The funny part about these types of articles is that the author almost never says they bought and drive an EV themselves
The most common excuses for not buying an electric vehicle are mostly unfounded
This article is reprinted by permission from NerdWallet.
As more Americans consider an electric car, many shoppers still have questions and concerns — some of which are actually outdated or unfounded.
This year will see the release of more electric cars — and even pickup trucks — prompting 27% of likely shoppers to say they would consider buying an electric car in the next four years, according to a study by J.D. Power. And the popularity of EVs continues to rise. While auto sales were down 21% year over year in the final quarter of 2021, mostly due to parts shortages, sales of electric vehicles rose 72%, according to Kelley Blue Book analysts.
Despite a surge in popularity and improved capability, the common objections to buying an EV continue to be “all the usual suspects,” says Stewart Stropp, senior director of automotive retail at J.D. Power.
Popularity? With whom? The upper middle class and the rich? There are 5 excuses, the first being “Limited range.” Yes, range is better the more expensive you go. Then
Few charging stations
Nearly half of respondents in the J.D. Power study cited doubts about the charging infrastructure. Stropp again sees a disconnect because nearly all EV owners charge at home.
The typical driver would make as few as six stops at a public charging station every year, Stropp says. “But a more robust network of fast charging stations would help alleviate buyers’ concerns.”
Huh what? 6? Are these people driving 700-1000 miles a year? What do people in apartments do? How about those with townhomes in NYC who park on the streets? Is there a way to keep hooligans from disconnecting and messing up chargers?
Then “limited selection and utility.” Well, how well would they work to replace, say, a minivan? And “lack of information.” Perhaps they should have said “media who lies”, because we get quite a bit of that, especially about the tax credits. And here’s the biggie
4. Too expensive
The extra expense of getting an electric car was cited as an obstacle by 43% of respondents in a 2020 survey conducted by Consumer Reports. While the purchase price of EVs looks higher than gas cars, that perspective ignores the big picture. In fact, “consumers can save a lot of money in the long run by switching to an EV,” according to Chris Harto, Consumer Reports’ senior sustainability policy analyst.
Once all savings are factored in — leasing incentives, tax breaks, fuel and repair savings — “the typical total ownership savings over the life of most EVs ranges from $6,000 to $10,000,” Consumer Reports states.
How long is this ownership? These EV cultists think we’re all going to keep them for 10-20 years. A $7,500 tax credit doesn’t mean you save $7,500, it means a reduction, one time, in your net earnings on your W2. Who says there will be leasing incentives? Especially now. And, the residual value, ie, what the manufacturer thinks the vehicle will be worth in 3 years, is one of two major factors. It took a long, long time for people to start believing that a 3 year old hybrid had value. How about with EVs?
(Clean Technica) iSeeCars is a website that specializes in collecting data about the new and used car markets. In its latest report, it says electric cars in general experience far higher depreciation after three years than conventional cars — 52% versus 39.1% for sedans, 39.7% for SUVs, and 34.3% for trucks. However, Tesla vehicles outperform the market. The Model S depreciates 36.3% at the end of a 3 year lease while the Model X depreciates 33.9.% over the same period.
So, not as bad as you’d expect, but, still not good for most. Think people are going to trust GM and Ford EVs? And, then there’s the issue of the consumer saying “nah, that used price is way too much, I won’t pay that.” And, again, government will have to implement one or more types of taxes – road miles tax, property tax, purchase tax, etc – to make up for the loss of the gas taxes. How about repair costs? We don’t really know what they will be yet.
The Powers That Be keep trying to force this on people. People who are not clamoring for them.
Most Tesla owners charge overnight at their home when they also pay at a reduced rate. The wealthy always buy into innovative technology first, later prices will drop and that technology ( thin computers or cell phones) becomes economically available to all. The average price for a car in USA today is 47000. Tesla Mod 3 starts at less, before any federal or state incentives.EV sales went up 50% and that is normal. Next year Tesla should hit 500000 surpassing the Euros ( Mercedes BMW Volvo Jaguar) and the Koreans. In 2 years ( if this past 5 year trend holds) they will be selling 1/2 of honda. Batteries keep getting better and cheaper. Cobalt is no longer necessary and the reduction of lithium is on the horizon. Who wants to stay addicted to giving money to the bad acting countries that control the oil and natural gas global market.Why have prices SKYROCKETED ( DAMN I do like using that word!) here in the USA when the price of extraction/refining stayed the same? Inflation or price gouging?
People in the usa ARE clamoring for them
This is why Ford and GM have invested billions and are rushing to complete new factory builds.
This is why 200000 people are willing to wait up to 2 years to receive a Ford Lightning F150
Did you watch the SuoerBowl commercials. Hertz has bought a fleet for rentals.Do they know something Teach doesn’t?
The Hirsute One, who does not own a plug-in electric car himself, wrote:
Not clamoring enough to have sold more than 2% of new cars.
That will be the proof: how many of these vehicles are actually sold.
I think those savings are based upon 5 years ownership
Of course those savings were not including SKYROCKETING global oil prices.
Well the hood news is I expect gS prices to level off/head down. Looks less likely we will have a hot war in ,Ukraine, maybe Trumps BFF Putin just wanted to bump up fossil fuel prices
The demand for EV’s is being touted and ginned up by unreliable sources. It’s a huge marketing campaign trying to bootstrap demand, downplay the significant disadvantages, and drumbeat for the theoretical advantages. Reminds me of being given the sales pitch for a timeshare.
The truth is that a very limited segment of society is the actual market for EV’s. They may be useful for that small sliver of society, but in the long haul, this can’t and won’t scale up with the demand needed to make these extravagances affordable for most people.
And that is a good thing, because the infrastructure can’t and won’t develop for these to become as popular as the marketing gurus want.
A Google search for fights at electric car charging stations returned 26,300,000 hits, one of which was this:
Tesla owners feuding over charging port almost causes man to have a stroke
It’s one thing to have to wait ten minutes for a gasoline pump; it’s something entirely different to have to wait an hour to plug in your luxury car.
The Hirsute One wrote, “Most Tesla owners charge overnight at their home when they also pay at a reduced rate,” and that’s absolutely right . . . because plug in electrics are really impractical if you don’t have a secure home charging station. If you have a $6,000,000 apartment in Central Park West, you (probably) have a secure parking garage in which you can charge your Tesla; if you live in a fifth floor walkup on 96th Street, maybe not so much.
Looks to me like the democrats in America are doing everything they can think of to destroy the middle class working person. From Covid lockdowns to EV’s nothing is actually directed toward the well being of the working class American. And the democrat millionaires and billionaires get richer and richer while the working man is clobbered with inflation and die of faulty Covid shots.
Watching the death of an empire is a slow and painful thing. Especially when one is part of the empire and knows it doesn’t have to be this way.
You’ve noticed that of the two largest proponents of EV’s at this site, Hairy and dOwd, neither owns one.
I drive a Corvette. It’s a few years old but it’s paid for. And when I fire it up I can both hear and feel it’s soul. I become part of the car. IOW it’s fun. Have you ever heard a person state driving an EV was fun? I have not.
Let’s go Brandon, get those EV’s on the road so the grid can collapse then you can tax the shit out of the non EV owners to fix it. Heil Brandon!, Heil Trudeau!
It took Rome 500 years to fall, and the Eastern Empire stood for almost another 1000 years. You aren’t watching the USA fall, just normal political upheavals where people in power fight people who want to be in power to enrich themselves personally, at the expense of all of the rest of us. Despite the USA never having been an empire in any sense, we are nowhere near collapse.