Toyota's chairman says that rapid shift to electric cars will leave petrol, diesel cars owners behind. Especially in countries where charging infra is not well developed. He also says that autoparts makers, service centers and the whole ecosystem built around internal combustion engines will face massive disruption. Jobs will be lost. Companies will shut down. He clearly doesn't like it, and almost seems fearful of what's coming! A dinosaur resistant to change, or someone who cares about the auto industry deeply, and passionately? Toyota's chairman Akio Toyoda's latest statements will certainly polarize opinion. Mr. Toyoda wants a multi-energy future with hybrids, EVs, hydrogen fuel cells and new propulsion technologies. Critics say that Toyoda's approach is because Toyota's losing the EV race to upstarts such as China's BYD and America's Tesla. Last week, BYD chairman Wang Chuanfu said that BYD (that sold about 4.8 million cars last year) will overtake Toyota (that sold 11.3 million cars last year) in the next 5 years. Supporters point to the fact that EV sales have plateaued across many developed countries, leaving automakers with billions and billions of losses. Which way will the world go? Is this Toyota's 'Kodak' moment? Only time can tell! PS: I share Mr. Toyoda's sentiments. Give choice to the customer. Let customers choose what suits them. Don't force a specific form of propulsion on people just because it suits certain pressure groups. One size does NOT fit all! @CarToq cartoq.com/car-news/toyota-c…

And Indians like fools were made to believe all the way that we can ignore building Indian AI models and can pass off as petty customers to US made AI models in a utopian universe where every AI service in India is built upon upstream foreign LLMs!! Glad this happened! High Time India Wakes Up to Data Sovereignty 🙌👉🏾 #AI #IndiaAI

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Fascinating to see how innovation can transform what was once considered agricultural waste into a valuable raw material. This facility in China is processing abaca fibre from banana plants grown in the Philippines into denim. #innovation #technology #sustainability

11,000 kms done in about 3 months on the Mahindra BE6 Pack2 79 kWh. The car will be sent for second (10k) service tomorrow. No niggles as such but fast charging at above 120 kW on hot days causes the car to go into Reduced Performance mode. This mode reduces acceleration but triple digit speeds still possible. On a recent Bangalore-Chennai-Bangalore trip, the car was charged at about 150 kW at a ChargeZone fast charger attached to a Cafe Coffee Day outlet near Vellore. It threw up the reduced performance message on the cluster when the throttle pedal was floored. So, acceleration reduces but the car still manages to do 100-140. I think this is a battery protection feature. Workaround 1: Use the touchscreen to choose charging speed. There are 3 speeds to choose from: low, mid and high. Choose mid so that charging speeds are limited to 120 kW, thereby limiting the chance of the car going into Reduced Performance mode. Workaround 2: Stop for 10-15 minutes and let the car cool down. This brings it out of reduced performance mode. This is the second time this was observed. It happened in the first month of ownership, after fast charging at 180 kW at a Charge-In station near Chittoor AP. Should observe how it goes in cooler months. Apart from this, the BE6 has been more or less niggle free. It's fast and fun. A head turner. Real world range is about 450 Kms when driven normally (no babying or hypermiling tactics used). Everyday mode mostly. AC always on. Between 20-22 degrees. Loud music always playing. It also has a fantastic audio. Good for a nuclear family. Though it's not a low slung car like a sedan or a premium hatchback, getting in and out for elders is a challenge. Parking in tight spaces and driving on congested roads without a 360 camera means spatial awareness has to be extra high. Many may find this stressful. Such people must buy the trim with the 360 camera. Won't recommend aftermarket/retrofitment because it may lead to warranty issues. It's the last thing one should risk on an EV, as aftermarket support and repair is poor/non existent.

India should send naval warships to protect Indian flagged vessels wherever they are. We've done it earlier to protect them from Somali pirates.

Skoda's fastest SUV - the Kodiaq RS - will land in India on the 22nd of June. Who is it for? For those who want a powerful, large, sharp-handling car with a ground clearance of a SUV. The Kodiaq RS will share its 2 liter turbocharged petrol engine with its sedan sibling - the Octavia RS. But with a difference. Over 260 Bhp of peak power and 400 Nm of peak torque (20 Nm more than the Octavia RS). The DQ381 wet clutch DSG gearbox will channel torque to all four wheels. Notably, this is the highest state of the 2 liter EA888 TSI motor on a Skoda sold here. A 0-100 Kph sprint in 6.3 seconds means that it'll be the fastest Skoda SUV, ever. Revised suspension: Sharper handling, stiffer ride but more driving pleasure. Refreshed interiors to befit the RS badge on the bootlid. It'll sit at the very top of Skoda's SUV line-up. Glad to see Skoda bringing such a wonderful, driving enthusiast-focused SUV to India. @CarToq @SkodaIndia

With respect to running cost, E85 flex fuel is a sophisticated scam. On E85, your monthly fuel bill will increase, not decrease. Here's the simplified math. Assuming your car delivers 15 kmpl on average, on E85 flex fuel, you'll pay about Rs. 7.45 per km, which is significantly more than E20 petrol's Rs. 6.85 per km. At current prices. That's not all. 1. You're likely to pay about 70k to 1 lakh more for the 'privilege' of using E85 flex fuel as flex fuel cars will be pricier. Well, the recently launched Hero Splendor Flex Fuel is about 5,000 rupees pricier than the non-flex fuel version. This translates to a 7 percent price increase. On a 10 lakh rupee car, it'll be a whopping Rs. 70,000. Higher EMI: Check. 2. If you do end up buying a flex fuel vehicle by paying extra, and don't find a bunk dispensing flex fuel, you're basically screwed from both sides. In effect, you'll own a vehicle that's pricier and ready to run flex fuel without access to flex fuel. So, best approach: wait and watch before buying that flex fuel equipped vehicle. Don't buy until availability of flex fuel increases to a point where you need not worry about where to refuel. 3. To make flex fuel attractive, govt may load extra taxes on E20. Again, a scam at your expense. There's no other way to account for a straight 30 percent drop in energy content. Irony of it all: E20 petrol suddenly looks like gold thanks to flex fuel. PS: It's already happening. The govt has slashed excise duty on higher ethanol blends. The idea is to offer lower prices for higher blends and tempt the common man. Most people, unknowingly, will go for lower priced fuels, damaging their vehicles' engines in the longer term. Good for making them upgrade to newer cars/motorcycles. What a beautiful idea. @CarToq brings you the math behind why your fuel bill will go up at current prices. cartoq.com/car-life/e85-flex…