Toyota EV's- Head in the Sand?

I am morbidly fascinated by the state of denial of the world's largest car manufacturer.
http://cleantechnica.com/2015/07/23/is-this-why-toyota-is-the-1-plug-in-electric-car-laggard/

excerpt from the article
here’s a simple bullet list on the most ridiculous comments from Craig Scott, national alternative fuel vehicle manager at Toyota:

• “We don’t see any battery technology that would allow us to…give customers a comparable driving experience at a reasonable price.”
  Are you f***ing kidding me? I’ve driven dozens and dozens of cars, and none of the gasmobiles I’ve driven even compare to a BMW i3. A gasmobile for the price of a Nissan LEAF is a joke I wouldn’t tell my grandmother. The big story about electric vehicles is how much of a better driving experience they are. Yes, the rather expensiveTesla Model S is not for the 99%, but it crushes other premium sedans, and in terms of performance it even crushes $1 million cars! The lower-priced electric cars on the market don’t compete with the Model S, but they still offer a much better driving experience than their gasmobile equivalents. I recently rented a fossil-powered Mercedes and a BMW, and I felt like I was driving Power Wheels. But maybe I’m misunderstanding Mr Scott’s use of the word “comparable.”
• “We don’t see anything for the next ten years because if there was something in the laboratory today it would probably take seven to ten years to get into a production vehicle. With batteries there is a fundamental science problem that we don’t know how to solve. It’s going to require a new material that doesn’t yet exist. How long that takes is anyone’s guess.“
  Hmm, Tesla has been pretty clear about the battery cost drops it has seen in recent years, and the continued cost drops it is certain it will see based on improvements it is already starting to implement and has in the works. Maybe Toyota should go do a little peeking around Fremont and Electric Avenue in Nevada. And btw, independent research has also found that battery prices are falling faster than expected, with prices today already lower than 2020 projections.
• “Nobody makes more batteries than Toyota. We’ve been doing batteries longer than anyone in the automotive business. Which is why we’re so bullish on fuel cells.“
• 
  Ahem, there’s a difference between “more” and “better.” Toyota may make and use a lot of crap nickel-metal hydride batteries, but Tesla & Panasonic (as well as Nissan, LG, and others) are leading the lithium-ion revolution. I see “market leaders” on this chart as being Tesla & Nissan… no Toyota around for some reason. Hmm. Looks like Toyota has been doing batteries wrong for a long time….
• “Then you have the challenge of charging because you can’t charge batteries too quickly.“
  Well, first of all, let’s remember one thing: you typically charge an electric car overnight while sleeping! Last I checked, I didn’t need to jump in a car in the middle of my sleep. But anyhow, for those few times when you need to charge away from home, an 80% charge from 10% in 40 minutes seems plenty fine for plenty of current Tesla owners, and that just keeps getting better and better… you know, because Tesla is trying, unlike some companies................................

This whole article is an interesting read. In 20 years time will we be saying "Do you remember way back when Toyota was the biggest in fossil fuel car manufacturers. ?"


Pretending that there is no change in progress is a death sentence in business - anyone remember Kodak ?