Never Stop Driving #91: I Want What Toyota’s Drinking
“The age of human driving must come to an end,” says the villain in Toyota’s new animated video series.
Wait, what? A Toyota animated series? Villains? What is happening here?
Toyota recently created a five-episode cartoon series, called “Grip” (Toyota.com/grip), with the “Battle between human spirit and computer control” as its central theme. Those words are posted on Toyota’s own website. The one-minute episodes—clearly designed for our shrinking attention spans—are set in a futuristic metropolis of autonomous cars and inhabitants with little ambition besides staring at their phone screens. Sound familiar? This is also the future envisioned by the 2008 Pixar flick WALL-E. The hero in Grip, Jae Kang, resists that fate by racing his Toyota GR Corolla around the bots. He has allies and for reasons that aren’t exactly clear, the fate of humanity lies in a race between Kang and the bots.
Let’s not get bogged down in the far-fetched particulars here. It’s amazing that the world’s top-selling car company is publicly portraying autonomous cars as villains and is declaring unequivocally that driving is good for you. The cynical view is that the animated series is just a ploy to sell cars. And sure, that’s part of it; after watching I went to Toyota’s consumer site and priced out my own GR Corolla. I drove one last fall for this roundup of new drivers cars and loved it.
Sales pitch aside, we’re witnessing another instance in which Toyota is going against the conventional wisdom about the inevitability of EVs and autonomous vehicles. The first time, of course, was when Toyota President and CEO Akio Toyoda said that pure EVs are not the best customer or environmental solution for reducing carbon emissions. The adoption targets—like last year’s EPA regulations which decree that over half of new cars must be electric by 2030—are too aggressive, Akio steadfastly maintained, explaining that he was simply verbalizing what most industry insiders quietly believed. This week, the EPA rolled back its emission targets by a couple of years but kept the end goal.
Akio’s reluctance to adopt EVs was cited as one reason he stepped down from the CEO role last year, but there’s now widespread recognition that he was onto something, including The Wall Street Journal‘s recent article which chronicled a six-month period when EVs abruptly stopped being “the next big thing.” Meanwhile, hybrid sales for all car companies are on a tear.
Akio is also a well-known car lover who races under the nickname “Morizo,” a moniker also given to the raciest version of the GR Corolla. The Morizo Edition is fantastic, largely thanks to Akio’s influence (for more gushing praise of the hot-hatch Toyota, check out Jason Cammisa’s review). Under Akio’s leadership, Toyota gradually shifted to more interesting products like the resurrected Supra, the Land Cruiser, that Corolla, and even the svelte new Prius. Now it seems like the company Akio’s grandfather started is also hedging against the notion that carmakers will not make passionate products but are instead destined simply to be mobility companies. How about this for a jingle: Let’s go Ahh-kee-oh!
We are in full support of Toyota’s efforts since Hagerty’s purpose is to save driving and car culture for future generations. Driving is who we are. That’s one reason we produce volumes of free automotive content like this newsletter. If you’d like to chip in, please join the Hagerty Drivers Club.
Thanks for reading!
Larry
P.S.: Your feedback is very welcome. Comment below!
Please share this newsletter with your car-obsessed friends and encourage them to sign up for the free weekly email. The easy-to-complete form is here. And if you’d like to support the efforts of Hagerty Media, please consider joining the Hagerty Drivers Club.
EV’s are ok in parts of the world but up here where we live in Canada I would buy a hybrid first. We have WINTER. At temperatures getting to -50 wind chill an EV wouldn’t last long. Where we live the highway is closed so many times all year long because of accidents you’d risk running out of power.
Yeah the cold climates are an issue. Thankfully internal combustion engines are not going away. Dodge just introduced a whole new engine family. https://www.hagerty.com/media/new-car-reviews/2025-ram-1500-first-drive-that-thing-got-a-turbo-six/
Thankfully internal combustion engines are going away?
Weird comment from someone who claims to be Pro Driving.
You made a false equivalence there. One can be pro-driving and against fossil fuels. Maybe Larry is really hoping for external combustion to make a return. The people want steam power and Big Oil won’t let us have it!
Sorry typo! It’s fixed.
This makes me want a GR Supra 6 speed manual even more. Rock on Toyota – against the grain!!
Me too….
Me too
Interesting. Keep the great content coming! Your work here and with the magazine is greatly appreciated.
Thank you! Glad you like it.
I could not agree more with Akio! It is sad that a US company has not taken a more aggressive stance against the madness. I really don’t think there is anything that we can do about climate change nor do I think it is as bad as the progressive extremists who hate capitalism, although the ridiculous expense of electric cars, batteries, etc. belies their hatred of capitalism and their supposed love of the planet, despite the damage that mining for the materials for batteries does to the planet and the myriad other problems that electric vehicles cause. Buy Toyota!!!
I am 58. I remember the days (that makes me sound old) when it was a thrill to get behind the wheel of my 1980 Toyota Tercel with manual shift, roll-down windows, and manual locks. Manual brakes too! No A/C! It was the third car in our family, and the first of the Tercels. My Dad had purchased it new, and then it was passed on to me when I was in college. i could change the oil and brakes myself, and I was far from being mechanically inclined like my Dad. Under the front bumper was the oil plug and reach right down into the engine to access the oil filter. Remove the 12″ tire and switch out the brake pads. One time there was a lake into trunk, and Dad just repaired it for me with silicone sealer. I drove that car 70,000 miles in two years and then with my new job, I saved up to buy my first band new car, a 1990 Acura intergra sedan with a manual trans. I loved that car. Then, next came the 2002 Honda Accord Sedan with a manual transmission. I loved the Accord as well until a drunk driver rear-ended me one day while driving home from work. The Accord was replaced with my current 2013 Camry SE. Toyota no longer offered a manual transmission on the Camry, so this is the first car I have ever owned with a manual transmission. A car with a manual transmission is on my bucket list – it is one skill that I learned when I was young that I still cherish. When the opportunity presents itself, I jump at the chance to drive a manual transmission. My next purchase will probably be a Toyota Pickup. I don’t care about bluetooth or navigation or screens galore. I just want a basic truck that runs. I remember our neighbors when I was a kid had one of those bare-bones Toyota Pickup trucks. I do wish Toyota would produce something close to that without all of the extra technology that I could care less about and do not add to my driving experience. We are holding on to our 2009 and 2013 Camrys because each of those cars has a CD player. My husband had explored the possibility of getting a new Camry several years ago. However, when he found out the new ones didn’t come with a CD player, the 2009 was saved! I guess my ideal car would be a Toyota with a manual transmission, A/C, and CD player. One where I can change the oil and brake pads myself. I even used to rotate the 12″ tires on the Toyota myself. Too much trouble now and the repair shops rotates them for free with the oil change. I have a picture of my 1980 Toyota Tercel on my bureau from 1988. When we used cameras with film that we took to the store for development. The car is the 2-door trunk model with a blue exterior and blue vinyl interior.
I had champagne colored sheepskin seat covers over the vinyl along with Toyota decals on the door handles and a “TOYOTA” emblem across the top of the windshield (purchased at a Jamesway Department Store.) The picture is taken from the rear/right side angle. I will have to look around to see if I can find any pictures taken from the front. You always remember your first girl (or boy) and car too! Thanks for reading.
Thanks for sharing. You certianly lived the “Oh what a feeling!” Toyota tagline.
I have an issue with the thought of total autonomous driving, but not necessarily with eventual electrification. Battery technology had improved exponentially in the last 30 years, and will continue to do so. Gasoline quality and infrastructure did not happen overnight. My own 2 cents’ worth is that Toyota is honest in that electrification is inevitable, but the proposed timeline is unrealistic given the current state of the technology. (Having said that, I fully agree that there are parts of the world where electric is, and for the foreseeable future will be, a problem, and in those areas internal combustion is the best solution based upon today’s technology.)
I’ve car company execs say that Southern hemisphere countries will remain mostly ICE for a very long time.
This is more a regional political issue without pointing fingers. North America and Europe are the few that are being targeted.
My gut is that this is more about Economic Equity vs environmental concerns. Other wise we all would see the same rules.
Great article, I’m a longtime reader subscriber of you & Hagerty. I’m 73 and have been a driver since my dad put me on his lap at age 4 to drive (steer) his Buick. I say with all of the inattentive drivers out there get them off the roads and into the computer controlled electric eggs and out of my way. Even today there’s enough infrastructure to put all the mindless drones Into their semi-mass transit turd mobiles. And we need to enact legislation that all drivers who wish to continue DRIVING must pass a high performance driving school type training class to maintain a true DRIVING license. My brother worked for the license examiner here in Florida until he got so fed up with the pathetic excuse issuing drivers license, he quit.
All I know is if I’m taking a weekend getaway trip to the Pocono Mountains from NY and need gas I can be back on the road in a few minutes. The poor guy with the EV is waiting for 30 to 40 minutes for a partial charge. I stay with my gas engine!
I prefer the GM approach. They are doing duel lines where you have an ICE Blazer and a EV Blazer. The idea is to invest more in the EV to gain more ground on the EV.
The truth is no automaker outside the pure EV companies want all EV.
GM may be promoting EV but they going to keep both in production as long as the markets they serve permit it. The Government has blinked before but time is running out and they know it. Activist are now involved in these agencies. They are less forgiving. They expect the public to take the hit.
I see it regulations via the RPM act that is in limbo. They are reinterpreting laws past by our system and changing them to want them to mean. A dangerous legal move.
GM has a new V8 coming and they have focus more on smaller more powerful engines to fill in for hybrids.
Some hybrids like a Prius while under powered are decent around town and afgordable due to small engines and small batteries.
Other hybrids are not as cheap to buy or operate and repair cost can be substantially higher. Once used most are not easy to repair or sell.
So the Hybrid is for sure not a sure thing.
The reality is all the auto companies are scrambling to find ways to meet regs and survive.
We love to drive our cars! We have a Toyota Rav4, a Jaguar e-type, and an A-H 3000. We drive them all, even though the sports cars are fully restored. They are insured by Hagerty, but we get dinged on value because we drive them. No “trailer queens” allowed here!
I have to disagree with Mr. Hyperv6. I think Stock Envy drove much of the over-exuberant rush to EVs by many of the heritage auto makers….aided and abetted by their lobbyists and friendly representatives. I was told by a high-ranking official with of one of the large US manufacturers that they pulled back from their “All-Electric Future” only after the stock analyst that had the ear of their CEO whispered that maybe the infrastructure wasn’t there to support the volume needed to send their stock price to the stratosphere.
We are only at the beginning of EV revolution cycle. If someone told me ten years ago we have EVs with range of around 300 miles that can be had for $40,000-$50,000, I would have thought they were high. Yet now, Tesla and many others have that. Charging is a problem. Tesla is ahead of curve but it is not still good enough. Still , give that another ten years, and we may think people who do not convert are as dumb as those still clinging to their wired corded phones. As for these autonomous vehicles, long way to go, but any one who disputes usefulness rear view camera with sonar that beep at you when you get close to an object, or blind side monitor or front view cameras or even ABS is not being real.