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I read through the thread and was struck by the arrogance of the electric car fanciers. Maybe these cars are the next great idea, but we'd better do some research into whether or not proximity to them is severly increasing the owners' sense of self righteousness.
I follow your point(s) were speaking for the masses.
This is not at the level of the masses sort of thing -- else it would already have occurred. Which would make you a Master of the Obvious, right?
We sort of beat to death earlier in the thread -- but for present Would Be and Likely Buyers (in the here and now) Little to none of your list matters.
J.D. Power and Associates Reports: To Increase Electric Vehicle (EV) Sales, Automakers Must Address Economic Challenges, Not Just Tout Environmental Advantages
Quote:
WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif., Nov. 8, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --Electric vehicles (EVs) will remain a very small part of the U.S. market unless automakers can lower prices and demonstrate the economic benefits to consumers, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2012 Electric Vehicle Ownership Experience Study(SM) released today.
"The payback period is longer than most consumers keep their vehicle," said Oddes. "The bottom line is that the price has to come down, which requires a technological quantum leap to reduce the battery price. There also needs to be an improvement in the infrastructure, or the number of charging stations outside of the home. Until those two concerns are addressed, EV sales will remain flat."
EV owners who elect to have a 240-volt charging station placed in their home pay an average of $1,500 for equipment, installation and inspection, plus a monthly amount for the electricity used. However, the study finds that 43 percent of owners received their charging station for free. Among those who do pay, the cost of the charging station, installation and inspection are recouped through fuel savings in the first year of ownership.
"Some utility companies offer lower rates when EV owners charge their vehicle at home overnight," said Oddes. "The availability of special electric rates for EVs varies by utility company and region. For instance, most California utilities offer EV discount plans, but few utilities in other states currently do the same."
The study finds that 31 percent of EV owners are either on a time-of-day plan through their utility company that offers lower-priced charging during off-peak hours (entire household on same meter); have a special EV plan with a separate meter; or pay a flat fee per month to charge their EV (no separate meter required).
Not everyone is going to agree, but we think it’s fair to say about a year and a half into the sale of mass produced plug-in vehicles in the United States that the number of EVs sold – a little under 30,000 – is disappointing.
We offer five reasons why American EV sales have, so far at least, been a disappointment.
I follow your point(s) were speaking for the masses.
This is not at the level of the masses sort of thing -- else it would already have occurred. Which would make you a Master of the Obvious, right?
We sort of beat to death earlier in the thread -- but for present Would Be and Likely Buyers (in the here and now) Little to none of your list matters.
Once again you seem determined to miss the point that is obvious to so many others: that list is precisely why the current pool of "Would Be and Likely Buyers" is vanishingly small.
Porsche sells about 20 thousand cars a year in the US and nobody is calling them a failure. EVs are for the time being a niche car. There's nothing surprising or wrong with that.
Porsche sells about 20 thousand cars a year in the US and nobody is calling them a failure. EVs are for the time being a niche car. There's nothing surprising or wrong with that.
For one thing Porsche turns a profit, and a massive one at that. For another, Porsche is specifically designed as a niche-market car and is priced accordingly. By contrast, most EVs are competing against mainstream counterparts and doing poorly at it. It's on thing to ask people to pay a premium for a high-performance luxury sports car that outshines "normal" cars in many ways. It's another to ask them to pay a premium for an electric car with few practical benefits ovr their ICE-powered counterparts, or to pay mid-level family sedan prices for glorified golf carts like the MiEV or the Leaf.
Obviously nobody expected half of new vehicle sales to be EVs within a couple years of their introduction into the market. The problem is, initial sales haven't come close to meeting the already low expectations the industry had for them, which is making it very difficult to keep pouring R&D money into continued development. The early adopters simply aren't showing up like the manufacturers had hoped they would.
Considering that electric cars have been available since the late 1800s, you'd think they would have caught on by now, and maybe even become mainstream.
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