Featured Article: Which (World) Regions are Driving the EV Trend?

Living here all my life(US). I'll never understand why SUVs and pick ups are so popular. I get the practicality behind them if you need them for farm work, construction sites, work trucks, hauling a boat/camper. But for a daily work commute, a road trip, maybe even going off the beaten path for camping. Wagons are way more practical and versatile in my opinion. Most common argument I hear about people who prefer SUVs is the ride height and having 4WD/AWD. But if you get a good wagon, you'll find that you are still at the same ride height, if not maybe a little lower and can still get a wagon that has 4WD/AWD and still save money at the pump. The ride height argument is probably the most common thing I hear "I want to see over other cars/trucks and the road ahead of me...well if the cars/trucks are at the same height as you, that argument is invalid. My spouse drives a RAV4 and compared to the Prius V that I have. Other than being a little higher up off the ground, both cars pretty much do the same minus the AWD drive option Which I've found over the years that a car with FWD with a good pair of snow tires can drive better than an AWD car with regular season tires in those type of conditions. Which I find the majority of SUV/truck owners where I live, will drive their vehicles like its the Daytona 500 when the weather is bad, during heavy rain/snow and the majority of them are turned over in ditches/trees or in some type of accident. But yet still complain how much money it cost them at the pump.

Mean don't get me wrong, I like some of the styles/looks of some of today's SUVs and trucks. But the amount of money it costs to fill them is a huge turn off for me and I find having a wagon is a good trade off.

Maybe they'll be a culture change in the US. The kids of the 70s, 80s and 90s grew up in the back of their parents station wagon and the wagon became uncool to have. "I'm not going to drive what my parents drove." Then came the mini van culture and as practical as mini vans are. They quickly became labeled as the "soccer mom" vehicle of choice and they became uncool to drive for the gen Y. The majority of Gen Y drives mostly SUVs and trucks. The only time that AWD/4WD drive option comes into play is driving over the shopping mall parking lot speed bump. So perhaps Gen Z or the generation after will think that driving an SUV like their parents will be uncool and the wagon will be popular again.

 

You may have hit the nail on the head when you mention culture. I have limited experience being in the Far East and Europe. Both those areas seem to be fine with the smaller vehicles you mention and smaller trucks. Their cultures manage just fine that way.

To each person their own business. It does make you wonder sometimes when you see a duel wheeled diesel truck hauling a humongous camper with a satellite antennae and all the hookups in order to 'get away form it all'.

We lived next to a nice family for 5 years, the male was a middle age man who drove a huge Dodge Ram Truck. I am not exaggerating when I say I never saw him haul a thing in the tuck the whole time we lived there. His wife had her own car and refused to ride in the truck.

One thing I just thought of made me come back and edit the post. In Europe and the Far East the cost of gas is much higher than the US. Maybe that makes larger vehicles impractical in their culture and electric power for small vehicles very attractive? I don'[t know but just a thought

 

You are right. To each person their own business. Just from my stand point, if you own something that big and you don't use it for whats intended for, then its a waste of money.

That cracks me up when people take out these huge RVs, or huge campers and hooked it up with everything that a modern home has...it kinda defeats the idea of going camping. You might as well stay home. However I hope to one day own a camper big enough to haul two people, even if I'm by myself so I can travel all over the US and Canada.

That family you mentioned, I have a neighbor who drives a 1500 Chevy Silverado diesel. Its a nice looking truck, but I never see him actually hauling anything other than his wife and two kids, all while causing the rest of his neighbors including myself to complain amongst ourselves about the diesel fumes that overtake our small road in morning when he warms it up and the fumes when sitting at the bus stop in the morning with our kids.

You do have a point about gas being pricer in Europe and further east. Outside of California, the gas prices across the US have been pretty low. So I guess popular trend is since gas is cheap, its more "practical" to have a SUV/Pick up for that off chance you'll be hauling something big as oppose to being in a normal family sedan/wagon that is just as practical with hauling your family around and doing the normal grocery store runs. I think once EVs and Hybrids become more a normal amongst the American culture and gas eventually going up, people will see the benefits of owning a smaller vehicle that can do everything you need at the fraction of the cost of a larger one.

 

The Honda 600 came out in 1970.

 

For years, I drove TDIs, then I switched to a Prius, then a Prius Pip, then a Volt. Now, I switch back and forth between driving the Volt and the Spark EV. To this day, there's still not even so much as a hybrid where I work, lots of trucks though. One of the guys once asked my how high my electric bill is with the two plug-ins. When I told him it was $1143 for the year, all I got was a "huh" and that was it. No other interest at all.

 

The hospital I work at; the majority of the staff, visitors, the inpatients, the outpatients and other staff members mostly drive SUVs and Trucks. However on a daily basis, I count at least 10-15 Pri in the parking lot thats mostly dominated by SUVs. Rather its the V, the hatchback or the C. But yet, the ones who drive the trucks and SUVs at work have this type of aggrance where you tell them "be careful, roads are slippy or its snowing out" they'll go "pffft" I drive a jeep, I drive a truck, I drive a SUV.

I don't drive a Volt, but I' consider owning one if it was similar to size of my Prius V. However, people at work, family to complete strangers will ask how much it costs to fill up or where do I plug it in? When I tell them that I can go 500 miles on a tank of fuel and average between 45-50 mpg...I'll get the "huh" reaction and nothing else. However, conversations and questions continue from other Prius/Hybrid/EV owners.