I am one of the “late“ early adopters to electric vehicles. I am a total convert now. I bought my first EV, a Tesla model Y last year. My husband has been driving an S, then an X since 2015. I didn’t want to drive one at the time because I didn’t want to buy a really expensive car and have the kids trash it. Once my lease on my gas car was over, I bought the 7 seat model Y and I absolutely love it. Best car ever. My kids are driving now and we got them EV’s as well. I know this is an electric vehicle sub and this is not about Tesla at all. I bought it because it met my family’s needs and for access to the supercharger network. A month after I bought it, we installed solar panels on our house and put batteries in as well (after our massive student loans were forgiven with PSLF). We don’t buy gas now and we have reduced our reliance on the grid by 90%. Our financial situation is better now as we are saving so much money as we pay less for transportation and fuel now. I feel like I’ve seen the light! I live in a typical Midwestern town and I drive around town and count every electric vehicle I see. On a good day I’ll see 10 Teslas and about five other EV’s (among a sea of gas cars). But I work with people who don’t even care. I work with one guy who is an immigrant and his building a new house and told me he is putting a charger in the house and will buy an EV once he moves in to the home. But everyone else around me couldn’t care less. I went to Los Angeles last weekend and was shocked! We saw 50 Teslas in a short 5 mile radius. We drove past one of their dealerships and it was packed with people picking up cars. I rented a Tesla while there and glad I took a picture of my license plate because I couldn’t find my car in the sea of other Teslas at the mall. I went to one supercharger that cost $.24 all day and it was was packed with cars. I told my son who was with me that “we are looking at the future!”. But now I am on the other side of the country visiting a different big city and I see even less EVs than where I live. You read in the news how we’re just on the edge of the S curve and it’s going to explode but somehow I just don’t believe it. So many problems could be solved and wars could end if everyone made the transition to EVs and renewable energy. I feel like in the next four years it could be even less as a different administration will try to kill the momentum. Which to be honestly it feels like people might as well just stay in the Stone Age. Does anyone else feel like this? I hope I’m wrong.
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“Wars could end if we transition to EV cars”
You win the internet for today.
The transition is inevitable.
People loved steam locomotives too (I do), but they’re basically relegated to special excursion service now.
The average age of a car on US roads is currently 12.5 years. Most people (except for the wealthy) purchase a car when they need one, not when they want one. We are currently seeing EV purchases by the early adopters. Mass change is still quite a ways in the future.
A wall of text strikes you for 1000 HPs. You have died.
You are terribly rich, top 1% compared to the rest of the world. You can’t say that people might as well stay in the Stone Age as if it was their decision. Almost no none outside of OECD countries can afford a Tesla Model Y (and I’m not even talking about the S or X). I don’t know the financial situation of the people around you that “don’t care”, but it’s not as easy as it is for you to buy 4 EVs out of nowhere.
Nobody will kill the momentum, almost every car manufacturer is engaged with it and they are all planning to go full electric in the mid term. If you really want to support the adoption of EVs you should fight for smaller and cheaper cars (as the US market is quite responsible for the whole world being flooded with SUVs).
Electric Bikes?
Most people can’t afford the typical American ICE vehicle
we will get there but it may be a slow process. USA market is quite different than other market: main reason: gasoline price is relatively inexpensive. California is very conducive to EV: high gasoline price and good weather. These high gasoline prices: prior to EV being available: made a lot of people NOT buy big 3 row suv and large trucks: people are use to driving compact suv, sedans, hybrids, etc. when I go to the bay area (even before the EV age): i didn’t see much vehicles like F150,Tahoe, etc… California (and any place with really high gas prices): the EV adoption will naturally be higher: the “gas savings” will probably make it worthwhile (although some places in california electricity is really expensive and there isn’t much “gas savings”). for the parts of the USA where gas is cheap: the “gas savings” isn’t much. people love to drive trucks, 3-row suv. currently, these EV equivalent vehicles are really expensive. For compact suv and sedan: the cost of ownership of an EV isn’t that much cheaper (sometimes more expensive) when compared to ice/hybrid. the IRA tax credit is a huge boost for ev sales; but without it: I don’t think EV sales will be that great because EV are still expensive in terms of upfront cost, insurance cost (this is YMMV: sometimes it is cheaper–I am just saying on avearge), and tires. Not everyone qualify for the EV tax credit. tesla dominates the market in the USA in terms of EV; but not everyone wants to buy a tesla for whatever reason. the non-tesla offerings isn’t like what it is in China. there isn’t as many variety. outside of china: manufacturer has a difficult time making an EV that is <$30K that can go 300 miles EPA and charge at 150 kw consistently. Whereas a corolla cross hybrid starts at < $30K. the cost of owning a corolla cross hybrid isn’t higher than a niro ev.
source:
https://www.valuepenguin.com/how-having-electric-car-affects-your-auto-insurance-rates
https://www.newsweek.com/more-range-more-tires-electric-vehicle-tire-myths-truths-1796810
I think people are going about this the wrong way. EVs need to be sold by how much less they cost. And not due to the environment. It’s been marketed as a liberal thing.
Let’s start with 80%. Less moving parts. Brakes last well over 100k miles. Far less costly per mile. Instant torque and power. When charging at home you always have a full tank.
Politics is not good for them. There are many people who don’t see the positives of them. But, they hate EVs and don’t care about anything else.
You will find many conservative people that like EVs, have solar and clean up their area. They are being sold incorrectly.
As others said, the transition is inevitable, and the US is also not the whole world, when China and EU fully switch to EVs the manufacturers won’t keep the whole ICE industry alive just for the US market.
I have made your same exact point to some people who think EV’s are just a fad that won’t actually replace ICE. And they get this look like “wait, so there’s other countries out there that matter?” when I tell them that the US is only 1/5 of the worlds new car market and China has been a larger market than the US for new cars for at least a decade.
They literally think that the US is the center of the universe and forget that other places exist or that they have any influence. When I propose that other countries are just as modern or more advanced than the US, they just can’t wrap their heads around it because they’ve just bought into American Exceptionalism so hard that when confronted with facts it makes their brain hurt.