If the electric car winners of this year have done their best to push the technology forward, some makers have definitely not lived up to expectations.
The gist is you would have expected all makers jump on the chance to make a name for their company, buff their tarnished reputation and act on the promise of the electric drive. If a few rose to the challenge, others were less then stellar.
The No-So Prestigious Award For Lackluster Enthusiasm Goes To… Toyota and Mazda. Unfortunately Toyota and Mazda have been more foot on the break than flowing lose electrons. Toyota’s continual put down of battery technology has put a crimp on its image as a modern car maker. The cmpany is happy churning Prius hybrids with little innovations over a decade but a constant stream of modifications. Despite a strong call from users, it has been very, very slow to turn its Prius into a plug-in hybrid, PHEV. On the same award, Mazda also downplaying battery technology and saying the internal combustion engine, ICE has decades to go. If both companies have shown some promising EV concepts, they were more concepts then production ready.
The Not-So Prestigious Award For Missed EV Concept Opportunity Only Goes To… Honda. Honda has also claimed that battery operated vehicles were not ready and hydrogen fuel cells were the way to go, despite incredible roadblocks. They have shown a few concepts that raised our enthusiasm, namely their retro futuristic EV concept, scooter and the LA Auto Show P-Nut. We await to see production ready units.
The Not-So Prestigious EV Award For “Where Are You?” Goes To… The Italian Car Industry. Sadly absent from the EV revolution is the country that brought much passion to cars, whether with racing or every day driving, Italy. While there have been a few EV concepts here and there, Italy has scored lower than Germany when it comes to the EV revolution.
Next… hybrids.
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