Consumer interest in EVs just dropped for the first time in 3 years

The group of folks willing to adopt this option, with all of the current downsides, seems to be waning - even among the younger generations.

 

I believe interest in EV's are down as the "savior of the world" effect never developed and ownership/operating costs of these things has been determined to be well above that of ICE/diesel vehicles. I think the turning point was the our last 2 winters that demonstrated how well EV's operate in cold and snowy conditions. Maintenance costs and an anemic used car market (coupled with Tesla disabling cars remotely AND limiting the range with a pay-wall!!!) are all big turn-offs. These are niche demographic platforms excelling for the urban user who seldom if ever wonders outside a 200 mile radius and recharges their car every night.

If they try to roll out EV semi trucks that will be the nail in coffin as the charging stations to support these require a city sized electricity capacity. Hell, we can barely keep the lights on with our antiquated electric grid today, adding tens of thousands of 100Kw charging stations across thousands of miles of truck stops and long charging times (compared to adding 80+ gallons of diesel) I don't see a way forward without throwing hundreds of nuclear reactors into the grid to keep up with demand. I can see a future where New York, Chicago, London, and dense urban areas mandate EV for down town areas but sprawl cities like LA and most cities built after the 1940's this just isn't practical. US consumers like convenience, it is very inconvenient to charge these cars even with unified plugs/adapters and "fast chargers" that still take more time than people have patience for. These take way too much planning to take on a road trip and who has time to plan for anything over 30 seconds these days, lol!

I can't believe these aren't taking off more in Europe and Asia where urban density works with the platform. Hopefully the hydrogen engine will come along soon and save is all.

 

I had a plaid for about 16 months and the maintenance costs were exactly zero dollars.
I also drove for almost free for those 16 months. It really worked out well for my situation at the time.
they aren’t for everyone but for those that they do fit for it’s hard to beat them.
I probably won’t ever own another for many reasons but none have anything to do with the day to day ownership experience.

 

Just some quick raw data/thoughts on living with a EV as a "second car"

My family has owned over the last 6 years:
2014 Honda FIT EV - Leased compliance car had to turn it in range was 90 miles Honda made 1300 and crushed all but one. (RANGE 90 MILES, 100 dollar a month lease for two years))
2016 Chevy Spark - Bought used with 20K on it and Just traded it in at 58000 miles on 2017 Chevy Bolt. (RANGE 80 MILES Purchased for 7500)
2020 Tesla Model 3 RWD - Bought new for $32,000 and just sold for $20,000 with 59K on it. (RANGE 225 MILES)
2024 Tesla model Y AWD Extended range - Bought new 3 weeks ago for $36,000 (RANGE 320 MILES Fed Rebate+State-Special Incentive from Tesla)
2017 GM Bolt - Bought 2 weeks ago for my Daughter (RANGE 215 MILES after rebates 4500 dollars Was a lease return with a Brand New battery and 100K on the car)

As far as maintenance total for all is less than 500 bucks in the 6 years. (Brake inspections and 1 exterior mirror replaced after a parking lot incident.)
Charging cost on my level 2 home charger averaged < 70 bucks per month. with a Tesla + the Spark or Bolt.
We seldom Super charge just use a home charger fo all the cars and the Teslas both served as daily commuters for my wife, 20 miles each way.

I also own a 94 Jeep wrangler with a 5.3LS in it. and a 2003 911 I rebuilt during covid. I own the EV's for the economy and their convenience.
The Jeep gets low 20's mpg and the 911 Gets about 30 (If I behave) But burns 93 alcohol free only (Close to a 100 dollar fuel fill) ...
An oil change if I do it myself is about 75 on the jeep and 125 on the 911. (Synthetic 5w40 in both)
I do all my own work on both gas rigs so I don't have much other maintenance..
Ev's if you get them for the right price the fuel savings alone come close to making the payment.

The Spark replaced the Honda, the Bolt replaced the Spark. (EV's are perfect for High school through college age kids IMHO..
Model Y replaced the Model 3.

Having a garage 220V 50A charger is a game changer with EV ownership. 95% of the time it covers all our use.
If I road trip the Tesla it takes about 20 minutes every 5 hours of driving to supercharge it... At my age I hit more rest areas than that (LOL)

My two daughters (20 somethings ) drove the Honda fit and the Chevy spark all over
Portland and SW Washington and quickly learned where chargers were at and I was amazed at how much area they covered....

 

@pdxmotorhead Were you able to get by without any tire changes? How often did your EVs need coolant? Here is TX the system would have to run if the car wasn't in a garage or out of the sun during the middle of the day in summer I believe and Cyber Truck owners have started complaining about coolant leaks not being covered under warranty. For under $500 for all 5 is impressive! From the reporting EV's go through tires more quickly and they need to be higher standards due to the torque produced? Where I live in Texas you can get home electricity plans that offer "free" electricity after 9pm, this would really be good for EV recharge. Recent press coming out about insurance totaling EV's for minor fender benders is a big red flag for me.

I think the negative press and more so the experiences shared on social media and going viral is keeping demand down, even with raising gas prices.

 

social media is 99% bullshit posted for attention and clicks.
anything about a cybertruck is not indicative of pretty much any other ev. that monstrosity is the culmination of elon's past few years of losing his god damn mind and reaching peak echo chamber status.
i sold my plaid with 11k miles and all the tires looked basically new. not sure if i was lucky or the tire thing is another myth.

 

I definitely agree with this sentiment in general.

But with that said, there are some serious downsides to EV, even as a commuter/transportation appliance, based on climate and parking/living situation. As a Gasophile, I wouldn't consider an EV for a toy even if someone gave it to me, but I still wouldn't want one for normal driver duties either. My local climate is not ideal for this, especially for a car that would have to sit outside (my garage is full of toys, no room for daily drivers there), and I don't have any convenient place to set up a charging station outside at home. It's just not something that would work for me, even if I wasn't so opposed to them on a personal level.

 

they arent for everyone. but you can say that about most vehicles. plenty of people can say the same thing about an f150. or a honda odyssey.

 

I don't disagree. And that's why I think it's insane to expect a total market transformation to EV at any point in the foreseeable future. EV has a market, they work for some, but they are not a do-all/end-all replacement for ICE (except in the minds of mentally ill legislators ).

 

i agree its not reasonable to expect 100% of consumer automobiles to be fully electric. but i think theres room for a significant amount of the market for them. its just going to take time. people that dont see cars strictly as appliances, like us, make up about 0.00000001% of the population.

 

My model 3 got about 40K on the original set of tires, I can say tire life is very connected to how you drive them , The model 3 would hold the tire right at the limit of traction under full throttle..
My little chevy spark would spin the tires at 50 on the highway in the rain, and while its 0-60 wasn't Tesla Fast ,
its 1 block launch was ridiculous. Basically it had a vicious 60 foot ... I honestly didn't factor in tires because the Tesla uses cheap tires compared to my Porsche or Jeep, and ya always gotta buy tires and quality is so big with tire life.. We don't have off peak power in the Northwestbecause our power is like 85-90% Hydro electric from the dams. But an average full charge in my garage is around 3 bucks ... You can set the Tesla to only use the cabin hvac fan and not run heating or cooling mode which is what I do for most of the year. Western Oregon just doesn't get much real hot weather.Never had to put coolant in any of them. Which I guess could point strongly I think to location being a big player in the "offline" cost of a EV.

I've heard stories from folks that live up in the northern rockies as well around battery life in the negative temps they get in winter.

Another thing I've noticed more in regards to charging EV's, VS Filling a gas vehicle is the gas vehicles dont get to fill nearly as fast as some of the folks talk, If you use Safeway or Costco or Sams club pump, you'll spend more than 5 minutes at it, I've sat in line for 15 minutes or more then the actual fill takes 8 to 10 by the time you drive away. Basic charge to 80% on the tesla usually takes about 10 minutes, maybe 18 if your on a old charger, and I've never had to wait for a charge station. But like sort of described above I think I super charged the first Tesla maybe once a month. The CCS (Non tesla chargers) up here offer free charging a lot, especially at Level 2 Mall parking chargers.

The most annoying thing is the wait time on parts from tesla... I had a small trim piece come off it was covered under warranty, but took like 4 weeks to get..

 

Again, I don't disagree, but even some folks who use a car as just a transportation appliance are still impacted by the downsides of EV. I have family that lives in rural UP Michigan; they are ~50 miles from the nearest Walmart, it can get to -30°F there in the winter, many of the houses don't even have garages. It's a horrible recipe for an EV, even as basic transportation. I know that only represents another small segment of the population, but it can get almost as cold in my area (Chicago) in the winter as well - and there are TONS (literally, many 10s of thousands) of folks living in old multi-flat apartments that have nothing more than street parking. For those folks, the constant winter charging (which can't be done at home when you don't even have a designated parking spot, much less a garage) is going to be a hassle and would require charging stations to be as available and quick as current gas stations - and nothing like that will be a reality in the foreseeable future.

In my 3+ decades of driving experience, the only time I ever had to wait in line for gas was immediately after 9/11/01. Beyond that, there is always an open pump in my area, no waiting. But I've never bought gas at any of those "club" type places.

 

Good lord why do people live anywhere it gets to 30 let alone -30

the cold weather kills the battery’s ability to discharge that’s for sure.

I think in the coming decades there will be a lot more level2 chargers installed at apartment complexes with assigned covered parking. And in suburbia everyone has garages and driveways.
when I was in France I saw lots of car ports with chargers at peoples condos or flats or whatever they want to call their multi-family dwellings.

No transportation solution is right for 100% of the population but EVs aren’t going anywhere. If you happen to have a life situation that makes sense for one, they’re extremely convenient and cheap to operate. I went like a year without even going to a gas station, it was glorious.

 

Oh, you missed out on the gas crisis times in the 70's. Odd/Even license plate lines on certain days at every gas station. My college commute was 10 miles each way and what a chore to get gas to go to class. It didn't help that I had this Plymouth with the 383.





The thing with EV that I can't quite fathom is the sports car segment of EVs. What is the demographic exactly? Dodge prices were leaked for the new EV Charger and it was north of $60k. Unless times have changed drastically, most young folks can't swing $60k. Older folks like me have no interest in EV as a sports or muscle car. The thrill of 'getting there' in a V8 powered machine can't be matched by anything electric. So what if it is a bit faster. Zero interest. No thrill. No excitement.
If I had $60k+ to buy a new car, I would not be heading to Dodge. I would be heading to Ford to get a new Mustang GT convertible for the same money.

 

^ Thanks for the pictures, it's always fun to see these cars when they were new/newish!

Guess they'll have to do something similar for EV charging in CA to deal with their next energy crisis as more of those cars get sold there.

I'll be sticking to my old dinosaurs, and probably just stockpile more of them. EV has no place and no future in my household.

 

i love how we love to throw billions of our tax money at bailing out shitty companies 'too large to fail' so they can bonus out their short sighted c-suite instead of updating crumbling infrastructure but the EVs are the problem lol

 

EV (with currently foreseeable technology) is simply not an appropriate universal answer to the transportation demands of this country as a whole. Cramming them down consumers' throats with deadline mandates and tax incentives is not something I support as a use for my tax dollars either.

 

yeah EVs arent a universal answer the same way forks, trains, hammers, ketchup and everything else isnt a universal solution to any problem. the only people saying otherwise are just trying to stoke anger and outrage because thats what makes money for 'news' companies, and people lap it up.

 

Don Garlits once said that EV's would be the future of drag racing. IDK...nothing compares to a Top Fuel or Alcohol dragster or funny car that can reach speeds in excess of 300 mph in just 1000 feet.

 

I will respectfully disagree with him. Drag racing will have NO future if EV is the only option.