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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

#761

Post by agloe_dreams »

a-posteriori wrote: post #743
Aqueous wrote: post #688

Sorry, but in what world do sales of electric cars going up and market share of electric vehicles increasing lead to the thesis that "fewer people are buying electric cars?" Oh - I get it. It's the world where this publication wants clicks for ad revenue. "Sure, electric vehicles are becoming more and more widely adopted, but wouldn't it be better for this article if they weren't?"

Market-share is a cumulative metric, representing the sum of all purchases over several years. Sales is a flow metric, representing the sum of purchases in a given year. Market-share can increase, yet sales can be down in a given year. Not everything is a conspiracy.

Sales were actually up, the title is just wrong and is editorialized by the submitter. The article has a different tile.

Re: Fewer people are buying electric cars in the US

#762

Post by 14 »

It is all about cost. Who can afford the cost of a new EV? Not the average household around me. Next I can guarantee the moment widespread adoption has taken place the new road taxes will be added into the equation wiping out the savings EV drivers currently experience.

Re: Fewer people are buying electric cars in the US

#763

Post by GNOMES »

The biggest hurdle for many is the price of a new car + premium for electric.

--

Imagine a fairly priced "off the shelf kit" to convert existing cars:

1) Wide spread adoption of renewable energy, reducing fears of range anxiety, more demand for charging/fuel stations.

2) Dealers can option existing inventory as renewable, possibly increasing sales/profits

3) Would increase jobs/expertise in the mechanic and after market industries.

4) Keeps existing cars out of the scrap yards/land fills. Cut on manufacturing pollution of new cars.

5) Hobbyists and collector car owners could convert their cars as well.

Negatives that kill the idea:

1) Would cut into automaker profits, so I doubt lobbyist support/government incentives

2) Would hurt adoption of new safety features. Insurance companies go womp womp.

Re: Fewer people are buying electric cars in the US

#764

Post by Dah00n »

iknowstuff wrote: post #52
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…

Because batteries last hella long and it's not a particular concern. Nobody's going to be ad-hoc adding or removing batteries in the floor of the vehicle when a longer trip comes up. Besides, the technology is seeing rapid iteration of cooling systems and integration with the rest of the vehicle (like structural battery packs). This is not the time for such standards.

>Nobody's going to be ad-hoc adding or removing batteries in the floor

But, some do swap batteries?

Re: Fewer people are buying electric cars in the US

#765

Post by GrinningFool »

_ea1k wrote: post #679
shmatt wrote: post #666

Earlier quoted context omitted.

EVs aren't cheap either, in 2 years one will get better battery tech and a new connector, plus whatever deprecation the battery will go through if you buy one today. 2023-4 and earlier EVs will lose a huge chunk of their worth once NACS cars with better than 200 mile range become available The value of my leased Volvo C40 has already fallen off a cliff and is less than my residual value. Once my lease is over there w…

Bolt starts at ~$26k. Civic starts at just under $24k. The Bolt is a mediocre road tripper, but lots of cars in that segment are just commuters that only very occasionally road trip. It'd be a great choice for a lot of people.

Looks like it starts at 28.5. Low-end IC cars (with more range and convenience) start at ~15-16k new in the US. (Kia, Nissan, etc).

That's a huge difference when that's the price range you're shopping, with added benefits of higher issue rates and less convenience when it comes to charging.

Re: Fewer people are buying electric cars in the US

#766

Post by sigspec »

atestu wrote: post #664
outlace wrote: post #627

EV’s currently make the most sense for people who own a single family home or otherwise live in a community with readily available near-home chargers, where EV’s are on average more convenient than gas cars. People who rely on street parking and apartment dwellers would likely find EV’s more inconvenient than a gas car. We may be close to saturating the market for the former group. Another factor that could be at pla…

I'm in that first group and I don't see how it makes the most sense. They are not more convenient. I can "charge" my gas car in 2 minutes basically anywhere in the country. I'm going on vacation next week, driving with 2 young children. It'll be about a 11 hour drive which is not crazy for a US vacation. I don't want to plan where I stop and stop for 45 minutes to fuel up with 2 toddlers in the car. And they're all m…

It's always the "vacation that I take once a year" that people use as an excuse, meanwhile families are filling two vehicles twice a week.

Get real and get new material.

Re: Fewer people are buying electric cars in the US

#767

Post by staringback »

jliptzin wrote: post #537
gamepsys wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The last time I bought a personal vehicle (2022) I did some math. I drive X miles a year, I pay Y for gas, I pay Z for electricity. I then compared some vehicles in the segment that fits my needs and found the ICE options to have a significantly lower cost of ownership for the 8-10 years I expect to operate the vehicle. So I left the extra 15 grand in stock, which will see a much higher rate of return than an EV woul…

You’re valuing your own time at $0/hr that is spent at gas stations, doing oil changes and other ICE maintenance, unless you have a personal assistant to do that stuff for you. My calculation was 15 minutes/week for gas, 1 hour every 3 months for oil changes, and 1 hour a month on average dealing with other ICE problems (for instance I had a water pump failure cause my engine to overheat on a busy highway, had to wai…

> I value my own free time at $300/hr

Sounds like posting on HN is an expensive endeavour for you

Re: Fewer people are buying electric cars in the US

#768

Post by AYBABTME »

atestu wrote: post #664
outlace wrote: post #627

EV’s currently make the most sense for people who own a single family home or otherwise live in a community with readily available near-home chargers, where EV’s are on average more convenient than gas cars. People who rely on street parking and apartment dwellers would likely find EV’s more inconvenient than a gas car. We may be close to saturating the market for the former group. Another factor that could be at pla…

I'm in that first group and I don't see how it makes the most sense. They are not more convenient. I can "charge" my gas car in 2 minutes basically anywhere in the country. I'm going on vacation next week, driving with 2 young children. It'll be about a 11 hour drive which is not crazy for a US vacation. I don't want to plan where I stop and stop for 45 minutes to fuel up with 2 toddlers in the car. And they're all m…

I drove from Reno to LA recently in a Model Y and my charging stops all lined up with bathroom breaks and food. I never actually waited for the charging process itself. It doesn't take 45min and it's not like I have any interest in sitting for more than 3h-4h straight without stopping at all. I've done plenty of long distance trips with my kids and the Tesla and, really, charging is a non-issue.

The only actual negative I have is that chargers aren't as present in remote locations and if it's not a Tesla charger, it's not real. Also when towing a camper uphill to Yosemite, it was stressful but we made it on top.

Re: Fewer people are buying electric cars in the US

#769

Post by organsnyder »

atestu wrote: post #664
outlace wrote: post #627

EV’s currently make the most sense for people who own a single family home or otherwise live in a community with readily available near-home chargers, where EV’s are on average more convenient than gas cars. People who rely on street parking and apartment dwellers would likely find EV’s more inconvenient than a gas car. We may be close to saturating the market for the former group. Another factor that could be at pla…

I'm in that first group and I don't see how it makes the most sense. They are not more convenient. I can "charge" my gas car in 2 minutes basically anywhere in the country. I'm going on vacation next week, driving with 2 young children. It'll be about a 11 hour drive which is not crazy for a US vacation. I don't want to plan where I stop and stop for 45 minutes to fuel up with 2 toddlers in the car. And they're all m…

I just did a road trip with my family (four kids aged 6-13). If we had an EV, I would have simply topped off the battery any time we stopped for a bathroom break (I get excited whenever we're able to pass a service plaza without someone needing to go).

Re: Fewer people are buying electric cars in the US

#770

Post by rchaud »

maerF0x0 wrote: post #204
HDThoreaun wrote: post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Dumbass protectionist policies stop western countries from importing cheap Chinese EVs.

[flagged]

There's plenty of Black Mirror style dystopia right within US corporate policy that doesn't involve CCP panopticon fear mongering.

A US woman discovers that her Mercedes allows her abusive ex-husband to track the car movements and follow her. Eve though she got a court order giving her sole control of the car and was making the loan payments herself, the company refused to rescind access to her abusive ex because his name was still on the title.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/31/technology/car-trackers-g...

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