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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

#781

Post by agloe_dreams »

patryn20 wrote: post #212
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…

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 t…

You want a Chevy Bolt.

Re: Fewer people are buying electric cars in the US

#782

Post by conductr »

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’m in that first group too and I bought a new car in 2023. I went ICE ultimately because I didn’t see many electric options I would want. Cars are part fashion so I wanted to “like it”. But I also mostly car about reliability and longevity as I usually buy new but keep for 10-12 years and don’t want the inconvenience of maintenance beyond the routine stuff. In the past, this put me in a Honda/Toyota but this time I was open and even wanted something more luxurious/expensive.

Most EVs are just unproven in my opinion. Just because it says Mercedes, nice test drive I don’t want to be their EV Guinea pig in terms of long term ownership. Companies like Rivian, cool but way too new for me to even blink an eye at. This basically left me with Tesla as an only option. If you do any research at all you’ll hear/see how hit and miss their build quality is. Seems worse on certain models, but ultimately I also know too much about Musk’s management style and it does the opposite of instilling confidence in the product. I also happen to just not “like” the interior/dash setup. So, I just felt like I was sacrificing /risking too much with EV. The other issue in some cases, the EV has been announced with a release date and accepting deposits but I couldn’t actually purchase one like I needed/wanted too; Too much friction in 2023.

I ended up in a Lexus. Basically the luxury Toyota. So i essentially kept my purchasing behavior unchanged due to not finding any compelling EV, but i kicked some EV tires.

Re: Fewer people are buying electric cars in the US

#783

Post by aembleton »

codegrappler wrote: post #492

One thing I have not heard discussed is the all-too-common family visit. If I drive 200 miles to visit some family and stay at their house what’s the etiquette for using their power to charge my car? I wouldn’t feel comfortable asking and saying “I’ve got to leave for two hours to find a charging station” also feels awkward. I want to maximize our time together and not burden folks with needing to pay to charge my ca…

Just ask them if you can plugin. They're family.

Re: Fewer people are buying electric cars in the US

#784

Post by agloe_dreams »

apitman wrote: post #685
vertnerd wrote: post #554

1. Range. But this speaks to the failure of the industry to provide charging infrastructure. This was one big thing that Tesla got right. 2. Price. An EV is inherently simpler to build and should cost less. Indeed, early EV offerings were almost affordable, if not for the high cost of the batteries. Now that batteries are less expensive, the automakers are pushing large, expensive cars (because they think they can se…

> The "I want a pickup" idea does not tickle the same brain cells as the "I want an EV" idea. Very anecdotal but I disagree. My dream vehicle might be a hybrid pickup that sacrifices the frunk for an ICE that can give me much greater range if needed, while still having a full size battery I can use for around town and camping. Also, EV pickups are basically the perfect work truck for people using plug-in power tools.…

Dodge is building this for you next year - it is called the Ramcharger. It is a 190mi EV with a v6 generator for an added 400 miles of gas range.

Re: Fewer people are buying electric cars in the US

#785

Post by wakawaka28 »

GNOMES wrote: post #763

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 mar…

Off the shelf kits exist. There are also people who specialize in installing them. I think these kits don't take off because the people who are car nuts do some research about what type of performance can be expected from a conversion, and they conclude it would make the car worse overall. Worse performance, worse resale value.

Classic cars are only possible to collect at all because of a lower level of proprietary crap than new cars. If you convert a perfectly working classic car, you're throwing away whatever engineering goodness is inside it to install some inferior bespoke and likely proprietary system. You will probably have to cause permanent damage to the original frame and body of the car. What you end up with is a weird combination that could malfunction in some circumstances, and has inferior range and resale value.

Re: Fewer people are buying electric cars in the US

#786

Post by aftbit »

aquaticsunset wrote: post #774
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 think the market for the current lineup of EVs is tapping out. My wife and I own one that was very comparably equipped to a similar luxury crossover / SUV, and the type of driving we do in that car is perfectly within the capabilities of our range & charging habits. Never going to gas stations or getting the annual oil change is a nice convenient perk for us. But we fit right in this targeted demographic: 1) Can af…

Hi! I'm one of these people. All three of those conditions are true for me, and yet I don't own an EV. Why? Because it seems like the technology is going to be much much better and cheaper in 5 years or less, and I'd hate to drop a big ball of cash on a new EV today when I can probably get either a better new one or a cheaper used one in just a couple of years.

Re: Fewer people are buying electric cars in the US

#787

Post by skywhopper »

This headline is just wrong. Sales growth is down, but sales are growing.

That said, what bugs me about these articles is the parroting of stats about how the average driver drives 40 miles a day. But for most drivers, the "average" day is not actually a typical day, and doesn't tell you anything about the capabilities they actually require from their vehicle.

I average 25 miles of driving a day, but most days I do no driving. And then there are the handful of days a year when I do 600 miles in a single day. There are long stretches of the drives I make that have few if any charging stations. I assume the more populated stretches have more, but I don't see them when I'm stopping for gas or restroom breaks. And while I could probably prepare for a 600 mile EV trip on a route I take regularly, if I were driving to different places all the time, I would be far too anxious to rely on my ability to find working, high-quality chargers at the right intervals.

Re: Fewer people are buying electric cars in the US

#788

Post by NegativeLatency »

cryptonector wrote: post #752
vertnerd wrote: post #554

1. Range. But this speaks to the failure of the industry to provide charging infrastructure. This was one big thing that Tesla got right. 2. Price. An EV is inherently simpler to build and should cost less. Indeed, early EV offerings were almost affordable, if not for the high cost of the batteries. Now that batteries are less expensive, the automakers are pushing large, expensive cars (because they think they can se…

Who could want a pickup besides people who need a pickup?

Lots of people https://www.thedrive.com/news/26907/you-dont-need-a-full-siz...

Re: Fewer people are buying electric cars in the US

#789

Post by JohnFen »

outlace wrote: post #714
atestu wrote: post #664

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 would guess most single family home owners have two or more cars. This is a total guess based on my own situation and those of people I know who own EV’s but most EV owners with a single family home will also own a gas car. So an EV is more convenient than a gas car for daily commutes because you never have to go to a gas station. For the rare times you go on a long trip, you just take the gas car or you put up wit…

> I would guess most single family home owners have two or more cars.

I was curious so looked this up. Not sure how good these stats are, but here's what I found at https://www.thezebra.com/resources/research/car-ownership-st...

The average US household owns 2.28 vehicles. 35% of US households own three or more cars. I found that interesting because almost no household that I personally know owns more than one vehicle (regardless of income level), so there may be large geographical variances here.

Also interesting is that the total number of registered vehicles in the US declined by over 25 million between 2012 and 2019. There is hope!

Re: Fewer people are buying electric cars in the US

#790

Post by aftbit »

conductr wrote: post #782
atestu wrote: post #664

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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’m in that first group too and I bought a new car in 2023. I went ICE ultimately because I didn’t see many electric options I would want. Cars are part fashion so I wanted to “like it”. But I also mostly car about reliability and longevity as I usually buy new but keep for 10-12 years and don’t want the inconvenience of maintenance beyond the routine stuff. In the past, this put me in a Honda/Toyota but this time I…

Don't get a Mercedes if you want reliable. Spoken from second hand experience at least.

Toyota and Lexus are hard to beat.

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