CAFE stds on the chopping block

Gdetrailer wrote:

John & Angela wrote:


Thank you for the interesting info. I totally agree and have always said that EV's are not for everybody and don't fit everyones life style. But they work for a growing number of people and sometimes a little analysis of ones personal driving habits can reveal a lot. But yah. 100 miles of range is not for everybody. However reasonably priced 150 to 200 miles range EV's are readily available now in many parts of the world including the US. (35000 and under) Chevy makes a nice product that although wasn't right for us seemed like a decent drive. Roughly 220 miles of range. The Bolt. But I do agree, distances are longer on this side of the pond and that will limit sales. 300 Miles is easily achievable though...just at a 90,000 price tag. The Tesla in the picture above has 300 miles of range. Still cheaper than the BMW, Mercedes and Audi competition though. I guess its relative to what is affordable. Those are unaffordable for us...at least if I want to retire at 60. :)

Sales continue to climb though and right now, one of every two people walking into a showroom in Norway (a cold country) are there to buy an EV of some sort. Recently 51 percent of all new registrations were electric vehicles of some sort. That won't happen here for some time...or at least until they come up with a pickup that is BEV. :)

Limited range and huge price tag ($90K) puts EV way out of reach for easily 90% perhaps 95% of the average working persons wages.. Couple that with where you live and how expensive the cost of living is it is out of reach unless you have gov backed incentives..

If you are into gov backed incentives that is fine except other tax payers are picking up the tab.. In other words it costs EVERYONE more to live..

The day you can walk out of dealership with a EV car for $20K-$30K and it gets 400 miles to a charge, fits more than two people, can be flash recharged in less than ten minutes and has no gov incentives or forced manufacturer builds it will never be all that popular.

One needs to read the history and understand that EVs have failed over and over to become more popular than internal combustion.

There are a lot of trade offs with EV, if you can live with the trade offs and short comings then some folks will buy but not enough for practical manufacturing.. Manufacturers are in the business to make money, they can't make enough money building small quantity high cost products that only a small fraction of buyers might be able or willing to pay for the costs.

Todays EVs have extremely costly batteries, motor drive controls and still must pass all Federal mandated safety requirements of internal combustion vehicles.

Batteries have some extreme limitations, extreme cold or hot severely reduces the battery capacity, must have very close complex over current and over temp control systems and a limited useful life span..

Each manufacturer uses batteries that are not compatible with any other vehicle which presents a real problem down the road when the battery expires.. You simply cannot go to Walmart or a Autozone or anywhere else than the dealer to buy a replacement battery..

A common battery design is needed and that isn't going to happen.

In the US, manufacturers are only require to provide parts for ten years after a product has been sunsetted.. After that your modern EV car just becomes another pretty paperweight..

All good and valid points although I think many are fine with shorter range as the growing sales numbers indicate. And you are right that there are trade offs. Living with an EV is different than an ICE powered vehicle. But obviously by the growing sales numbers some are willing to accept those lifestyle changes for the advantages that the EV's bring.

Time will tell if the sales numbers continue their climb although I think the North American market will be a slower growth curve than the rest of the world.