So What?  I pushed back, on a very familiar topic but with a 2020 view:  That narrative is beginning to fall apart.  Top-Down has been presented as the only viable means of achieving EV growth.  It's proving incorrect, an absolute pushed by purist.  Reality is, bottom-up approach can be a powerful way to reach ordinary consumers.  It's not as exciting, but it works.  The company pursuing that is Toyota.  So what if Prius Prime "only" delivers a 25-mile EV range?  With only overnight charging, that's still a potential of over 9,000 miles annually using nothing but electricity.  With a $27,750 base price, it's clearly aimed directly at middle-market.  More expensive, but still on target with pricing for the masses will be RAV4 Prime coming this summer.  Knowledge & Experience gained from the motors, batteries, controllers, and software to provide EV driving from those plug-in hybrids will provide a major contribution toward long-range EV offerings later.  Cost & Production on that scale simply isn't realistic yet, but what can be learned from the production of those plug-in hybrids right now is priceless.  Later is only a few years away.  Profit from repairs & maintenance is still a concern, but if something with a plug can be a compelling choice for a dealer, there's still hope.  It takes very little effort to get a customer already interested in the popular RAV4 hybrid to consider a RAV4 hybrid with a plug.  That's a major step in the right direction.  Too bad GM didn't do the same.  Imagine how popular an Equinox or Trax using tech from Volt could have been.

Denial.  It's becoming even more difficult to push that "laggard" narrative.  In fact, that label has fallen out of favor as a result.  Antagonists keep trying though.  They provide a convenient means of measuring progress.  The harder they struggle to send a message of supposed failure, the easier it gets to see that isn't true.  At times, that can be very informative.  It's like a gauge for change.  Anywho, today I dealt with yet another attempt:  Getting real is to ignore the continuous dismissal.  No matter what is presented, you'll refuse to accept it and cherry-pick to feed the narrative.  Reality is, the moving forward of their largest production facility is a clear sign of preparing for large-scale change.  It's not a token effort when you take your top-seller and begin offering it with a plug. The PHEV model of RAV4 will offer a 39-mile EV range, along with an impressive 302 horsepower, 5.8 second 0-60 acceleration, AWD, and towing.  Rollout will begin this summer.  There's simply no reason to listen to rhetoric claiming "a company in full denial of the transition" when evidence to the contrary is becoming obvious.

Warnings of doom for supposedly ignoring the market are meritless.  It's just spin from those who don't bother to consider the bigger picture.

How you can state "every sign" with any type of sincerity is a mystery.  Toyota is clearly preparing for the transition.

As for calculating operation costs, I don't bother.  My recharging at home is done off-peak (late night hours), to get a discount from my electricity provider.  When taking trips to visit my sister-in-law's family in Wyoming, the consumption at 80 mph (129 km/h) is an indulgence I can afford... and MPG is still more efficient than everything else I encounter along the way.  Those kids are growing up fast and there aren't really that many opportunities to visit.

Both examples look beyond the "early" activity in the market still playing out, one that doesn't even adhere to a standard approach for charging yet.

Expensive.  This was the answer I got to the "Worst?" question: "Worst case scenario it reduces every year and 7/10 years later the battery tech or design is outdated and too expensive to replace as that design is no longer in production."  Turns out, he had nothing of value to argue with.  Merit is usually lacking.  But without any substance at all, it was just a move along situation:  7 years after production ends, the automaker must stock replacement parts.  That's a federal regulation, part of what allows then to continue selling new vehicles.  As for "too expensive", that's an evade.  There's no contest that it will cost far less to breath EV life into the car with a small-capacity battery replacement.  Keep in mind, a PHEV will retain far more resell value than an early-generation EV, due to having a gas engine.  Even with reduced range, the PHEV continues daily-drives and long-time just fine.

Worst?  When someone insinuates doom, why not call them out on it?  Far too often, we get an antagonist attempting to stir emotion.  It always depends upon being vague.  If you actually confront them asking for detail, there's the potential for their argument too fall apart.  Most of the time, they'll just change the topic as an escape to avoiding admitting to the deception.  Sometimes though, you get lucky.  In this case, it was a rather simple catch.  What do they actually mean by "worst" with regard to plug-in ownership?  I asked:  Worst case scenario is what?  Replacement of the battery-pack after 150,000 miles (or 10 years, whichever comes first) would result in an entirely renewed EV capacity connected to a hybrid system without many miles on it.  Isn't that an ideal for an old vehicle?  Think of how much potential age problems a traditional vehicle faces at that point.

RAV4 Prime, along with the upcoming EV models of C-HR and UX300e, all demonstrate taking a step forward to reach out to entirely new consumers.  Each will offer its own appeal.  Each set the stage for higher volume to come.  Many here refuse to acknowledge that.

Hummer Returns.  We haven't heard anything for GM for quite awhile.  Today, there was suddenly a buzz about Hummer coming back as an electric variant.  There's no detail of any sort.  It's the same old ambiguous nonsense... only this time, there's a blatant effort to completely ignore middle-market.  In the past, we had Volt promoted as a vehicle for the common person, but it was obvious by the price that wasn't the slightest bit realistic.  Yet, that was the way it was presented for many years.  In fact, it wasn't until the end that their was admission of it really just being a niche.  That expensive and for a limited audience is what stirred so much trouble.  GM clearly had not delivered what they promised; yet, enthusiasts continued claiming they did.  I never expected such outright dishonesty.  Fortunately, the end of tax-credits for GM brought an end to Volt, which heavily depended upon that subsidy for survival.  So, the idea of Hummer returning is a head-scratcher.  Who exactly is that intended for?

Video:  Battery Temperature.  We have had an ongoing discussion on the topic of battery temperature.  The exchanges have been rather well thought out too, quite productive.  I enjoy those rare opportunity to share like that.  Today's addition to the stream of observations & conjecture was: "If the garage is 39 and the battery is at 59, it's pretty unlikely that the battery heater ran.  It only runs enough to get the battery to a few degrees over 32 (maybe up to 37 at most)."  That was an excellent point, which got me thinking.  So, I took the time to collect some real-world data:  I was able to confirm behavior.  The battery temp was 69°F at midnight when charging completed.  I unplugged, then checked 3.5 hours later; the temp had dropped to 62°F.  Another 3.5 hours later, I plugged back in; at that point it had dropped to 57°F.  An hour later, the temp was now at 55°F and the charger did not report and electricity draw during that time.  btw, I have witnessed 41°F from that battery-heater with the garage at 14°F and charging not having taken place for 3 days.  Here's video showing exactly that... Prius Prime - Extreme Cold (commute to work)