EV’s are becoming mainstream

[Joe (SoCal)]

Electric Vehicles Start to Enter the Car-Buying Mainstream

While sales are still skewed toward affluent buyers, more people are choosing electric vehicles to save money.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/13/business/electric-vehicles-buyers-mainstream.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

[Dan McCosh]

Tesla is the leading luxury car brand. "More people" can't afford an EV. As for mainstream--EV sales would have to more than double to equal the sales of Ford F-150 pickups, let alone the rest of the auto market.

[sonofswen]

2023 Chevrolet Bolt EV

Starting at $26,595

They have solved the battery fire problem. I know someone who has a 6 moth old one..getting 259 mi battery-only
a river starts as a small trickle, on its way to becoming a main stream.

[Dan McCosh]

Might start with a standardized charging plug. A standard plug outlet did a lot to put electric appliances in the home.

[LeeG]

There might be a Tesla in our county.

[sonofswen]

Electric vehicles’ share of new vehicle sales almost doubled in the first nine months of the year, to 5.6 percent from 2.9 percent in the same period in 2021. So, still just a bit more than a trickle..

[CWSmith]

My father (age 93) is talking about buying a 3-wheel cycle because he has balance issues. I'm trying to talk him into the electric assist, but he won't consider it. There are lots of hills where he lives and it would give him greater range and he can get his exercise on the flats.

From what I've seen of electric bicycles, they are very good these days.

[sonofswen]

Might start with a standardized charging plug. A standard plug outlet did a lot to put electric appliances in the home.

Tesla Announces The Opening Of Its Proprietary Charging Standard

It has been named the North American Charging Standard with a hope to be adopted by the North American EV

https://insideevs.com/news/621436/te...ging-standard/

[Dikhaut]

We have had at least one EV in the family since 2013 and for a while we had 2. I think it will be a long time before they become economically and practically viable for the majority of people. We have always had other cars in addition to the EVs because there is a lot they simply cannot do. The cost of the vehicles, range and logistics of charging will continue to be limiting factors for quite a while.


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[CK 17]

Not an EV, but I’ve got 3000 miles on my rav4 hybrid. I need the ICE for my commute. Around town I’ve gotten 60 mph on some trips. Our next car will be an EV.

[Jim Bow]

Do you think Musk’s Twitter fiasco will affect the Tesla brand?

[Joe (SoCal)]

Do you think Musk’s Twitter fiasco will affect the Tesla brand?

Maybe

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[Keith Wilson]

One data point, FWIW: Last night we stayed in a semi-fancy old hotel in Dubuque, IA, in the old part of town down by the river. The hotel parking lot had a line of charging stations, half a dozen or so, Tesla and Other. They were mostly full when we went in for the night.

[Rich Jones]

Visiting our daughter, SIL and grandkids just west of Washington, D.C there are tons of Tesla cars on the roads down there. Daughter has a Model 3 and SIL takes delivery on his Model Y in a few weeks.
EV's are the future but I think the other car companies are going to catch up to Tesla in a few years.

[Ted Hoppe]

May add to my vision boat - 2024/5.

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[David G]

Electric vehicles’ share of new vehicle sales almost doubled in the first nine months of the year, to 5.6 percent from 2.9 percent in the same period in 2021. So, still just a bit more than a trickle..

Just so. Growing. But a long way from becoming mainstream.

[dutchpp]

It's just a matter of time.
Approximately 80% of the newly sold cars in Norway is EV now. Achieved by clever policies ( free charging, no parking fee's etc.)
The top 10 best sold cars (jan-apr 2022);
meest verkochte auto's NOR.jpg

[RichW]

My neighbor just bought a Lucid Air. Very elegant looking, smooth and quiet. But like many startups, Lucid has made a FEW very impressive cars, but they haven't yet learned how to produce the MANY cars with equal quality. Just a quick look at the new Lucid - panel fit is not on par with other high priced cars - a pretty big gap between rear quarter panels and bumper; there's a few irregularities in the interior; the door handles are flush to the outside of the door and are supposed to pop out when you touch them - they wouldn't pop up so he had to fiddle with the app to get the car to open.

So they've got impressive technology, but they haven't got production skills yet.

[Todd D]

EVs are pretty far from mainstream here on the Maine coast (Mount Desert Island specifically). I do see a FEW EVs in the summer, but they are 100% out of state, mostly Massachusetts. None of the local car dealers carry EVs. You "might" be able to see one at a dealer in Bangor, but on any given day I would say the chance of them having one for you to look at, not test drive, is under 10%. If they have one it is because an ordered car hasn't been picked up yet.

The charging infrastructure here (Mount Desert Island, ME) is tiny. I think there is/was a single high speed charger on the island with a single charging point. I say is/was because last week when I went past that location (a gas station) it looked like it had closed (no prices posted and no one there). Other than that there are about 20-25 level 2 charging points on the island. Most are located at hotels and are restricted to their customers. Also, since those hotels are now closed for the winter, the charging points there are also likely shut down for the winter. Close to home I am aware of 8 level two charging points. Two are at a hotel that is closed for the winter and they are shut down. Two are in a boat yard and the owner says the only car at them in the winter is his (he owns one of the two EVs on this half of the island. His is a VW and there is one Tesla). Two charging points are in front of the police station in Southwest Harbor, one is at the Tremont town office (open business hours only M-F since ou have to get the office staff to turn it on) and the final one is at a local auto museum that is closed for the season. By the way, the auto museum has about 8-10 electric cars, but none built after about 1915. They also have several steam cars. I pass by most of those charging points frequently and almost never see a car charging in the summer and never see one in the winter.

You may think the lack of EV infrastructure here is surprising considering that we get about 4 million tourist visits a year and they all arrive by car (no public transportation to the island). But there is essentially zero demand for EV infrastructure in the off season because very few of the local people can afford an EV. Most of the people who could afford an EV won't consider on until there is a real 3/4-1 ton pickup with an 8 foot bed available for reasonable money - i.e., lobster fishermen who actually use their trucks to haul stuff and tow heavy trailers every day and need a real truck that can haul 4-6 full 55 gallon drums and other similar loads. Consequently, building a significant EV infrastructure doesn't make economic sense here.

So EVs are not even close to mainstream here.

[Figment]

Caught a ride in a hyundai Iconiq over the weekend. It took my pet-peeve "stab a tablet into the dashboard" to a whole 'nother level, but otherwise very nice.
Not at all "entry level", but I can see why they're doing well.

[John Smith]

I doubt they'll be mainstream for quite a while. It's one thing if one has the luxury of charging at home. Another if one does not have that luxury.

[Joe (SoCal)]

For fun yesterday on my 20 min drive home from Laguna Beach I decided to count just the Tesla's since I can identify them easily. On a pretty lazy Sunday I counted 68 Teslas.

Here in SoCal it feels like every other car is an EV.

[Vernon]

I doubt they'll be mainstream for quite a while. It's one thing if one has the luxury of charging at home. Another if one does not have that luxury.

This.

My company should be producing frames for the F150 version within a year, it's launching now. If it were $10-15,000 more than standard, I could see myself buying one. I drive very little and generally not far at any one time. I'd be factoring in the cost of a few solar panels to charge it as it'd be parked in my barn enough that I'd have very little use for pay charging stations.

Right now, in rural Ohio, I don't think it'd be practical for everyone, but it'd hit the sweet spot for someone in my situation. The cost numbers I think may work out, even if a little under water, it'd still be cool to pay nothing at all for fuel.

[Paul Pless]

For fun yesterday on my 20 min drive home from Laguna Beach I decided to count just the Tesla's since I can identify them easily. On a pretty lazy Sunday I counted 68 Teslas.

Here in SoCal it feels like every other car is an EV.

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[LeeG]

I doubt they'll be mainstream for quite a while. It's one thing if one has the luxury of charging at home. Another if one does not have that luxury.

That isn’t the reason for the time it’ll take. The reason is simply that there are so many vehicles on the road, most vehicle sales are used not new, vehicles are lasting longer and the elephant in the room is that when oil supply slows down so will all auto use as the energy to make evs decline. Which means less auto use in general. The perspective problem is applying the norms of the last 100yrs where increasing oil supply enabled rapid turnover in the next generation of vehicles. When the energy supply slows so does that turnover.

[Too Little Time]

For fun yesterday on my 20 min drive home from Laguna Beach I decided to count just the Tesla's since I can identify them easily. On a pretty lazy Sunday I counted 68 Teslas.

Here in SoCal it feels like every other car is an EV.

SoCal is different from much of the country.

[David W Pratt]

Electric vehicles’ share of new vehicle sales almost doubled in the first nine months of the year, to 5.6 percent from 2.9 percent in the same period in 2021. So, still just a bit more than a trickle..

Units, or dollars?

[Joe (SoCal)]

SoCal is different from much of the country.

Yup

This is my morning routine twice a week, I park my EV at one of the charging locations in my apartment complex in the evening. I use ApplePay on my watch unlocks the charger, I plug in and walk away. The next morning I wake up make coffee unlock the charger 90% and 342 miles of range and $9 later I drive away.


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[Tom Wilkinson]

SoCal is different from much of the country.

I see much the same thing in all my travels. They are everywhere in Georgia. Same with MA and around Tucson. And for most EV driving you don’t need much infrastructure.
I have charged at a public station in months and Cindy never has with her car.


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[Keith Wilson]

LA may be different from most of the country, but Dubuque is about as ordinary midwestern as you can get.

The main barrier now is initial cost.

[David G]

LA may be different from most of the country, but Dubuque is about as ordinary midwestern as you can get.

The main barrier now is initial cost.

I think an equal barrier is the spacing and reliability of charging stations.

[Vernon]

I think an equal barrier is the spacing and reliability of charging stations.

Yes, out here in the corn that's going to be true for some time. The cost too, for the many who don't have the luxury of calculating the cost over time.

It'll come, as the technology improves and cost come down. What, 5 years maybe?

[Gerarddm]

The house we bought in ABQ came with 21 fully paid PV panels; our monthly electric bill is $4.50, the admin fee for the account. In a few years once our SUV gets longer in the tooth and charging stations become more prevalent, we will give serious thought to an EV since we have 220v circuits thanks to my shop and can charge up an EV practically for free.

[Paul Pless]

^ envy

[AndanteEd]

Many years ago when unleaded fuel first came out it was only available in a few places. The change meant first having to pay to get some black magic performed on your car's engine.

I clearly recall the first time I met someone who had made the switch to unleaded. It was 1987 and I was at Fowey Regatta (UK), chatting to the main trimmer on the boat I was racing on. He'd seemed perfectly normal, however at some point he mentioned that he'd converted his Renault 5 to unleaded because, in spite of the nearest fuel station being about 30 miles away, he believed it was the right thing to do.

From that moment on I decided that he was some form of dangerous subversive.

Scroll on two or three years and anyone still running on leaded fuel was beginning to look like the dangerous subversives.

The change from ICE to electric is a far greater step, but the early adopters have already created mainstream awareness. Just as the car makers have been scrambling to get electric cars to market in recent years, so simplified solutions for charging will quickly follow.