News, Updates, and Discussions on next-gen A100 Supra

[2JZ-No-Sh*t]

Hopefully the economy doesn't go to shit and Toyota decides to pull the plug at the last minute. Cough cough FTHS...

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[PerformanceSound]

The “production” car(s) will not look like that. Lexus and Toyota will have two different powertrains.

 

[C-Pike]

The “production” car(s) will not look like that.

Look like what? The black GT3 concept car?

 

[gymratter]

It’s all politics folks….understand politics, and you will make very good decisions in your life (stocks, real estate, cars, etc…). It’s all politics!

EV’s were never intended to be THE ONLY way to power vehicles. Yes, we are seeing more and more companies adopting EV’s in their lineup, but it’s not because they believe “it’s the future.” They do so to meet fleet carbon footprint numbers to an acceptable number issued by the CURRENT ADMINISTRATION. This isn’t new, it’s been happening every time a new administration has come into the office. Some administrations are more concerned with climate change, some are concerned with oil, some are concerned with guns, some are concerned with taxes, etc…. CURRENTLY, manufacturers with larger fleet of cars must “make” OR must “start working on” EV development to meet administration standards for each segment of vehicle…otherwise, they have to toss out that segment (cough-cough, LandCruiser). As long as a manufacturer is able to have x-percentage of fleet electrified, they can then continue making x-percentage of ICE powered vehicles. Ever wonder why Ford came out with the supercharged V8 Raptor R AFTER the release of the Lightning and Mach-E??? They had to meet the EV fleet percentage to get the green light to continue releasing big displacement gas engines. Same rule applies to Chevy, Honda, Nissan, etc…. and Toyota!!!

So, if you understand politics, you will easily be able to foresee upcoming trends and make better decisions on a bunch of things!

Your welcome….and just be patient, every administration is different .

looks like Toyota is changing their EV development

 

[KahnBB6]

looks like Toyota is changing their EV development

Saw this. Hopefully their long term BEV plan will turn out well since they needed to get on top of it one way or another.

I'm just a little concerned that their main benchmark is... Tesla. I really hope they aren't going for more Tesla-like cars or a Tesla-like ownership experience. Not everyone wants a clone of Tesla's approach to electric cars. I hope Toyota eases into better BEVs while retaining a uniquely Toyota-like and Lexus-like lineup and ownership experience.

From this I'm getting that current E-TNGA platforms are going to be stretched a while longer as they revise their overall EV rollout over the next few years. And undoubtedly they're moving along with their solid state battery tech R&D as they ready it for large scale mass production in a few years.

Also I hope this strategy revision still includes their hydrogen fuel cell and hydrogen combustion plans but there's no mention of either in this article.

I guess we'll know more in December.

Edit:
Here's Bestcar's perspective. Open it in the Google Chrome browser and enable the translate function.

https://bestcarweb.jp/feature/column/536006

 

[PerformanceSound]

looks like Toyota is changing their EV development

When I said Toyota wasn’t going all in with EV’s, no one believed me. Toyota is super smart folks, like quantum computation smart! What they are doing is buying time until a new administration arrives. EV’s are not cost effective or practical for the everyday consumer. They know this! So, “when” a new administration comes in 2024, all other automakers will be scrambling to revert back to ICE powered vehicles while Toyota will be ready instantly for their new lineup. Why do you think some of their best models won’t be ready by…..tadaaaa….2024!!!

 

[vb22]

Look like what? The black GT3 concept car?

I'm also a little lost. Does this mean the sheet metal on the GT3 concept was just for show and the platform & chassis are what is really being showcased / will carry over to the production car(s)?

 

[KahnBB6]

When I said Toyota wasn’t going all in with EV’s, no one believed me. Toyota is super smart folks, like quantum computation smart! What they are doing is buying time until a new administration arrives. EV’s are not cost effective or practical for the everyday consumer. They know this! So, “when” a new administration comes in 2024, all other automakers will be scrambling to revert back to ICE powered vehicles while Toyota will be ready instantly for their new lineup. Why do you think some of their best models won’t be ready by…..tadaaaa….2024!!!

I think Toyota and specifically Akio Toyoda are keen to do several last-chance ICE and hybrid ICE projects prior to 2035... but the U.S. is far from their only market. There are also all the other world countries and their own positions on phasing out gasoline and diesel at certain hard dates in the future, to say nothing of ever tightening emissions regulations in each of those countries. The U.S. isn't going to stop advancing electric vehicle technology and infrastructure.

Toyota also wouldn't be in a literal arms race to perfect solid state batteries if they didn't have eyes on its future potential. Similarly their R&D and early steps with production hydrogen fuel cell vehicles and their (so far) experimentation with hydrogen combustion for niche uses. I have no doubt that they have some of the best people in the world in their labs working on all of those.

Today's battery EV and hydrogen fuel cell technologies and the state of the charging infrastructure are not going to stay static. A LOT can evolve on all those technological and infrastructure fronts by the year 2035. Technology improves over time, especially when billions are being thrown at a particular technology all at once to advance it as fast as possible to bring something cutting edge and advantageous to the market before a competitor does.

I think we have several cool enthusiast internal combustion models to look forward to over the next few years before then but as an overall strategy Toyota is making some big revisions to accelerate, not decelerate their EV plans. They're far from the only automaker doing this.

I'm just glad Toyota has a CEO who loves fun cars and actually understands them and champions them. This is not dissimilar from what I see going on at Dodge. Technologies will change but as long as people like them are in charge of their respective companies and are demanding from their engineers and product designers that *fun*, driver-oriented, sportscars, hot hatches, etc. be part of some of their product lines there will be a healthy trickle down effect for buyers who also want all those qualities in their car options no matter what powers them.

Basically that is the total opposite approach that Tesla has to their cars, their customer experience and their view of driving engagement and fun in general. That is why I hope this "benchmarking" of Tesla is more down to how to achieve a high sales volume rather than how to mimic every aspect of their vehicles.

 

[Bryster]

Can I ask about the Simulated manual? how long were they planning that? because as far as we were concerned they wanted to focus on electrification

 

[KahnBB6]

Can I ask about the Simulated manual? how long were they planning that? because as far as we were concerned they wanted to focus on electrification

I'd also love to know more about how this is going for them. I've seen the recent proof of concept R&D car in a crossover chassis. While it is fake it is still far more interesting than a soulless 1-speed silent experience.

I'm more interested in Dodge's electro-mechanical "shiftable" EV transmission in the Daytona concept but Toyota may be onto something if it brings back very well thought through interactivity to their performance EVs.

Then there's another aspect to all of this: when we finally get to the point that batteries for electric cars are no longer the compromised bottlenecks that they are... this may actually have an effect of changing the dynamics of the torque curves of the motors powering the wheels as things stand today with 2022 technology.

^^ It is still very early days but such advancements *might* meet something like simulated manual transmission technology halfway.

Ultimately I'm keeping an open mind on their simulated manual experimentation. After the GR Supra, GR86, GR Yaris, GR Corolla and their Lexus performance models I want to see where they go with this. Anything that genuinely keeps their niche cars fun to drive is a total 180 from what Tesla has given us as the main impression of all that electric cars can aspire to be.

 

[PerformanceSound]

There is a new sports car platform coming, this I know for sure (Lexus something and Toyota Supra successor).

There are R&D mules with undetectable camo running new underpinnings for the new platform. However, pretty positive it’s not the GR GT3.

 

[PerformanceSound]

Can I ask about the Simulated manual? how long were they planning that? because as far as we were concerned they wanted to focus on electrification

I believe this is Yamaha’s new tech that Toyota is using. It’s a voltage-regulated “shift-by-wire” setup that is just in prototyping.

 

[KahnBB6]

There is a new sports car platform coming, this I know for sure (Lexus something and Toyota Supra successor).

There are R&D mules with undetectable camo running new underpinnings for the new platform. However, pretty positive it’s not the GR GT3.

Hang on... it was my understanding previous to your post that the GR GT3 Concept *was* the prototype platform that would be shared between the next generation Supra and an upcoming FAR more expensive Lexus supercar.

That is not the case? The GR GT3 prototype/platform represents something else entirely?

I still think Lexus would sell it globally including in NA given that we do have very wealthy people who buy supercars in NA but I had thought all this time that the GR GT3 Concept was not a third car but a platform that would spawn a new Supra and Lexus with wildly different powertrains, options and styling. Also it very curiously shares many of the same hard-points visually with one of Mazda's recent "Vision" concept sportscars.

 

[PerformanceSound]

Hang on... it was my understanding previous to your post that the GR GT3 Concept *was* the prototype platform that would be shared between the next generation Supra and an upcoming FAR more expensive Lexus supercar.

That is not the case? The GR GT3 prototype/platform represents something else entirely?

I still think Lexus would sell it globally including in NA given that we do have very wealthy people who buy supercars in NA but I had thought all this time that the GR GT3 Concept was not a third car but a platform that would spawn a new Supra and Lexus with wildly different powertrains, options and styling. Also it very curiously shares many of the same hard-points visually with one of Mazda's recent "Vision" concept sportscars.

I never said the GR GT3 was the new Supra or a new Lexus. I said there is a new platform on its way, and whether or not it uses the same underpinnings is yet to be confirmed. However, the GR GT3 (current concept) is a different car altogether. This is why I am saying I don’t believe we will see a “GR GT3” stateside. There is a new platform being developed, and from what I know takes some queues from the concept but mostly the basics (long hood, short rear, etc…). The Lexus version will have all the goodies, and the Toyota version will be less fancy but more performance oriented. This GR GT3 is sort of a mystery to be honest because I am not sure where it fits in the lineup. We don’t have any dimensions or chassis details yet to confirm if this is the new “A” platform.

 

[Bryster]

I never said the GR GT3 was the new Supra or a new Lexus. I said there is a new platform on its way, and whether or not it uses the same underpinnings is yet to be confirmed. However, the GR GT3 (current concept) is a different car altogether. This is why I am saying I don’t believe we will see a “GR GT3” stateside. There is a new platform being developed, and from what I know takes some queues from the concept but mostly the basics (long hood, short rear, etc…). The Lexus version will have all the goodies, and the Toyota version will be less fancy but more performance oriented. This GR GT3 is sort of a mystery to be honest because I am not sure where it fits in the lineup. We don’t have any dimensions or chassis details yet to confirm if this is the new “A” platform.

Is this the platform that A70 was talking about?

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