but have yet to figure out what I think about the 250. My gut says that we just got a rebadged Parado, time will tell if it has the true land cruiser DNA baked into it.
Those of us with real Land Cruisers
The Prado is as close from a real Land Cruiser than what you had in the US since 1984.
55, 60, 80, 100, 200, 300 are "Land Cruiser Station Wagon"
while the 90, 120, 150, 250 are "Land Cruiser Prado"
The only just "Land Cruiser" are the 20, 40 and 70 series.
What happens when the batteries die like in all those cheap Prius’ on Craigslist? Do you replace them all and at what cost? I’m not opposed, it’s the way of the world but hyrbid doesn’t seem on first glance compatible with the rigors of a water crossing and after those batteries have ratted down 5K miles of dirt roads. And what happens to the torque once the batteries can’t deliver power anymore? Do you end up with a 5500lb vehicle with a turbo I4?
I was suprised that it tows less than the 460 or 550 even with 50% more torque. Anyone know why? 550 tows 8K with the trail package I think? Maybe higher trim LC’s will have higher tow specs as well
It's a mild-hybrid so only a 1.9kWh battery. There are EcoFlow batteries bigger than that so it should not be that complicated to change, it's not a Tesla powerpack that is structural part of the chassis.
The effect of a mild-hybrid is also a lot less than for a standard hybrid so in worst case that should not be the end of the world if the effect is reduced because the battery lost of Wh.
For the tow rating I don't know, in Europe the 250 is announced with 3.5T tow rating like its predecessor. Not sure why they lowered it in the US and is-it a technical reason or just a marketing range of products trick.
For homologation purposes I think the criteria is almost only the capacity of the vehicle to brake with a trailer (so what matter is size of brakes + engine braking capability) but it's still the manufacturer that chose the number it wants to try to homologate.