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Are US EV sales a disaster or a booming segment? The answer may be both

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Re: Are US EV sales a disaster or a booming segment? The answer may be both

#41

I will never buy and EV as long as I’m beholden to the tyranny of PG&E’s constant gamification of my power. They keep raising and raising prices and there’s nothing attractive about putting all my eggs in the electric basket in California as long as the rates are controlled by cartels. PG&E will exploit any electric car progress for themselves and rip off their customers as hard as they can as soon as they thought th…

There are also some not so friendly entities that play games with the petroleum market.

Yep. But there are more than one of them competing with one another, and that has made all the difference.

Re: Are US EV sales a disaster or a booming segment? The answer may be both

#42
The FUD that continues to come from big money around EVs is impressive, if not a little boring and dumb.

These graphs are getting mighty steep with no letting up. Any business or market segment in the world would be hailed a massive success with growth like that. [1]

The Tesla model Y is the 2nd best selling vehicle in the US, behind only the F-150. The sales compared to legacy OEMs are insane. And that is just Tesla, there are plenty of other EVs that are selling in huge numbers now, with more showing up every day.

Anyone who says EVs are not a smashing success is blatantly denying the hard facts as they exist, and clearly is not interested in being truthful. Akin to someone saying solar is not growing and has no demand.

[1] https://cleantechnica.com/2023/09/22/electric-vehicle-sales-...

Re: Are US EV sales a disaster or a booming segment? The answer may be both

#43

I will never buy and EV as long as I’m beholden to the tyranny of PG&E’s constant gamification of my power. They keep raising and raising prices and there’s nothing attractive about putting all my eggs in the electric basket in California as long as the rates are controlled by cartels. PG&E will exploit any electric car progress for themselves and rip off their customers as hard as they can as soon as they thought th…

Having enough personal solar for your car charging solves this problem for now but who know what kind of fuckery there will be around home solar rules in California in the future.

Re: Are US EV sales a disaster or a booming segment? The answer may be both

#45

I will never buy and EV as long as I’m beholden to the tyranny of PG&E’s constant gamification of my power. They keep raising and raising prices and there’s nothing attractive about putting all my eggs in the electric basket in California as long as the rates are controlled by cartels. PG&E will exploit any electric car progress for themselves and rip off their customers as hard as they can as soon as they thought th…

Long term, my plan is to buy a cheap EV like a Bolt as well as a powerwall or other home battery in a part of the world with good sunlight and build a nice little solar farm to power the house and car.

Solar panels just keep getting cheaper and this plan seems increasingly like a way to nearly do away with power bills all together while still staying on grid.

But until then I tend to agree, EVs aren't as appealing when you can't predict what energy prices will be over 10 years

Re: Are US EV sales a disaster or a booming segment? The answer may be both

#46
post #18

For people living in apartments, with the building providing no way to charge your vehicle, especially when parked outside, the value proposition is a lot less tempting. Takes 5 minutes to get gas, gas stations are everywhere, but having to find a charging station for your EV and having to sit there for an hour or longer is just not appealing if the tradeoff is the good feelings of one's microscopic contribution to s…

My apartment complex won't even let you park an EV inside or under any of the structures because of the fear they have of EV fires.

Gasoline cars are much more likely to catch fire than EVs. They just don’t make the news.

“per 100,000 cars sold in each category, electric vehicles had the lowest number of fires.”

Source: https://www.popsci.com/technology/electric-vehicle-fire-rate...

Re: Are US EV sales a disaster or a booming segment? The answer may be both

#47

For people living in apartments, with the building providing no way to charge your vehicle, especially when parked outside, the value proposition is a lot less tempting. Takes 5 minutes to get gas, gas stations are everywhere, but having to find a charging station for your EV and having to sit there for an hour or longer is just not appealing if the tradeoff is the good feelings of one's microscopic contribution to s…

> having to find a charging station for your EV and having to sit there for an hour or longer A Tesla can supercharge 200 miles in 15 minutes

Here in Geneva, Switzerland there is exactly one place with superchargers, metro area easily over 1.5 million and some of the wealthiest and most powerful folks live here or often move through here. I think they have 24 chargers altogether in that spot.

Next nearest in Switzerland is some 120km away. That's basically a non-existent network. Colleague who has model S told me he can charge at his house cca 9km/hour. With commuting he ends up almost empty at the end of the work week, and has this additional worry constantly. Service outside warranty is supposedly sky high. Not that great a proposition.

Re: Are US EV sales a disaster or a booming segment? The answer may be both

#48
post #5

To get a decent daily cross the city charger installed in my garage, I have to spend some $3,000 just on electrical work because I have to upgrade service. Currently unsubsidized because my government doesn’t believe climate change is real. This is before the average $700 to install the charger. Vehicle prices have skyrocketed, and while my family makes well in to 6 figures, cars are just not a thing we want to spent…

Not sure which government but the US has a pretty complete super charger network for Tesla owners and opening up to other brands. I actually have a charger at home but never use it. I just drop by the super chargers around town or along all the highways and grab a 15 minute charge while I grab a Starbucks or lunch once a week.

Re: Are US EV sales a disaster or a booming segment? The answer may be both

#49
post #29

EVs are still too compromising or expensive. All I want is an electric no-frills version of my Civic at a comparable price. Honda themselves, or any other manufacturer, have been unable to offer that. I have no interest in buying another ICE vehicle, so I'll continue to maintain my current car, but I'm ready to buy once they offer something I'm looking for.

> All I want is an electric no-frills version of my Civic at a comparable price. The US car industry seems really determined not to allow anything affordable on the market. It's not just EVs. They also push overpriced bloated gas guzzlers. Eventually someone will get a cheap reliable decent-range EV like you want into the market and steamroll the entire industry.

It coming, from BYD and the other new Chinese ev companies

Re: Are US EV sales a disaster or a booming segment? The answer may be both

#50

I will never buy and EV as long as I’m beholden to the tyranny of PG&E’s constant gamification of my power. They keep raising and raising prices and there’s nothing attractive about putting all my eggs in the electric basket in California as long as the rates are controlled by cartels. PG&E will exploit any electric car progress for themselves and rip off their customers as hard as they can as soon as they thought th…

Isn’t this rate jump partially the result of rulings that made PG&E liable for damages from fires started by overheated transformers?

Who else but them would be responsible for those fires?
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