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US Electric Car Sales Report

cleantechnica.com

11–20 of 80 posts

Re: US Electric Car Sales Report

#11
post #10

Just a reminder-- there were 1.15M light vehicle sales in the US last month[0]. The total for all of these EV cars put together is a drop in the bucket.. 12000/1.15M = 1%. So if big auto has a problem, they have a lot of time to figure it out. 0. http://www.wsj.com/mdc/public/page/2_3022-autosales.html Edit: Corrected.. thanks to sremani for pointing out the error.

17 Million is yearly number.

[deleted]

Re: US Electric Car Sales Report

#12

The only people I know who have an electric car own or have pre-ordered Teslas. They are all status symbols. I don’t know anyone who needs an electric car. Maybe the problem is just as much lack of demand as it is lack of big auto commitment?

Most cars beyond the bare-bones econoboxes aren’t about needs. Nobody needs an electric car, but they can be really nice to own in various ways.

Re: US Electric Car Sales Report

#13
post #6

> large automakers aren’t even trying Despite the Bolt being MT car of the year in 2017, I found it very hard to get a test drive. Some local Chevy dealers pretended not to know about it, which is ludicrous: their business, and maybe their only value as middleman, is to know every vehicle in the catalog forward and backward and then to leap to get me what I ask for. When I pointed out they were sitting on MTCOY the r…

The service part of is a good observation. As far a I know dealers make a lot of their money from service and they will certainly be unhappy to lose that income.

A while ago someone posted the maintenance schedule of their electric car and it was almost laughably short. Not much money to make there for the dealers.

Re: US Electric Car Sales Report

#14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Where do you live? I see plenty of Volts and Bolts and Leafs where I live.

I've seen lots of Bolts in Silicon Valley in the past few months, far more than Model 3s in fact. And if you just stuff their seats with memory foam, they're quite comfortable to drive: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dgxWTOnVn8 but I await the Camaro/Mustang/Challenger equivalent electric car at roughly the same price point before I'll switch. The acceleration is just too useful for highway merges and other assorte…

The Model 3 is about as fast as a BMW 340i, and probably similar to a V6 Mustang or Camaro.

I drive a Prius and I'm rarely able to use its full power on a highway merge because I'm stuck behind slowpokes who think it's reasonable to merge at 40mph. If I owned a Mustang I'd be constantly frustrated at never being able to use it to its full potential.

Re: US Electric Car Sales Report

#15
There were 50% more BMWs sold this January than all electric cars combined.

I have a hard time believing any headstart on sales alone will be representative.

Technology, services (including charging) are definitely advantages of pioneers like Tesla by the way, the only non-"big auto" member of the top ev sellers list.

Re: US Electric Car Sales Report

#16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've seen lots of Bolts in Silicon Valley in the past few months, far more than Model 3s in fact. And if you just stuff their seats with memory foam, they're quite comfortable to drive: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dgxWTOnVn8 but I await the Camaro/Mustang/Challenger equivalent electric car at roughly the same price point before I'll switch. The acceleration is just too useful for highway merges and other assorte…

The Model 3 is about as fast as a BMW 340i, and probably similar to a V6 Mustang or Camaro. I drive a Prius and I'm rarely able to use its full power on a highway merge because I'm stuck behind slowpokes who think it's reasonable to merge at 40mph. If I owned a Mustang I'd be constantly frustrated at never being able to use it to its full potential.

Sure, that's on par with base $25K Camaros/Mustangs. It's not on par with the sort of Camaro/Mustang one can procure for ~$50k or the same price as a Model 3 that isn't barebones (and I just tried to config one on Tesla's web site and alas you can't so I can't give an exact number here).

For ~$50K, ICE sports cars are sub 4 seconds. That said, it is on par with low-end sport coupes so I see some of the appeal. It's just not appealing to me.

Re: US Electric Car Sales Report

#17

The only people I know who have an electric car own or have pre-ordered Teslas. They are all status symbols. I don’t know anyone who needs an electric car. Maybe the problem is just as much lack of demand as it is lack of big auto commitment?

I think 400,000 model 3 reservation holders paying $1,000 site unseen for a car they may not get for years demonstrates some demand.

Re: US Electric Car Sales Report

#18

The only people I know who have an electric car own or have pre-ordered Teslas. They are all status symbols. I don’t know anyone who needs an electric car. Maybe the problem is just as much lack of demand as it is lack of big auto commitment?

I have an electric car and I know many people have electric cars. Each have their own motivations, for some people it is to save on gas. Others for carpool access, while still others are for environmental reasons. I doubt Nissan Leaf is a great status symbol

Re: US Electric Car Sales Report

#19
I leased a Ford Focus Electric for 2 years before purchasing a used Tesla. After just a few months it became apparent that the Focus was just a compliance car afterthought. Instead of putting a little thought into battery placement, they simply threw it into the hatchback which reduced storage and left little weight in the front of a front wheel drive car. Instead of converting the engine compartment into a frunk, there was a mass of loosely placed tubes and wiring. The result was a car with limited storage that was downright dangerous to drive on a wet road due to lack of traction, with an effective range of about 50 miles (hope you don't have to use your heater or AC). Ford Sync was also absolutely miserable to use - slow, unintuitive and clunky.

On the contrary, the Tesla has been an absolute joy (perhaps even more so after driving the Focus for 2 years). The performance, interface, supercharging, storage, aesthetics and customer service are IMO far superior to any other electric vehicle on the market today or even announced for release in the next few years.

Re: US Electric Car Sales Report

#20
post #15

There were 50% more BMWs sold this January than all electric cars combined. I have a hard time believing any headstart on sales alone will be representative. Technology, services (including charging) are definitely advantages of pioneers like Tesla by the way, the only non-"big auto" member of the top ev sellers list.

I bought a Tesla primarily for the Supercharger network. Any other EV is DOA if you need to long distance travel in a reasonable amount of time (I do like the Leaf and Bolt, but they are not practical outside of a commuter car).

The operating costs are less than half of the Tundra pickup truck it replaced.

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