It’s because they’re worse cars.
Fewer people are buying electric cars in the US
211–220 of 1001 posts
Re: Fewer people are buying electric cars in the US
#212I 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…
Seriously. Just give me a NORMAL car with a modern electric drivetrain and I’ll be happy. I have my 4Runner for longer trips and “electric grid down because Texas is a 3rd world island in a 1st world country” situations.
These electric cars are going for full gimmickry and just look like a giant long term ownership nightmare. Built to be disposable status symbols for your average American trying to appear wealthier than they are instead of practical vehicles for the mass market.
Re: Fewer people are buying electric cars in the US
#213The 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…
My theory is that edge cases are the really important cases and that's why people give it a pretty large weight. Plus vehicles that burn gasoline are "old and boring" techs that many HN users do agree with.
Re: Fewer people are buying electric cars in the US
#214Maybe it is time to push for hydrogen cars?
Re: Fewer people are buying electric cars in the US
#215> If there's any direct inspiration for the United States' EV policy, it's Norway. As the story goes, Norway introduced some compelling subsidies for EVs Ah yup... Norway, sitting on gigantic oil reserves. Reserves so huge they could decide to just give the finger to the EU and not join. So huge there's a fund benefiting, AFAIK, all Norway citizens. I'm not criticizing Norway. But citing Norway as some kind of EV pos…
> Besides that the "heavier = bad for the road" (which TFA hints at) is pure non-sense: a regular car or a car twice the weight of the regular car will do exactly jack shit to damage the road.
This is not bullshit. Road damage scales as the _fourth_ power of the axle weight. BTW, that's also why buses and heavy tracks are so damaging. One bus does can easily do the same damage as several thousand cars.
Re: Fewer people are buying electric cars in the US
#216Earlier 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…
> People focus too much on edge cases when making life decisions, imo. Yes, but in life, many of the most meaningful things are the edge cases. That's what makes them special. If people don't statistically have many dinner parties, then the dinner parties they do have might be even more special. This is life, not a statistical model.
Those meaningful edge cases can still happen. You don't need to own, store, and maintain the equipment for them year-round for this.
In fact, I would argue that the edge cases feel even more special when you rent. For instance, my family rented a large passenger van for a road trip. The van itself became a sort of icon of that trip, and the source of distinct memories.
Re: Fewer people are buying electric cars in the US
#217The 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 almost bought an EV, but road trips became a blocker. I have family about 4 hours drive away. Outside of my town and my destination, there are 3 chargers that can charge an EV in a reasonable amount of time (less than 2 hours).
They're all Electrify America, which are pretty unreliable. I'd have to stop at each and every one of them to ensure I could actually make the four hour drive. Unbelievably annoying.
Re: Fewer people are buying electric cars in the US
#218I've lived with an EV for 3 years now, and take some legit road trips from SF: Utah, Vegas, LA, San Diego, Tahoe. I have also been all over the world and done many, many trips (far to many to count). I submit the optimum mix for most Americans right now is roughly 1 EV and 1 hybrid, solar roofing and a battery storage system. The average American has a spouse. Even if we ignore kids, we can roughly assume, unless tho…
> I submit the optimum mix for most Americans right now is roughly 1 EV and 1 hybrid, solar roofing and a battery storage system.
What geographic locations do you have in mind when you’re recommending solar? Youre in basically the best location for it.
Re: Fewer people are buying electric cars in the US
#219Earlier 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…
day to day monotony is boring those edge cases may be some of the most memorable and impactful days of the year being able to have those times is always going to outweigh canceling them out. even if it makes more sense day to day
You don't need to purchase, maintain, and store the equipment for those edge cases to happen. You can rent them. In fact, that makes them even more special.
Re: Fewer people are buying electric cars in the US
#220We haven’t updated our electric grid in 50 years. There are barely any charging stations available.
If I want to make a long distance trip I have to plan my trip according to charging station availability. I prefer hybrid for now.