Technology

Btw, in Norway 92% of new car sales in January were electric cars, and apparently predictions for February are even higher.

When the infrastructure is there, people appear to have little to no qualms buying electric cars.

I'm in the market for a BEV. Have been for 3 years. The reason I don't have one is:

A. The cars that are large enough for my use case (weekend getaways with kids and or friends) are all super expensive luxury vehicles with poor ratings.

B. Availability. Other than the Mustang Mach-E, nothing is available here (Canada) without a minimum 6 month wait list. (Ioniq 5 is 1 year).

C. Poor reliability and/or features. (See the disaster that is the Chevy Blazer EV).

At this point I'm waiting for the Ioniq 7. Hopefully it will be as well reviewed as it's sister the EV9.

The reason GM and Ford are not selling well is because nobody wants what they're selling. But they're framing it as an general EV issue and not a crap product issue.

The media and those apposed to EVs are buying it of course.

Auto makers "slashing prices." With perhaps one or 2 small exceptions, can you actually go out and buy an EV for under 40K in the US? Didn't think so. Seems to be a whole lotta confusion about "demand" and the manufacturers actually making an electric car that normal people can afford.

I see people on TikTok a lot saying that 'the EV bubble is gonna pop and all these suckers are gonna come crawling back to traditional combustion cars'

Like no. Batteries right now are the worse they will ever be again. This is the worst battery tech is gonna be for the rest of our lives. Theres already EVs with batteries that last a week, of just day to day commuter type travel. And have warranties up to 1,000,000 miles.

What's happening right now is a big shakeup because lots of people can only afford to buy these cars second hand, but people have anxiety about trusting a second hand car with this new tech. So used car sales people are bitching that it's hard to sell them. That doesn't mean they aren't selling though. On top of that, the transition of combustion engines to batteries is causing an industry shakeup. Like there was when we went from horses to cars. When cars first became a thing, people complained about where they will get fuel for it and how long the engine lasts.

Now 100 years on, we are complaining about where we will charge these things, and how long the batteries last.

The transition to EVs is inevitable. You can say it's not happening but you are wrong.

My next car purchase if at all, will be some plugin electric (full or hybrid). The only reason I haven't purchased it yet is because the form factor I am looking for in a car hasn't been made in a plug in variety yet.

Also the stories about constant surveillance and tracking, and the push for shit-tier infotainment when I already have one in my pocket (phone) are not helping either.

Just make a dumb battery on wheels, already.

Gen 2 chevy volt owner here, PHEVs are absolutely not a step back. If I didn't buy the volt, the one car our family could afford would have been an ICE car. IMO, these things help bridge idealism with current reality - for most of my day-to-day, I drive a fully electric car. I just also get the option to toss some gas into it when on a long road trip.

General Motors is thinking about bringing back plug-in hybrids

GREAT! Ditching PHEV's was a stupid idea, we don't have the charging infrastructure for most people to buy EV's moving forward. We need an interim solution, and PHEV's work great. They use a LOT less gas for most people (depending on driving habits) but you have the fuel tank in case you're on a long road trip, or in a charging desert.

Have y'all seen the new Prius Prime? It starts at $33k, it actually looks kinda cool (subjectively), and it's FAST (objectively). We need more cars like that.

This is the best summary I could come up with:

And now the EPA is considering slowing down requirements for automakers to sell more electric vehicles, dialing back what had been aggressive plans to move away from gas powered cars and SUVs.

Industry experts cite a number of reasons for this, including vehicle price, lack of charging capacity and confusing tax credit rules.

Besides being too expensive for the average buyer, selection is limited in terms of body style, said Corey Cantor, an industry analyst with Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

This is why Ford recently cut prices for the Mach-E SUV and why Farley created a team to work on a less expensive EV engineering platform that will be the basis for future models.

BMW, GM, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Mercedes-Benz, and Stellantis have come together to create a joint venture that plans to install about 30,000 chargers across the United States and Canada.

In the words of the Portuguese auto executive, who spoke to journalists in New York recently, public EV charging needs to “jump on your face” before most customers will consider an electric vehicle.

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