Perhaps you've heard about the new Scion eQ electric vehicle- the first Scion EV on the market. It seems that Toyota has decided to scale back production of this milestone car, which was at first scheduled to be marketed on a much larger scale. If you've been wondering why the company has changed its mind, Heart City Toyota Scion, conveniently located at 711 N. Nappanee St. Elkhart, IN 46514, has the answers for you!
Bill Reiner, Prius designer and National Manager of the brand's Advanced Technologies Group, believes that EVs will ever truly see success, primarily because of their heavy weight and their expensive batteries, but also because of the large amount of energy density fossil fuels deliver in comparison. He states, "In a Prius, in an 18-pound gas tank that's 450 bucks, I can get you 600 miles or thereabouts. In an electric car, the battery is somewhere around $15,000 to $25,000 and it will take you about 100 miles, maybe, on a good day if it's not too cold and not too hot. There's a giant difference in energy density."1Of course, there's a chance Reiner could just prefer his hybrid Prius vehicles.
Of course, it's conceivable that Toyota never really meant to distribute more than a few of the eQ models to simply meet environmental requirements in states like California, which requires major automakers to build and sell a certain percentage of zero-emission models.
A spokesman for Toyota, John Hanson, recently established this with Jim Motavalli of Mother Nature Network, stating, "With California's ZEV mandates, you get more credits if you bring in a car for car sharing. We're still moving ahead with a small-volume eQ program here in California…. It's going to be seen in car-sharing programs and on campuses."2
For additional new Scion and new Toyota updates, be sure to check back often with Heart City Toyota Scion!
Source: 1,2http://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffmcmahon/2012/09/29/why-did-toyota-develop-the-eq/
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