Why Americans don't buy Electric Vehicles

Limitations, inconvenience, lack of infrastructure, loss of freedom and lack of choice...as compared to ICE. That's it in a nut shell.

 

That's why I'd opt for a PHEV over an EV the way things still are yet.

 

Tesla co-founder JB Straubel, when Tesla was first started, said that battery improvements were happening at a 6 to 8% yearly rate (i.e 6-8% range improvement or cost improvement, depending on what you were interested in). It seems like a small growth, but it is exponential, and Tesla was counting on it to get them where they are today.

And where are they today? Building Model 3 cars that are for the most part taking the market away from other $40k cars. Most people can't afford $40k cars, and as has been mentioned here, no one wants the inconvenience of an electric car with limited range and slow charging times.

If a car with Tesla range and charging time costs $20k or less, it will start taking market from the real high volume cars like Toyota Camry and Nissan Sentra.

You can put battery cost or range into your own spreadsheet, then multiply 6% every year and make your own predictions. I think Dimitrij is pretty close, though maybe add a year or two.

And that's not even talking about trucks.

 

A sudden hike in gasoline prices will almost necessarily inhibit economic growth outside of the petrochemical industry. Those EV and PHEV owners who express "gladness" about that would only reinforce certain unfortunate stereotypes

I am hoping there is a path of managed decline for GM to shrink to a size, appropriate for their level of long-term ambitions. I had higher hopes for GM until they killed the Volt instead of perfecting the Voltec powertrain and replicating it in other vehicles - like Toyota did with its Hybrid Synergy Drive.

I meant my Prius, the c, known as Lil Mila. A plug-in Prius would be nice, but I hope I can drive Lil Mila for another 5 years at least. Maybe in a few years we will be able to buy a PHEV conversion kit or something : )

 

The Volt was collateral damage to GMs loss of cars sales. They were making improvements in the car's cost, and it was one of the better selling plug ins. Its sales weren't enough to keep a factory open though, nor to justify moving production. The other models assembled at the same plant were the Impala and CT6. Those were cancelled because of the market away from sedans to SUVs. If the Volt was made at the factory making the Equinox or Silverado, it might still be in production today.

It sold better than the Prime some months. Both look poor compared to the Model 3. Plug ins might be the only segment showing the growth in some markets now.

Charged by Naruto running.

Some years, the improvement was greater than 8%.

They did. The models are just only available in China. It was also the drive train in the Malibu hybrid. A Voltec car might return to the US, but right now, gas is cheap here, and the auto market is going into a slow down.

The closing of the factories, and leaving Europe is part of GM down sizing.

 

It gets worse due to that. We're seeing old chargers get removed, instead of getting repaired or upgraded. It's a sad reality.

 

I like to refer to those gas Hogs as Lumber wagons, deathtrap barges, whaling vessels, Stupid Useless Vehicles.
I will be going straight to hell when I die because I sold RVs (and luxury sportscars; those are ok) for 23 years.
God have mercy on my soul. I'm not completely lost; I never have nor ever will use one of those disgusting, unreliable things!! The customers were the best; the products were the worst!

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
AChoiredTaste.com

 

I am almost sure the Malibu did not have the Voltec (at least not in the US); the ELR did. As for China, I believe the GM operates there through its joint ventures with the local companies; I have no way of telling what is it that "they" sell under the Buick badge there.

 

Agreed. In addition, for me to make a switch, the bottom line is the true cost of EV ownership must come down to equal or less than PHEV or Hybrid. Currently, almost any EV available on the market are higher initial price than similar PHEV or Hybrid. Additionally, higher initial cost in investing in L2 EVSE installation and higher cost of fuel (electricity compared to current price of gas) makes it very expensive and unpractical car to own. Only thing I may save by switching to EV from PHEV or Hybrid is annual oil change cost of $30/year.
.

 

Someone should post an article "Gazillion of reasons the EVs don't fit the needs of most Americans" and be done with it untill better times.

 

Actually, where we live (the Northern bit of Virginia) the non-Tesla DCFC infrastructure is very decent; I'd say a dozen L3 locations in my usual driving area. The problem is quite the opposite: most of them are barely used. For example, out of my monthly visits to the new Electrify America stations, 8 stalls each, I have only seen twice anything attempting to charge at them. Older EVGo stations do attract a lot of faithful, pre-2018 Leaf clients (I think it's free for them?).

You are quite right about the (partial) loss of freedom; we value our automobiles as a means of greatly extending our personal mobility, which is a major avenue of exercising our personal freedom. EV's only increased the mobility of those who want to drive in the areas, where ICE cars are banned or restricted; the majority of others find their mobility restricted .. not good.

 

In the first half of 2019, in California, the Model 3 sold only 2% less than the Camry. It outsold the Corolla.
I’m sorry Tesla can’t single handedly replace all car sales overnight. It would be great if they had more help.

 

If you ignore the top 3 vehicles for sales (which are all pickup trucks) and go with the #1 that isn’t a pickup truck, that’s a RAV4.

If you “normalized” that in terms of price and features between the existing gas and theoretical BEV versions of this, I think you’d see the car needed to break through to the average American driver:

A Toyota RAV4 electric with 300+ miles of range and a $26k window sticker. I’d buy one.

 

ditto, but it sure aint gonna be here by 2021. 2031?

 

Agreed. I’m certain I’ll have time to wear out another gas car before it’s really here. Maybe not two of them, though...

 

One statistic I've never seen is the percentage of BEV that are owned by multiple-car households vs. single-car households. My gut feeling is that a very large portion of BEV owners have access to a gasoline-powered vehicle as well.

 

The 49mpg 2016+ Malibu Hybrid definitely had Voltec inside just couldn’t plug in which was a dumb mistake, they could have continued to sell the fictional “plug in” Malibu after the Volt sunset

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.caranddriver.com/news/amp29086061/chevrolet-malibu-hybrid-dead-2020/

The statistic doesn’t mean much if it doesn’t have a regional aspect.

Even in Wisconsin BEV ownership is overwhelmingly in Milwaukee,
with Madison a distant second.
Get outside these areas and you can count how many in a county using fingers and toes.

City dwellers are more likely to be single car households and the used EV market is a very different demographic than new.

 

The early Malibu hybrids were mild ones. I think it was the first model with BAS, and then got the 2nd gen system renamed eAssist. The current Malibu hybrid is full one using the transaxle from the Volt, minus a clutch. If anyone wants one, hurry, it was cancelled for 2020.

The Buick Velite 5 in China is a Volt. They also get a Velite 6 that is a wagon version, which is also available as a BEV. Make it a little more crossoverish, and I can see it selling in the US market.
Buick's version of the Volt will live on in China, along with the LaCrosse | Get the latest car news, car reviews, auto show updates, and racing news from Autoweek. News for the auto enthusiast.

The Lacrosse will also live on in China. In the US, it and the Impala were available with the 3rd gen eAssist.

Fuel costs are a big part. In Europe, total ownership cost between BEV and ICE might already be the same.

I think the US is getting a crossover version of the ID 3 for MY2022. A 150 range one might cost that much, before incentives.

A large portion of US households have more than one car, and that was before EVs arrived.

 

As has been said before, if...and that's a big if...EVs are going to replace ICE, the change will be generational.