A new survey on EVs has found that “range anxiety” decreases with experience. In other words, the best way to overcome a fear of electric cars is to own one.
Range anxiety is the fear that an electric car won’t have enough juice to reach its destination. It’s a concern that has crossed the minds of many EV owners, even if only momentarily, but the study shows that it affects one group of drivers far more often than others. It turns out this anxiety is highest for people who don’t yet own their first EV and generally decreases with experience.
In fact, 78% of electric car owners report that their feelings of range anxiety decrease the longer they drive and learn about their cars. While 76% of future EV owners worry about range, nearly 59% of current EV drivers have no worries at all.
Call me a hypochondriac, but after driving and testing hundreds of cars over the past 60 years – with one very scary EV experience on a dark country road a year ago – I’m still a squib on battery-operated vehicles .Hybrids I quite like, by the way. Nonetheless, the study showed sales of EVs are on a steep climb and giant auto makers like Toyota have plugged into this demand.
Toyota plans to introduce 10 new electric vehicles globally by 2027, increasing its current lineup from five to 15 models. This expansion will help Toyota regain competitiveness in the electric vehicle sector as rivals such as China’s BYD (Build Your Dreams) gain market share. BYD is a newcomer to Australia, but it’s been a force in China for a long time.
Toyota’s new EV models will be launched across the US, Europe, Japan, China, southeast Asia and possibly Australia and the company, based in Toyota City, Aichi, will expand electric vehicle production to Thailand and Argentina, aiming to reduce delivery lead times and avoid the impact of tariffs.
Toyota will begin producing a three-row electric SUV in America next month with a new manufacturing plant supplying the batteries. Also, Toyota has scheduled a next-generation Lexus electric vehicle with output expected to begin around August 2027.
A new electric SUV co-developed with Subaru is also planned for global markets with Subaru manufacturing the vehicle in Japan beginning in 2027.
So, with these interesting snippets of news, I was happy to get behind the wheel of Toyota’s new GR Sports Corolla … wearing an imaginary racing jacket and gloves to experience new trail-blazing tech.
Nothing says ‘gran turismo’ like the quality finish. Parking brake lever, shift knob and steering wheel get leather accents for a premium motorsport feel.
The interior also features a black palette at eye level to enhance driver focus, leather accents, suede detailing, black and silver stitching and GR badging throughout.
Corolla has a long and rich history in motorsport in Australia and around the world. GR Corolla joins the GR86, GR Supra and GR Yaris in marking a new breed of performance car that brings the ferocity, focus and precision of ‘Toyota Gazoo Racing’.
So, making a pitstop, what about EVs and racing cars? The car industry may be going green and heading for an all-electric future, but the same cannot be said of Formula One motor racing – at least, not for decades.
That’s according to the outgoing president of the sport’s governing body, the International Automobile Federation.
“It’s simply not possible,” explains Frenchman Jean Todt with a shake of his head and a wry smile.”
“In Formula One, a race distance is about 305 km. Without recharging, with the performance of the cars, electricity will not allow that,” he says.
“Maybe in 20 years, 30 years, I don’t know. But at the moment it would be simply impossible.”
Toyota’s GR lineup of motorsport-honed performance vehicles has been refreshed for 2025, providing a range of improvements to driving performance, styling and features.
Along with the upgrades to the GR86, GR Yaris, and GR Corolla, two new special-edition coupes will also join the local GR line-up with the stylish GR86 ‘limited edition’ now on sale, and the circuit-honed GR Supra ‘track edition’ set to arrive mid-2025.
The raft of upgrades applied to the new range have been developed using expertise from Toyota’s extensive experience in motorsport competitions around the world, delivering an even more engaging driving experience for customers.
Toyota Australia’s vice-president sales, marketing and franchise operations Sean Hanley says the raft of improvements, drawn from the knowledge gained through Gazoo racing motorsport activities, offers even greater driving thrills for customers of its GR range of sports cars.
“Toyota Gazoo Racing involvement in a vast range of international and national motorsport championships feeds directly into the development of our GR performance models, which helps us continually improve performance, dynamics and handling,” Mr Hanley said.
The GR86 is offered with a choice of six-speed manual or the reworked automatic transmission based on customer feedback to allow for manual downshifting at higher rpm.
The transmission now lets the drivers perform downshifts during sports driving at 1600 rpm higher than before to provide additional engine braking and more responsive acceleration out of corners.
Peak outputs for the FA24 engine are unchanged with 174 kW of power at maximum 7000 rpm and peak torque of 250 Nm at 3700 rpm, which combined with the GR86’s classic rear-wheel-drive and front-engine layout, offers a highly engaging driving experience.
worthy of a sports coupe.
The Limited Edition tops the GR86 range at $49,600 plus on-road costs, while the GT and GTS remain at $43,240 and $45,390 respectively of a two-door sports coupe.
