The Electric Vehicle (EV) discussion thread (Merged)

So you're going back to "people can't afford EVs" and "people can't have home chargers" when both of those statements are substantially discredited by the data? And you keep moving the goal post - yesterday you were capping the US EV market at 10%, as a novelty and now you're saying things have to change for it to reach 50%.

Yeah, I agree - I think 50% of the US market is a looooong way away, if ever. And who knows what developments or alternatives happen in the meantime.

I'm well aware that at $40K car is very expensive for most American households but we're not talking about that - we're talking about the new car market and the data don't lie: a $40K car is below the average sales price of a new car in America today. If the average buyer can afford a $47K ICE car, the average buyer can afford a $47K EV if they wanted one - arguing otherwise is nonsensical.

Yes, every buyer has their own individual concerns and interests - I just think that making broad pronunciations about what most of the American public wants is only persuasive if it holds up to analysis. In the end, only time will tell what the market does and yes, for now, there are some genuine limitations that impact EV appeal, we can agree on that. 👍

Not sure I understand Chuck... I never said "people can't" anything as in an absolute statement.... my contention has always been a large portion of people "with $ constraints can't" - and "many other just won't as a preference".... not that "all people can't"... that's fairly obvious.

And I am not capping anything, I keep saying... as it stands now (today)... 10% is the best you can hope for... and yes, for significant growth a ton of things have to change... also not some outlandish statement or moving of the imaginary goal post.

My point was (that you are missing) is With the average Salary hanging around $60k or less.... that means a huge portion of the US can't afford ANY CAR that costs $40k or better (which is where nearly all new EVs exist on the cost spectrum)... and they typically don't have the capability/private property to install personal charging setups... this is also not some nonsensical statement. As I stated before - if the average American making an average salary decides they must have or even wants an EV... They are looking at a used 8 year old Leaf, Soul, Focus, Golf or Spark... that's about it. And good luck if you live in an apartment or rural area.... need a truck... have more than 3 kids.... needs 4wheel drive...

I mean if we are not going to add context to the discussion... and just throw out raw numbers and apples to hammers comparisons... what's the point?