In the last decade and a half of electric vehicle ownership, one thing I’ve heard often goes along the lines of “yeah well, when the big automakers decide to go electric, they’ll crush start-ups easily with their superior quality and manufacturing prowess.” I’ve heard this time and time again, regardless of what the current status of the industry looked like at the time.
And here we have Toyota, the biggest automaker in the world with one of the highest reputations for quality – the company that introduced the kaizen manufacturing philosophy to the world and influenced manufacturers across industries – and they’ve completely screwed it up.