Electric Vehicle (EV) owners are not especially satisfied customers:
The consulting firm surveyed consumers in multiple countries: the U.S., China, Germany, Norway, Australia, France, Italy, Japan and Brazil. Between all of those countries, 29% of electric car owners want to return to driving internal combustion cars, with 46% of surveyed American electric car owners wanting to do so.
This surprised the consulting firm, cutting against received wisdom about people’s switch to electric.
But what’s not to like about a vehicle that costs more per unit of performance than a gas car, is the subject of arbitrary mandates notwithstanding the fact that the power grid can’t handle them, and is completely unsuitable for the type of long-distance driving that many Americans between the Mississippi River and the Sierra Madre do fairly routinely?
Among the owners surveyed who are planning to switch back, 35% cited the lack of charging infrastructure, 34% said the costs were too high, 32% said planning long driving trips was too difficult, 24% said they could not currently charge at home, 21% said worrying about charging was too stressful and 13% said they did not enjoy how the cars felt while driving.
Only 9% of drivers across all countries surveyed said that current charging infrastructure was sufficient to meet their needs. While some electric car drivers want to switch back, 38% of internal combustion car drivers surveyed said they are considering buying a battery-powered or plug-in hybrid electric car as their next vehicle.
I know when I was considering renting a car for a significant drive, I looked at the charging network and ended up opting for a hybrid.
I guess I forgot to mention the trip was in Norway – the most EV-friendly country in the world. And while you could find charging stations up in the mountains of rural Trøndelag, it looked like I’d be sitting and charging a loooong time to get where I needed to go. I went with a hybrid – and I loved it (when gas is $9 a gallon, regenerative braking is a fine thing).
And as I predicted 15 years ago, I’m counting the hours until the market overrides the government mandates and chooses hydrogen.
And yet Walz & the troika triple down on all electric for MN by 2030 at the same time they are shutting down the reliable and safe Becker coal power plant.
And yet Walz & the troika triple down on all electric for MN by 2030 at the same time they are shutting down the reliable and safe Becker coal power plant.
“The dogs don’t like it.”
Moderation. Sigh.
No, I can’t omit the offending word and repost. Check back later to see why not.
The number of sucke… er, good citizens who bought these shiny good intentions is larger than reported in this post/article. After annoying friends and relatives about all the benefits of their toys, you think they’re gonna admit they were wrong?
The thing that floors me is that people didn’t figure this out going in. Really, apart from the corridor from Boston to DC/Alexandria, as well as anywhere outside Chicago/LA/Bay area, electrics are really an “extra” car that requires an extra spot in the garage for charging, not a good primary car.
Come to think of it, if they were sold while the range limitations were deliberately downplayed–and the very phrase “range anxiety” is in indication that exactly this was in play–it’s grounds for a class action lawsuit or two against EV makers. That could be fun!
My wife and her sister went to Norway in 2022 and they were crowing about the EVs being the predominant mode of transportation there. They were orgasmic that they saw no pickup trucks in the eight days they were there.
Once people realize the the left’s two main reasons to eliminate coal, oil and gas is to a. transfer money to their donor cronies
https://thedailybs.com/2024/06/26/solar-execs-gave-millions-to-dems-and-lobbied-on-bidens-signature-climate-bill-now-theyre-swimming-in-cash/?utm_campaign=james&utm_content=6-26-24%20Daily%20PM&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_source=Get%20response&utm_term=email
and b. Condition their minions to live in their utopian “15 Minute Cities”.
We just rented a Tesla S in Sweden. It wasn’t as big as advertised by the rental company (3 people and luggage barely fit, using the backseat), but that’s not the car’s fault.
I liked the big central screen with all the trip information and a pretty awesome 360 depiction of the traffic and area immediately around you. Performance was peppy – almost too head-snapping at times. The transmission selector being the size of a turnsignal stem was weird, but functional. No engine noise, which is quiet, but because of that it seems as if all the wind and road noise around you is amplified because it’s not masked.
The two worst things in our brief experience was range and “smart” security. We needed to return the car with at least an 88% charge. After a couple of hours of cruising, we used the car’s app to find a Tesla supercharging station on our way. The problem was road construction completely blocked us from getting to the station, even using the GPS and the screen map. We had to give up and get directions to another station further along the road. That was fine, but it added time to the process, plus about 30 minutes of charging. If you’re renting a car and have to get it back in time for your flight you darn well better take that into account. It wasn’t a problem for us, but I could see where that would be a big stressor.
As for the security, we stopped so my wife and daughter could take a little jaunt. I opted to stay in the car and get a little snooze. My wife took the fob with her. The car automatically locks and unlocks itself when the fob is in or out of range. The car locked, I closed my eyes. 5 minutes later the security system detects an intruder – me. The stereo starts blaring – and the doors won’t open and I couldn’t get the windows down. “WTF?!” I text my wife – get the fob back here NOW. The car shuts up. 5 minutes later there’s an encore blast from the stereo, but I could get the door open. I got out and was leaning against the car, in a drizzle, when my wife returned. There’s probably a way to work-around this if you’re familiar with the car, but as a newbie renter that was way too harrowing. Not to mention, what if I was alone in the car and NEEDED to get out or roll down a window?
Sorry, Elon. I love ya, man, but I’m sticking with my Lexus.