Too expensive. Not owner repairable. Too much unnecessary tech baked in.
There’s a path forward for EV’s, but I don’t think the current philosophy is it.
Dacia spring has no unnecessary tech 😍 and is cheap
But, it is small 😂🤷🏻♀️ big enough for my family, at least.
Coming to the US never
😂 I don’t plan to go to US anytime soon
It definitely has nothing to do with the outrageous starting price range.
Yup, American manufacturers are still treating EVs as if they’re this exotic new toy for upper-middle class people or silicon valley douche bros, rather than getting onboard with the concept of them just being a utilitarian thing that needs to be marketed to normal people.
Give me the EV equivalent of the Geo Metro and I’ll buy it in a heart beat. I’m not taking out a second mortgage for a car that tries to drive itself and whatever dumb gimmicks they come up with, but I will 100% buy an affordable, practical EV designed with efficiency and economy in mind.
I’m with you. I ended up just buying a used gas vehicle because the others are just too expensive.
2026 Bolt could change that. Hopefully the ultium system is fixed up by then. Also base model Volvo EX30s are going to come from Belgium to maintain their mid 30’s price point.
What we really need is the government to make a grant or low interest loan available to anyone with a parking lot and an electrical hookup to put in fast chargers. Everything from libraries to gas stations.
Can anyone name me one that is a normal fucking car? With a little dial that tells you how fast you’re going that isn’t an LCD display that can’t be read in direct sunlight connected to an internet connected computer that will never get OS updates? With a gear shift lever that moves forward and back or up and down to select park, reverse and drive, not a nipple in the glove box to lick for “Forward,” a knob on the ceiling labeled “H” and to put it in reverse you honk the word REVERSE on the horn? Where the doors have handles that you pull on to open that look like door handles, and locks that have cylinders that accept keys?
Volkswagen E-golf seems to fit your description.
The 2023 Chevy Bolt I drove for a week had normal controls.
The only ones I’ve found close to this is bz4x or soltera. Which is why I got it. But no drive shaft really sucks and confuses the heck out of me when I have to drive my outback around.
Would be nice if they made ‘dumb’ EVs. Like the kind where even the windows are manual old school roll up. I don’t need to walk into a spaceship to drive to get groceries. But all they’re selling are luxury spaceships. For all the good Tesla did to rebrand the market, I feel it also did a lot of harm by creating an incentive for luxury vehicles.
Feel like this is what Fisker should’ve tried. The Ocean had the right hardware but it seemed like they spent too much effort on their infotainment instead of getting the basics right. Then target the sub-$30k market with a car that drives well with decent range and fewer gimmicks that just works.
That’s what the PEAR would’ve been
No one’s mentioned the privacy nightmare that new vehicles are. Why anyone would pay $45k for a vehicle that spies on you for the sole benefit of car manufacturers and insurance companies is beyond me. Do away with all the unnecessary privacy violations, or pay ME a monthly subscription for MY data.
This is not specific to EVs, but is most cars from the last decade or two
A used car that has physical gauges and knobs that’s $5000 + $1500 in preventive maintenance can actually make a decent vehicle. Plus doing the maintenance yourself can teach you a lot about working on cars.
Money. That’s the answer
The answer to questions like these is always money.
Money for infrastructure and money to buy the thing.
Where I live, there’s one charging station. And it’s like 8 miles or so from my house. I’ve yet to see more. It’s also a fairly rural area. I think we forget how much population lives outside cities.
You don’t have electricity in your house??
Of course he does. But a standard house power connection does not deliver the amount of power you need to charge a car.
So you need to build a charging pole at your house if you want to charge ar home. Which is another investment.
And if you are in a somewhat remote area and there are not many charging poles around you, you are also very limited in how far and how fast you can travel.
So there really is no point investing in a charging pole and an EV car if the car is not capable of doing to the same things that a gas car can do.
EDIT: thanks for the responses. I’m still not convinced that electric is a good option for me, but some issues seem to be fixed or not as bad as I thought.
Still, within my price range it will take a while before I can pay one.
It depends on the circuit in the garage and people need to check. But trickle charging overnight is entirely feasible for many people.
Or I got a fairly cheap set of adapters that also work for 240v dryer/power tool, and RV outlets. I ought to be able to charge by y vehicle pretty much everywhere
The problem here is that you think the only viable method to charge an electric vehicle is a level 2 or above charger. The average person, even in more rural areas, generally drives less than 60 miles in a day. Which is something that can be recouped overnight with a standard 15 amp outlet. And that’s assuming it’s only plugged in for 8 hours. Most people’s cars sit idle at home much longer than that. You don’t even need to go Fancy with a dryer Outlet much less a level2 charger.
Unless you’re somewhat remote area is over 200 mi from the nearest charger the majority of electric vehicles will get you there without you having to drive like a grandma. As many of them have somewhere on the order of 250 to 280 miles of range on a full charge now.
Well, it is enough for my car… You don’t need 50kW if you charge over Night (same Like you don’t need fast charge g, if you charge your phone over night)
Remember the yanks have pink fluffy girly 110v electricity. They’ve only just been told about kettles and they think a microwave is a cooking device
Yea, but normally you can draw about 15 amps compared to the 10 amps typically allowed un EU. 110v x 15A = more then 1.5kW which should totally be enough to charge over night (maybe blug it in every night)
Um, excuse me, sir! It’s called a microwave oven for a reason thankyouverymuch!
It’s nowhere near as bad as you think. A level 2 charger is essentially an electric stove circuit, and the chargers are only a few hundred dollars. I had to do both this year and there really wasn’t a significant cost difference. I charge once or twice a week for a couple hours. It’s quite reasonable to install a level 2 charger if you have a single family house with off street parking
Or for like $150, I got a full set of adapters to charge pretty much everywhere. In addition to a regular outlet, I can plug into a 240v dryer/powertool/heater/ac outlet, or an RV outlet for a faster charge.
While I do have many charging stations nearby (and I’ll bet that’s far more common in the population than people who don’t), with a home charger, I’ve never had the need to use a public charger less than 100 miles from here
My entire city currently has 30 charging ports in total, half of which are either in private locations, malls, paid parking, or singular charging station spots in obscure places.
I’m not opposed to EVs at all, but the infrastructure is just not there. Not to mention the abysmal price of these
Cant charge it myself, doesn’t last long enough, dies when it’s too cold
Not to mention, 5 years in after you’ve invested in the power improvements to your house to allow charging, if your battery fails I guess fuck you? $20k to keep rolling lol. Think that’s part of why the used market is showing huge depreciation for EVs. No one wants to spend 20k for a used vehicle with a ticking time bomb 20k repair guaranteed some time in the future.
5 years in
Batteries last far longer than that, to the point where every warranty I’ve seen is 10 years minimum
I’ve been saying since EVs hit the market that I couldn’t wait for them to be cheap enough used for me to justify purchasing one. That hasn’t happened yet. Most I’ve ever spent on a car was $7k.
For sure, we can’t expect a good used EV market until we establish a strong new EV market.
Were waiting for the next wave of $25k EV since there is no hope that the tariffs on the only country with enough scale to build affordable EV is on a 100% tariff.
If my - or any other - complex had charging stations, I’d consider it. The most I’d ever be able to get is a hybrid, if I wasn’t so dirt-ass poor that an old and busted used car was the best that I could afford, because I’m disabled and live in friggin America.
Because they’re an unsustainable con for saving the auto/oil cartels instead of the planet/humanity?
Instead of going into poverty buying a luxury vehicle, people should be given safe and sustainable infrastructure for LEVs, bikes, pedestrians, and of course public transit.
I think most people in the market for an EV know that all the manufacturers are changing the charging port to the Tesla NACS standard next year. Range anxiety is still the biggest issue for EV adoption and the supercharger network is the only practical option right now. Tesla hasn’t innovated in a while and current Tesla owners are put off by Musk’s antics. I’d personally wait a year to see what the options are.
Range anxiety is still the biggest issue for EV adoption
Only because people keep making false claims like:
the supercharger network is the only practical option right now
True enough to get the industry in North America to move off vanilla ccs.
At least for me the reasons are
- Lack of interest
- They’re ridiculously Ugly
- Range (I’ve driven 1500 miles in the last 3 weeks)
- Driving Experience is worse (opinion, but still something I stand by)
- Charging
- Price
When I was looking at new cars an EV wasn’t even an option. I wanted a 2 door performance coupe and there isn’t anything even close to that in EVs, let alone on the used market. A 2014 Audi was a better choice in almost every metric beyond gas prices.
Why is charging bad? Id argue it’s a plus. You never have to go to a gas station and every morning you wake up with a full charge for your day.
I don’t have a place to charge at home, nor a way to run a cord from my apartment to a car, so charging becomes a 20-30 minute ordeal instead of a 3 minute tank of gas on my way to work.
That’s fair. Charging infrastructure isn’t ready if you can’t charge at home