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Fewer people are buying electric cars in the US
201–210 of 1001 posts
Re: Fewer people are buying electric cars in the US
#202Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think it makes a really good point. I drive an EV, and agree with two main points: 1: It was more expensive than an equivalent gas car 2: Range anxiety is real I might have bought a $20,000 car with 100 miles of range, used it for almost all of my driving except long trips, and been happier having saved $25,000
1. Yes, the only relevant point 2. is only an issue for people who don't actually own an EV. With Tesla's charging network (which is getting adopted by _nearly_ all EV manufacturers), _nearly_ everyone will have no range issue at all. The exception is rural America and pockets of poor coverage, but that is a minority.
It's just not true. My town of 80k population has one Supercharger center with 8 charging stations. The next nearest one is over 50 miles away. That's not at all practical for someone who can't charge at home.
Re: Fewer people are buying electric cars in the US
#203Earlier 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…
Needing to drive extended distances is not an "edge case" in this country but something that the vast, vast majority of the population does on a regular basis.
Yes, and I wasn't trying to imply that it's an edge case for most people.
I do believe it's over-weighted for a lot of people though.
Re: Fewer people are buying electric cars in the US
#204> But an analysis from CarGurus found that EV prices were still 28% higher than gas-vehicle prices on average. To me that is bonkers. When EVs were becoming popular, I was expecting to see super cheap, under $10k vehicles. That was the promise: forget about all the IC complicated gears, alternators, transmission, fuel pumps and imagine getting a motor and batteries, what could be simpler!". But no, we ended up with m…
Dumbass protectionist policies stop western countries from importing cheap Chinese EVs.
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Re: Fewer people are buying electric cars in the US
#205The 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…
> 93% of trips are less than 30 miles, but the vast majority of drivers take occasional trips that are beyond the range of an electric car I live in a dense city and don’t own a car. For most of my regular trips, a bicycle is faster and more convenient than a car. Any time we do rent a car, it’s for trips longer than 100mi. Weekend trips and such. An EV absolutely does not fit our usecase. We tried renting a Tesla on…
As someone who lives in a fairly spread-out city, I still prefer bikes and public transit. Or skip the commute entirely and work from home.
I know that isn't true for everyone, but for me the edge cases are the only case for having a car at all.
Re: Fewer people are buying electric cars in the US
#206Earlier 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…
if you do it once a year (or whatever) you can just rent a truck and come out ahead
Re: Fewer people are buying electric cars in the US
#207> But an analysis from CarGurus found that EV prices were still 28% higher than gas-vehicle prices on average. To me that is bonkers. When EVs were becoming popular, I was expecting to see super cheap, under $10k vehicles. That was the promise: forget about all the IC complicated gears, alternators, transmission, fuel pumps and imagine getting a motor and batteries, what could be simpler!". But no, we ended up with m…
This is a developed markets problem. China is making reasonable (range, amenities, style) electric cars in the $15k range.
No one wants to chase the low end market in the US. Even if the tech pans out it just means more work faster resource depletion given the infra isn't there yet, and less profits. And then you think well a hybrid would fill the void better anyways if you have to sacrifice range for cheaper EVs.
Re: Fewer people are buying electric cars in the US
#208> Over the past few decades the American auto industry has become obsessed with huge vehicles.
>...Drivers saw the vehicles around them getting bigger, so they wanted bigger cars to make themselves feel safer.
>...made existing vehicles bigger, which made people with smaller cars feel less safe — you get the picture. Meanwhile, road deaths and injuries soared
Instant eye roll. The author is literally making up their own version of history when the facts aren't even on their side[0]. The author generalizes the entire US government into some strange type of groupthink where apparently everyone thought replacing ICE vehicles with EVs was a "slam dunk". It's not only factually incorrect but it's just piss poor writing.
[0]https://injuryfacts.nsc.org/motor-vehicle/historical-fatalit...
Re: Fewer people are buying electric cars in the US
#209The 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…
I just hate this line: "Since Americans have been promised a one-to-one substitute for their gas cars"
Who did this? Who promised every single American that they can replace their gas car with an EV and have the exact same utility in every single aspect of their life with it? The author is literally making up their own narrative as they go.
Re: Fewer people are buying electric cars in the US
#210The 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…
It is even worse for people like me, despite having a charger in my home. I almost never drive short distances, I walk everywhere locally. When I do drive, it is very long distances, and in those cases range and refill time counts for a lot. On their best days EVs have inferior range and in many conditions they have markedly inferior range. Add on top of that the lengthy recharge time (topping off a gas tank is idea…
I was about to call BS on your 650 requirement until I realized it was in km :)
My 2020 Camry hybrid LE has a real world range of 800km or 500mi as I call it ;)