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Because
our government is run by child murdering pedophiles who ruined the economy so no one can afford to eat or pay rent
Electric cars in America are exubarantly overpriced or cheap trash
if you bought one anyway we dont have infrastructure in place to charge it in majority of places in the US
Hey all, I would like to kindly remind all users to please follow Rule 3 in the sidebar:
Policy, not politics! Policy discussions revolve around the concept; political discussions revolve around the individual, party, association, etc. We only allow POLICY discussions and political discussions should go to c/politics.
I don't want to remove this comment because the rest of it contributes to good on-topic conversation, but at the same time I must remind users that a remark such as point 1 in this comment, whether it is true or not, is considered political discussion. If you want to discuss politics, political figures, governmental entities, etcetera, then you can do so in appropriate communities such as c/politics.
For personal reference, a good way to tell if a remark is considered political is to ask: If someone replied to argue about this, would they be arguing about a law, regulation, or policy? Or would they be arguing about a person, governmental entity, or something similar?
A comment like is fine, and encouraged even:
I hate this new law that outlaws vehicle passengers wearing seatbelts because it is very dangerous.
However, a comment like this is not:
This is all Mr. Politician's fault; he wants to kill everyone and is ruining the world by outlawing seatbelts.
You guys have been pretty good about this so far. Thank you and keep being awesome.
Your # 3 is a myth in the modern day. It's not 2010 anymore.
For local use, most people can charge an EV super-cheaply at home or work, depending on their situation. This takes care of something like 95% of most people's driving.
For long trips, it takes a small amount of planning, but I could road trip across the entire country in my EV without issue if needed. Tesla opened up their charging network to everyone (even if they force drivers of other car brands to pay more) and there are also several other companies filling in the gaps.
It feels like "But there's nowhere to charge it" is one of the top things preventing people from making the switch, and it just isn't true anymore.
"Could" isn't the same as "easily".
I find it to be incredibly easy.
For example, in my day to day, I charge primarily at work, because my company allows me 5 hours a day on a 6 kw charger. My battery's about 60 kwh, so I can put in a half battery's worth of power, or about 120 miles of range, for about $3 per session. That's the cost of about 60% of one gallon of gas now, and I go 120 miles off of it.
And even though it's a slow charger, I don't feel any of that time, because I'm just inside working.
If you charge overnight at home, same story. You plug it in when you get home, and it slow charges, but you don't care because you're not waiting on the car, you're living life in your house and sleeping overnight.
To plan longer trips, there are websites you can use where you say, "I'm starting here, I'm going there, this is which car I drive, and these are the brands of charger I want to use," and it will plot the entire route for you with level 3 charging stops the entire way. That's what I mean by "a little planning"... literally 3 to 5 minutes on a website.
I'd find it near impossible to own an EV. I rent and the only chargers in my area are in parking garages, so I'd have to pay for parking and pay for charging and walk home or sit in the car and wait.
Where you live may be relevant context to whether thats realistic for others. Its totally viable where I am too, but that doesnt really say much about anywhere else
I can see the challenges you mention with people that live in apartments. It's another layer to figure out.
I completely agree. I live in a major metropolitan area but most of my family lives in a shit hole, rural, regressive state with awful infrastructure in general, and even then they're out in the sticks for a rural state. I've driven our electric car to and from there, a 10-11 hour drive, over ten times in the last few years without a single issue. This last trip I stayed in an even more remote area with access only to a 15A 120V outlet. No problems and I paid 1/4 the cost of driving our ICE secondary vehicle.
I've taken several other trips all throughout the Midwestern United States without problems. Only once did I have a somewhat tense drive on a trip from the sweltering armpit of the United States, rural Arizona, up to Vancouver BC, and only because I chose a more direct route that my trip planner warned would stretch the capabilities of my battery. I kept it at 60 mph, coasted down hills instead of regenerating, and arrived at the next charger with 20% charge, 10% higher than estimated and enough to make it to the NEXT charger without charging.
Sure it's anecdotal, but I've literally saved thousands of dollars versus an ICE vehicle. I don't mind spending a little time planning for long distance trips.
I'm personally worried that if I buy one it'll get bricked by a bad update, or the company no longer supporting it, or any number of BS non-mechanical reasons. It's impossible to buy one that isn't tied to it's builder permanently. I want to OWN my vehicle.
Because we cant afford them.
The car in the thumbnail is $640,000
But the design looks like a fine year old designed a speedy dumpster.
I don't actually dislike it, but a car that looks like that should cost $50k, not $640k.
this. it comes at a time folks are dipping into savings and even retirement to have food and shelter. They can't stretch for a new car. Far easier to drive less.
Because they’re too expensive. Easy. Next question!
For the same reason I'm not buying a new ICE car. I can fix the one I have. I have the tools and the ability. And that one isn't spying on me.
Because they banned the affordable and superior imports from China lol.
Look into the used market. Lots of nice EVs for cheap because people think EV batteries degrade at the same rate as cell phone batteries. They don't. I got a 3 year old EV for under 25k.
Because we aren’t allowed to buy Chinese cars. :(
People are poor and have no money, EVs are new and cost a lot of money. Is this the same situation when they keep asking why people are not having kids? I think they know the answer but don't like it.
If I cannot afford five dollar gas, how the hell am I gonna afford an electric car?
Honda and Toyota parts are easy to come by. People consistently drive these for 20+ years. No need to throw down $30k+ on a new car when automakers still treat EVs as something that should be marked up compared to ICE vehicles
I blame politics. Somehow EVs became political, so now people have all sorts of misconceptions and antipathy.
Combine that with price. Carmakers have decided they can be profitable selling fewer more expensive cars, rather than cars everyone can afford
Here’s a recent story …. I live in one of the more progressive states and we do have a decent percentage of EVs (12.5% of new cars as of 2023). My kid is in college about 90 miles away. When picking up at the end of the semester, another parent said “you’re so brave to take an EV this far”. In my state where EVs are well known. Where there’s a supercharger in town and nearby in each direction. Where it is only 90 miles each way
idk about the US, but for Canada, there's nothing under $50k, and anything around that mark is not what I want.
I want economical, basic, non-super-smart, halogen headlight, simple to repair, minimal touchscreen, physical driver controls, and at minimum a hatchback (but ideally wagon)
that car doesn't exist. so I'll keep buying used cars and repairing them instead of funneling money to manufacturers for shitty products.
My car is 20 years old, and not nearing need for replacement.
Our other car is 10 years old and like new still.
Replacing either one makes no sense.
My local gas station doesn't have a charger. My place of enjoyment doesn't have a charger. No gas station near me has a charger. My home is old enough where i would need to upgrade the service to get a charger installed.
Is your daily commute less than 40 miles? Then a level 1 charger could be enough. Especially if you can charge at work. Worried about the occasional longer trip? Look into plug-in hybrids. You can run your daily commute on the electric engine but the ICE engine is there for longer trips.
You likely don't need to upgrade service, for a L2 charger either. I have 100 amp service and my biggest hurdle was making room in my circuit breaker. I just had to combine some circuits. I had a few circuits that were just lights. Every bulb I have is LED, so there was no problem combining them. Then I added a $100 device that monitors my whole house usage and turns off the charger if there's a chance of tripping the main breaker. But that never happens because I have the charger set to 30 amp, which is plenty for me. I'd have to be running the dryer, oven, and charger at the same time for that device to kick in, but I have the car set to charge after 9pm when we never cook or do laundry. I could run it at 50amp with this strategy, but it's way more than I need for my 20 mile commute.
If you're genuinely interested but think you can't because of your home charging options, then check outthis video from Technology Connections. This video about electricians unnecessarily hooking up 50 amp lines for EV chargers might be useful too.
The petroleum industry exists due to subsidies but for some reason subsidies for EVs is bad.
Why you think any of us can afford a new car? And I don't even mean *newz new, I also include a used one that's new to the buyer
you got $80,000 for a car? I mean...I got other problems. I got house problems to fix, I got kid problems to fix, I got loan problems to fix.
If I'm buying anything at $80k it's going to be fuckin solar panels.
Because used market for them sucks where I am, and vehicles need a mortgage these days.
The ev in this picture is estimated to sell for over $700,000...
And it looks like a mcdonalds happy meal toy.
The used EV I've been eyeing has increased $12,000 in the last 3 months. Yes, people are buying them. Maybe not new EV's, but they are being bought.
ill buy one as soon as i can get a cheap, non-us made one.
when are we going to be free enough for that? maybe another 250 years?
I drive an EV, so don’t mistake this for being pro-ICE. But don’t look at depreciation numbers if you want to stay convinced of EVs being cheaper. That may be why sales aren’t as high as you’d think.
My 2 cents: I could benefit greatly from an EV. Just a small one like a Bolt or something, for commuting.... shudders in suggesting GM for my own use
However, I rent. And my lease dictates that EV chargers are explicitly banned on the property. Something about "safety" and "risk of fire" and all that. Yet during my last inspection, they had absolutely zero issues with my welder, nor do they mind me working on my gasoline/diesel vehicles within the garage (as long as it's not on the driveway...something something property values...nothing more than a brake job in the driveway).
Yes, I know that EVs can be charged elsewhere. But that takes significantly more time than a standard gasoline fill-up, and my workplace (which is 99% of the reason I would own this hypothetical EV anyway) does not have any EV chargers. They might add some in the next year or two, but that's still a "definitely maybe", and so my only other alternative choices are a bike or public transit. Except my commute - a 55MPH rural highway - is too dangerous for biking with the complete lack of bike lanes, and public transit doesn't exist in my area.
I'm left with no other choice but to use a gasoline/diesel vehicle. Or walk, I guess?
Fuck oil. I'm saving up for an electric vehicle anyway. The world may end by the time I've scrounged enough cash, but whatever - corporate evil starves us for money, might as well starve them back
