Behind is False.  The response I got to the more-is-better reply was: "Wow...so it's now on par with a '22 Mach E."  That was expected rhetoric.  Sarcasm from an enthusiast is basically a reveal of their defensive mechanism.  They don't know how to respond to being told what they had claimed was somehow incorrect.  But in this case, there was more.  He added: "Not sure what SiC is."  Ugh.  That means he was making an assumption all along.  It's just like a large number of the battles I fought with Volt enthusiasts making false claims about Prius Prime.  Since they didn't actually have the technical knowledge for either Toyota or Chevy, assumptions were made that were not correct.  They'd argue with a passion too.  I was baffled at that level of stubborn & stupidity.  Never taking the time to check their own facts was quite a surprise.  In fact, it was inspiration for me to start publishing videos.  That proved to be an awesome means of teaching in such a subtle manner, they wouldn't realize they had learned a fundamental error until it was too late.  Many left the blog rather than face such embarrassment.  It was sweet.  Debunking misconceptions & squashing attempts to mislead is very fulfilling, especially when you celebrate with quiet.  The moments of "I told you so" never need to be given attention when you really try to inform prior to that.  I wonder if the same will happen again.  Hopefully in about a month, I will be able to collect real-world data to do the same again.  For now, I treat these encounters with a little bit of conviction.  I posted:  You should, hence my callout.  Use of SiC (Silicon Carbide) semiconductors... which Toyota is now using... contribute to improved energy efficiency, driving performance, and reduced charging time.  In other words, the claim of being behind is false.

Real-World Benefit.  This was a great example of asking questions, actual critical thought: "Why does it not matter?  We're on an enthusiast EV forum, discussing nitpicks about cars.  Of course the Toyota is fine too.  But anyone who is an enthusiast about EVs will admit that their tech is way behind.  And the average driver will be impacted by that too, through longer charging times."  Notice what's wrong with that logic?  It's vague.  The point attempted is lost without context.  There's no detail whatsoever ever.  What does "longer" actually represent?  I put it this way:  The difference between an enthusiast and a supporter is the latter recognizes diminishing returns.  Longer charger times becomes trivial... a nitpick topic... at a certain point.  Ask how long the average driver spends at a rest area.    If they are stopped for 20 minutes (very easy to do if you use the restroom, get something to eat or drink, and check a few things on your phone), the fact that the faster charge took 15 minutes is moot.  It's kind of like acceleration speed.  Numbers that look better on paper don't allows translate to a real-world benefit.

More Is Better.  Really?  Ugh.  We are back to that attitude I encountered over 25 years ago, when shopping for my Prius.  If the engine has a larger size, it was perceived to be better.  More liters meant more power, in their mind.  That wasn't actually reality though.  Out of necessity, the automakers in Japan strived to make more from less.  Shipping vehicles across the Pacific is expensive.  Using less material to make them lighter & cheaper provided a gain.  A smaller engine was naturally more efficient too, since it would require a greater load for the same output and it would physically weigh less.  That's a winning formula.  Many didn't see that logic back then and some clearly don't now.  This example today highlighted that ignorance: "LMAO.  Seriously, 74.7 kwh max battery?"  This comes from enthusiasts who have witnessed the typical battery-pack size from an American automaker grow to 90 kWh.  To get more miles, you add more battery.  Blah.  I can't believe these supposed experts online are that simple-minded.  But then again, absence of critical thinking is common.  That's sad.  I try to point that out with explanations of their incorrect assumptions of more being better.  I suspect few of them will ever get a clue, but I share that knowledge anyway.  Perhaps some lurkers figure it out.  Here's today sharing:  Basing your assessment on battery size without taking efficiency into account is telling.  History taught us that was a mistake with engine size.  Toyota is able to squeeze out more than competitors.  In this case, their next-gen eAxle in the 2026 (along with some aerodynamic refinements) delivers much better efficiency.  With less than 3 kWh battery, range increased by 56 miles for the AWD.  Do a search for SiC (Silicon Carbide) semiconductors for more info.

Proven Wise.  My comment in response to the "against them" post reflected upon history, drawing attention to the similar approach.  It draw a conclusion though.  Playing offense means jumping in with content before the topic is overwhelmed with a narrative, providing content to prevent such undermining.  In other words, making sure there is nothing to defend.  In this case, it is pointing out mistakes the other legacy automakers have made.  Claims were that Toyota would be bankrupt in the next 3 to 5 years.  Now 3 years later, it is easy to see they were wrong.  Toyota is in a stronger position than the others.  Taking a slower path and adapting with their extremely successful continuous improvement approach, fewer mistakes were made.  With an rapidly evolving market, predicting the where & when aspects of the business is difficult.  However, rushing rarely ever turns out to be a good idea.  Enthusiasts are blind & deaf in that regard.  Patience is not their virtue.  Wisdom of small steps will never be something they will accept.  I was happy to point that out:  btw, Toyota's choice was proven wise.  Other legacy automakers choosing to sell loss-leaders with the hope sharp demand increase didn't work out.  Increase never grew at their planned rate.  Production needed to be scaled back.  That hope has now shifted to gen-2.

Against EVs.  This sentiment was easy to spread in the past: "Yes, they were planning on selling very few of both.  That speaks volumes about the company's position on EVs: They're against them.  Buyer beware."  I wonder what lurkers will think now.  Spreading the belief that slow meant disinterest doesn't take much effort and take zero evidence.  All antagonists had to do was make that claim.  But later when lurkers make contradictory observations themselves, things get ugly.  Depending upon an established narrative doesn't work forever.  That push of "behind" has a weakness of at some point catching up, which is something many would expect from Toyota... especially since the whole position belief relies upon the expectation of Toyota being able to deliver better than others.  I addressed that nonsense with:  Again, history contradicts the narrative.  Toyota learned that gen-2 was the better priority.  Leverage gen-1 for experience & feedback. In other words, treat the first like a beta release.  This isn't rocket science.  If you want sustained profitable sales in high volume, odds are very good the first offering is an unwise gamble.  Enthusiasts unwilling to exhibit patience is nothing new.

Port Location.  Where the plug goes into the car is becoming a hot topic.  Attitude around that is raising concern: "Tesla should mandate driver rear for the plug on new cars or you do t get to use superchargers."  How is that a useful business suggestion?  Forcing a configuration is counter to what you want from a standard.  In fact, the entire point of becoming standard is agreement upon the technology itself... not how it is implemented.  Flexibility of offering is the business part, where the innovative & responsive get rewarded.  The statement went on to claim there was a standard for gas.  Huh?  I certainly don't remember that.  In fact, what I do remember is an arrow on the dashboard by the gas-gauge reminding you of what side of the car the filler-door was on.  When I pointed that out and mentioned carrying something on a hitch or towing created a problem for any EV port in rear positioning was a problem, the poster got annoyed with me: "That response sounds a bit ornery.  I'll pass on further comment."  It's quite telling when they abruptly have nothing to argue.  I clearly struck a nerve.  Having asked politely in the past for feedback about that very issue from Tesla owners, I got silence.  This was the first time someone sighted any type of exasperation.  It was the confirmation I had been looking for.  Ingidation on the part of Tesla's treatment of existing owners had been exposed with a non-Tesla owner stirred the situation.  The hail-mary move on Elon's part 2 years ago was an act of desperation, not well thought out.  Had his offer to standardize the NACS plug to what has become J3400 been well thought out, longer cords would have been installed.  After all, he has been showing them off for more than a year now without any progress.  Meanwhile, we see Electrify America upgrade electrical equipment at its stations to improve the customer experience.  What I pointed out what a shortcoming with Tesla vehicles.  It is my rebuttal for all those times we have been told "Should have bought a Tesla" when asking for constructive feedback.  That's not useful advice.  That's spite.  But since I'm playing offense now, so be it.  That is what friendly competition is supposed to bring about.  So, I pointed out:  Without pull-thru parking, a Tesla cannot charge either in that case.

bZ Shipped.  I got word that my 2026 was loaded onto the boat for shipping from Japan 4 days ago.  That's nice to find out.  I don't what to expect from a 3-week delivery window, but it does seem encouraging for the process to be underway following build completion.  Who knows what will happen when it reaches port here in the United States.  My particular vehicle has a few options that will be installed there.  Waiting in line to be put on a train for transport from the West Coast to the Midwest is an unknown too.  Reasonably being within a month of purchase is plenty.  Hope was to catch the beginning of winter.  It's difficult to set an expectation of what the news will bring.  Having real-world data is priceless in any case.  I remember an EV travel story years ago that passed through this area.  Being able to point out the incorrect claim being made with very accurate firsthand reporting was awesome.  It was very simple to debunk, armed with that knowledge.  Similar will likely be the case with this too... since bZ4X took such a hit with fast-charging in cold temperatures.  Upgrades that bZ will include directly address that experience gained in terms of actual benefit.  Rhetoric can easily be squashed with real-world data.  Seeing a status of "shipped" makes that much closer to reality.

Confidence.  There's a lot of anticipation for the 2026 bZ, but very little in terms of what to actually expect.  What I'm looking forward to is winter, though filming in Minnesota does present some challenges... like snow.  DC charging then should be much faster with the warmer upgrade along with the addition of preconditioning.  Efficiency on my daily commute is what I'll be most interested in.  Delivery window for my 2026 is currently 11/13-12/06.  So, I will definitely get lots winter driving opportunity.  Sharing such information something I know many will find helpful.  Whether they are seeking answers to those very questions or simply need a distraction while waiting for their own delivery, it's nice to be part of something.  This is basically Toyota's introduction to mainstream shoppers, a choice for them.  Few BEV fit that criteria so far.  Offerings like Ioniq 5 are completely unique, no traditional counterpart.  That makes sales difficult, since there isn't a clear audience being targeted.  When I'm at EV events and point out bZ is pretty much just an EV version of RAV4, people get very excited.  That makes purchase consideration easier.  This is why Equinox & Blazer are offered as EV models.  It simply makes sense.  To close the deal though, you need real-world endorsement of what shoppers show most concern for once their range-anxiety is addressed.  That's how snow comes into play.  Seeing examples of those cold season drives is the final step for winning over confidence.

Weekend Warrior.  This is what I had to say when a generic is-it-enough question was asked about range: "I have a 2023, the AWD with a 222-mile rating.  Trips to northern Minnesota from the Twin Cities (175 miles each way for me) are no big deal.  If you're a weekend-warrior hitting the cabin during the warm season, that works fine."  That seems to satisfy the curiosity of most.  I'm often surprised to discover many people expect less for range.  That could be a legacy carryover which automakers selling here have misinterpreted.  The impression is that a 300-mile capacity is necessary, but reality doesn't support it.  As most and more DC fast-charger locations are built, that natural range-anxiety related to purchase will fade.  Once you start driving, that range-anxiety is solved by whatever navigation is offered that shows charger info.  This is why the mapping systems are adding real-time feeds to provide charger status.  Not everyone will use a planner app.  Simply being able to find chargers along the way as you drive will suffice.  After all, that's what people have done on road trips for decades.  Heck, those highway signs with "food & gas" info work great.  This is why I leverage the weekend-warrior example.  It's relatable, a context to put usage in relatable scenario.

Regen Boost.  This is understandable: "I just don't like how Toyota does regen braking for their EVs.  I get why - they are matching their EVs to how their hybrids work, but i appreciate true one-pedal driving that will slow to a stop."  Some of that comes from liability, similar to the backup alert inside the vehicle.  You want to come to a complete stop, you need to tap the brake.  In most situations, people don't.  They want to keep going.  It's somewhat bizarre saying they do.  Just pay attention to your next daily commute for perspective.  I could see that in a drive-thru; however, the brake disengaging isn't smooth.  There's a natural disengage lurch if you start to go quickly.  Anywho, I can just settle for an "it is what it is" and move on... after at least saying something in reply:  You are correct, it does mimic what hybrid owners are already very familiar with.  Slowing to a complete stop would be counter-productive anyway.  I have a 2023 bZ4X (which will be replaced with a 2026 bZ within the next month or so) and find that version of one-pedal awesome for roundabouts.  It will slow down accordingly (driver assist, along with regen) so on the mark that I rarely have to touch the brake pedal, just by lifting my foot from the accelerator.  When you do actually want to stop and stay stopped, the "hold" feature works well in combination with "regen boost".

Toyota Announcements.  At the same time on the same day, we got announcements from Toyota about the next-gen bZ and the next-gen RAV4.  For the 2026 bZ that will be replacing my 2023 bZ4X in about a month or so, we were informed that Tesla Supercharger access is now available and that Plug & Charge will be available shortly.  For the RAV4, we were informed it will be available in 3 different design across 7 models.  What interested me most was the plug-in hybrid.  Electric-only driving got increased by 23% to bring EV range to 52 miles.  Needless to say, internet chat blew up on the automotive venues here.  There's a lot to like about what Toyota is rolling out in the next few months.  This is what I posted as a heads up for the bZ4X people:  Toyota officially announced support for Superchargers today.  Of course, some of us were unofficially using them already.  2023-2025 owners will be getting adapters for free in November.  2026 has NACS (moved to passenger front); those owners will be provided with adapters for using CCS and J1772.  The new generation bZ will also support Plug & Charge.

Delivery Window.  I have been watching production ramp-up by searching inventory allocations.  To my delight, I saw the VIN assigned to my 2026 had got bumped from November 22 thru December 25 to a little over a week sooner with November 13 thru December 6.  Of course, that is subject to a variety of potential impediments.  Any one of a variety of things could alter the schedule, to cause delay.  I couldn't imaging arrival any sooner, especially with several port options to be installed after the vehicle gets off the boat.  Train schedules are a big mystery too.  Being in the Midwest, you just naturally have to wait longer.  I remember the same thing happening 3 years ago, but then it took even longer.  Rather than weeks before flyover country got any supply, it was months.  I remember a dealer here in Minnesota and another in Wisconsin purchasing new bZ4X from the East Coast and hauling them here themselves to get a jump on the market.  This time, that won't be happening.  In fact, it looks like around a dozen 2026 will be delivered to the Twin Cities in about a month.  One is destined for Rochester a week sooner.  That will only be a short span after we first start hearing reports of initial purchases on the coasts.