexibility than its concepts. One will go on sale in Asia in the next few months, while the others may never see pavement.

    The FT-Se is very orange.

    The FT-Se is very orange. (credit: Toyota )

    The highlight was a sharp-looking electric sports car concept called the FT-Se. Toyota didn't provide many details, but it described what the concept means for future production Toyota EVs.

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      Toyota reveals its plan to catch up on EV battery technology

      news.movim.eu / ArsTechnica · Tuesday, 19 September, 2023 - 15:26

    Electric vehicle lithium ion rechargeable battery module inside metal enclosure packed for car, solid li-ion cell pack manufacturing for ev automotive energy storage industry 3D rendering

    Enlarge (credit: Getty Images)

    Toyota, the world's largest automaker , has a problem. Although the company is famous for pioneering lean methods of manufacturing and being an early pioneer of hybrid electric powertrains, the switch to battery electric vehicles caught it somewhat unprepared. As rivals locked up contracts for critical minerals and formed joint ventures with battery makers ( or built their own ), Toyota has appeared to fall behind.

    Now, it has released a new roadmap showing how it will regain competitiveness and sell 3.5 million EVs by 2030.

    After some early experiments with electric-converted RAV4s (including a partnership with Tesla), Toyota has finally released a modern BEV, the bZ4x. The car had a difficult launch—a recall for wheels falling off will lead to that—but a week's test of a bZ4x exceeded our low expectations. A look at the car's specs makes clear Toyota's problem, though: There are different battery packs for the single-motor and dual-motor versions, made by Panasonic and CATL, respectively.

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      Toyota’s Japanese production was halted due to insufficient disk space

      news.movim.eu / ArsTechnica · Wednesday, 6 September, 2023 - 20:42

    close-up of a car's Toyota emblem

    Enlarge (credit: Getty )

    Toyota's 14 Japanese factories all shut down for about two days last week due to a production order system malfunction caused by a lack of disk space, the company announced today.

    According to Toyota, its Japanese factories and their 28 assembly lines were halted due to "some multiple servers that process part orders" becoming unavailable and causing Toyota's production order system to malfunction on August 28.

    The problem began during maintenance work on August 27. Toyota's press release said:

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      The 2023 Toyota Crown can’t decide if it’s a sedan or a crossover

      news.movim.eu / ArsTechnica · Monday, 31 July, 2023 - 20:21 · 1 minute

    A bronze and black Toyota Crown, with some greenery in the foreground

    Enlarge / An endangered species, the sedan is starting to adapt to the new crossover-based environment. (credit: Jonathan Gitlin)

    The sedan might not be properly extinct like non-avian dinosaurs, but it has certainly fallen out of favor with the car-buying public. That's a topic that Toyota knows plenty about—even as the SUV becomes ascendant, its Camry sedan remains the nation's best-selling vehicle that isn't a pickup, crossover, or SUV. So its designers were evidently reading the tea leaves when it came time to replace the Avalon. That replacement is called the Crown, and while it definitely checks the "four doors and a trunk" criteria, its bold styling makes it the most SUV-like sedan I've encountered in some time.

    The Crown shares its TNGA-K platform with other large Toyotas and Lexuses, including the aforementioned Camry , plus SUVs like the Venza , Highlander , and RX , and even a minivan . Those are all largely conventional, ignoring for the moment Lexus' large cheese grater grille.

    The Crown is less conventional, starting with a height that's almost four inches taller than the Camry—60.6 inches (1,539 mm) despite near-identical ground clearance. It's the same width as a Camry (72.4 inches or 1,840 mm depending on which flavor you speak) but four inches longer at 196.1 inches (4,980 mm), and with an inch-longer wheelbase (112.2 inches/2,850 mm). And it conforms—sort of—to the three-box shape one expects of a sedan.

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      Stellantis et Toyota détestent le plan de Joe Biden pour augmenter les ventes de voitures électriques

      news.movim.eu / Numerama · Tuesday, 11 July, 2023 - 12:57

    Le groupe automobile et Toyota se sont montrés réticents face au plan du président américain concernant l’électrification du parc automobile américain. Selon eux, l’administration « sous-estime » les principaux défis de cette transition. [Lire la suite]

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      Toyota invente une batterie “solide” à l’autonomie incroyable

      news.movim.eu / JournalDuGeek · Thursday, 6 July, 2023 - 12:00

    toyota-bz4x-158x105.jpg toyota-concept-bz

    La marque japonaise Toyota vient de réaliser une innovation de taille. Avec cette batterie solide l'autonomie est tout simplement doublée.

    Toyota invente une batterie “solide” à l’autonomie incroyable

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      Toyota et Hyundai sont accusés de mentir sur la recharge des voitures électriques

      news.movim.eu / Numerama · Friday, 30 June, 2023 - 10:52

    L'Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), le régulateur de la publicits au Royaume-Uni, a épinglé Toyota et Hyundai. Les deux constructeurs automobiles sont accusés d'avoir menti sur la recharge rapide des voitures électriques. [Lire la suite]

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      Toyota passera aux véhicules 100 % électriques, mais sous la pression de l’Europe

      news.movim.eu / Numerama · Wednesday, 21 June, 2023 - 10:51

    Le constructeur japonais Toyota a dévoilé qu'il serait apte à vendre uniquement des véhicules électriques à partir de 2035. Et, uniquement si on le lui impose en Europe. [Lire la suite]

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