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Fewer people are buying electric cars in the US

businessinsider.com

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Re: Fewer people are buying electric cars in the US

#171

Post by TIPSIO »

lukas099 wrote: post #86
TIPSIO wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I kind of agree actually on your cost points. It’s still a luxury purchase. I am a bit more conservative of a saver but feel priced out and sadly went ICE. If you qualify for the EV tax credit, I would argue the car is too expensive for your budget. If you don’t qualify barely, a brand new ICE vehicle is going to last years and be cheaper. Is it really worth it to push budget? If you way don’t qualify, definitely buy…

I thought hybrids were the cost-conscious choice currently?

Super expensive.

Re: Fewer people are buying electric cars in the US

#172

Post by [deleted] »

rappatic wrote: post #60

The article talks about range concerns as if they're simply incorrect or ill-founded: > Niedermeyer said that while an electric car can meet most people's driving needs, it struggles with edge cases like road trips because of the need to recharge. Since Americans have been promised a one-to-one substitute for their gas cars, this seems like a failure; an EV should be able to do everything a gas car can. This idea per…

[deleted]

Re: Fewer people are buying electric cars in the US

#173

Post by instaheat »

Good.

I've been reading "Cobalt Red" How the Blood of the Congo Powers Our Lives and it is deplorable how the Congolese people are treated.

Maybe they'll discover or manufacture a material that can replace Cobalt that has the same thermal stability but by then it will be too late.

Re: Fewer people are buying electric cars in the US

#174

Post by SoftTalker »

brightball wrote: post #42
TexanFeller wrote: post #15

I want an EV to be more reliable and save me more money in the long run. EVs start out ~10k more than the Corolla most people should buying. They then compromise the long term reliability and maintenance cost with high tech gee whiz features. I’d sooner have manual roll up windows than touch screen controlled air vents. When you integrate sensors and software controls into every little thing, we know those things wil…

I bought a used Model 3 for a little under 40k with a payment of about $500 / month. I was previously spending $500 / month in gas. The vehicle is literally paying for itself based on my usage. Now, if you’re driving less the math may not work out but the cost of fuel alone has to factor into those annual maintenance costs.

If you were spending $500/month on gas at typical prices that's anywhere from 125 to 170 gallons, if you're only getting 20mpg that's close to 3,000 miles a month, maybe 35,000 miles a year. That's a lot of driving compared to the average person.

Re: Fewer people are buying electric cars in the US

#175

Post by hinkley »

femto wrote: post #47

Why don't electric cars use replaceable battery modules with a standard form factor? Advantages would include: 1) It allows the battery to be easily replaced as the car gets older. 2) With a suitable generic form factor, it would allow batteries to be upgraded as technology changes. 3) It would allow people to only populate enough battery slots for their daily needs. Communing to work: you only need to insert a few b…

Last time I tried to do the math, the heaviest battery a normal person could hoist into place would only give you about 15 miles of distance.

And that was up from the previous time I did the same. We need about double the power density before this becomes interesting.

Re: Fewer people are buying electric cars in the US

#177

Post by lukas099 »

mvdtnz wrote: post #161
lukas099 wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People focus too much on edge cases when making life decisions, imo. > We need a dining room for when we have parties (has a party once every 2 years; room sits empty 99% of the time) > We need a guest bedroom (guests could stay at the hotel down the street) > I need a pickup truck (driver is an accountant who maybe picks up a couple bags of mulch from Lowes twice a year) I'm glad I live in a prosperous society where…

The edge cases are the important cases though. Those parties I throw are the highlight of my year. My parents staying here with me is important to me, I wouldn't have it any other way. Yeah I have a desk job but that landscaping work I do in my weekend is one of my favourite hobbies. I refuse to live my life as if these things aren't important to me. I refuse to average my entire life style down to my median day. My…

> Those parties I throw are the highlight of my year.

That's what renting is for. You can rent a better party room than your dining room for very little.

> My parents staying here with me is important to me, I wouldn't have it any other way.

Fine, but I don't think it's this important to most people who have a spare bedroom, they just don't think about it.

> that landscaping work I do in my weekend is one of my favourite hobbies.

Mine too, doesn't mean I need a pickup. But anyways if it's one of your favorite hobbies and you do it every weekend, that's not what I was talking about.

Re: Fewer people are buying electric cars in the US

#178

Post by kmeisthax »

rappatic wrote: post #60

The article talks about range concerns as if they're simply incorrect or ill-founded: > Niedermeyer said that while an electric car can meet most people's driving needs, it struggles with edge cases like road trips because of the need to recharge. Since Americans have been promised a one-to-one substitute for their gas cars, this seems like a failure; an EV should be able to do everything a gas car can. This idea per…

The last time I bought a car, this was the reason why I picked gas - I figured either the infrastructure for roadtripping would be there by then, or we'd have better range.

Since then, I stopped doing as many roadtrips. Tesla also decided to open up its charger network and everyone is switching to NACS, so the infrastructure is way better. I'd say I'm ready for EVs now, except the car industry decided that electric vehicles inherently have to come with lots of anti-repair bullshit. The same kind that I already find disgusting in consumer electronics. So long as gas equals I own it and electric means I'm renting it, I'm not """buying""" an EV, even though they're otherwise great.

Re: Fewer people are buying electric cars in the US

#180

Post by sokoloff »

TIPSIO wrote: post #59
TexanFeller wrote: post #15

I want an EV to be more reliable and save me more money in the long run. EVs start out ~10k more than the Corolla most people should buying. They then compromise the long term reliability and maintenance cost with high tech gee whiz features. I’d sooner have manual roll up windows than touch screen controlled air vents. When you integrate sensors and software controls into every little thing, we know those things wil…

I kind of agree actually on your cost points. It’s still a luxury purchase. I am a bit more conservative of a saver but feel priced out and sadly went ICE. If you qualify for the EV tax credit, I would argue the car is too expensive for your budget. If you don’t qualify barely, a brand new ICE vehicle is going to last years and be cheaper. Is it really worth it to push budget? If you way don’t qualify, definitely buy…

> If you qualify for the EV tax credit, I would argue the car is too expensive for your budget.

The AGI limit for a couple is $300K. I'm pretty anti-new car as a financial move, but even I have to admit that a couple pulling down $250K-$300K/yr is probably going to be able to fade buying a new car if they want.

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