WHY? Study Indicates That Mostly The Rich Are Buying Electric Cars, Not The Intended Masses

Why? Because they all contain a $15,000 battery back which nobody seems to want to pay for.

The Leaf one is $5,500, and all EVs come with a rather substantial battery warranty, but thank you for staying informed.

Um, that price is subsidized. The cost to Nissan is much greater than $5,500 for the battery pack.

http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1093463_nissan-leaf-5500-battery-replacement-loses-money-company-admits

Hence why I said "nobody" seems to want to pay for it — I was referring to both manufacturers and consumers.

It means Nissan is willing to pay for part of it and you can afford it in the rather unlikely event that you have to buy one. By the time the battery warranty expires and if the battery dies you may be ready to buy another car anyway.

OMG, You don't get it. I'm not talking about replacement batteries. I'm referring to the astronomical cost of manufacturing an EV car with a lithium ion battery pack. The massive Li-ion battery pack adds $15K to the cost of manufacturing the EV car. Roughly half of that $15K ends up in the MSRP. The other half is subsidized, both by the manufacturer and by various governments.

- CONSUMERS aren't paying the extra $8k for a pure EV car. This is evident in pathetic EV sales.
- MANUFACTURERS aren't willing to subsidize the difference. This is evident is the MSRP.
- TAXPAYERS are no longer willing (if they ever were) of bailing out EV purchasers with a $7500 fucking tax credit.

HENCE:

NOBODY wants to pay the $15K.

OMG! You don't get it either. At $300/kWh the Leaf's battery pack costs half your $15,000 mantra. Tesla is now making packs at closer to $200/kWh. Last time I checked they both were still in business.

Novelty? Bragging Rights? Hoping to offset the carbon footprint of their personal jet plane?

Since you really need a private garage with a charging station to use an EV, its a status thing.

By the way, putting aside Top Gear Jeremy Clarkson implosion, why has Top Gear UK NEVER tested a Tesla Model S? Why has the Stig NEVER driven it around the Top Gear track? The Model S85D would smoke most of those cars they test.

You do not need a private garage nor a charging station to charge an EV. Just need a regular power outlet.

Why? Because the only "respectable" range, desirable electric car is well north of $50,000. The Leaf & iMEV are range limited & funny looking, while the e-Golf and e-Focus are just range limited. If the e-Golf had a real world range of about 125 miles, I could easily live with it.

I never knew having a garage was a status symbol. :P

There are public charging stations that work just like gas stations. You plug in the cord, swipe a card, your car charges, and you're good to go on your merry way. You can cover a distance several times longer than the range of your car in a single day, even with a "range-limited" EV.

It is the same with a lot of new technologies in transportation. Used to be only the rich could ride a train then later only the rich had cars, when air travel started the rich were the only ones that could afford it etc… As they develop the technology it become more practical and cheaper… then the unwashed masses will have them.

Right! Also a $139 lease for a SparkEV, $199 for a Leaf, or a $239 for a Volt do not exactly strike me as the domain of the rich. Neither does the 4 cents per mile electricity cost.

Good point :)

What kind of mileage on those leases?

For the Spark EV and the Volt it is a 39 month lease with 32,500 miles, $0.25/mile extra. So to make it a "standard" 12k miles/year lease and assuming you prepay for the miles at this price add 6,500 miles * 0.25 = $1,625 extra total / 39 payments = extra $42/month so the Spark EV becomes $181/month, the Volt becomes $291/month or so. There were more Spark EVs sold in April in just two states (920) than Volts in all of the US (905) as a result of this lease offer.

For the Leaf S it was the standard 36 month/12k miles a year and was extendable to 39 months with the same terms.

Easy. The ones priced for the masses are ugly. They also are a compromise in terms of space and comfort. I gladly pay a little more for ICE vehicles to have room for 4, luggage, elbow/knee room and knowing that I can get so go juice almost everywhere. Can also put some in a can and take it with me. The electric range is concerning with current offerings and yes, while there are charging stations in some regions of the country, they aren't a regular site in other states. If you are predictable, I'm sure it's fine. The mileage is nice and zero emissions is great but...the infrastructure isn't there yet to be a viable option for me. Especially when we go to remote areas of Colorado and Wyoming. Let's not even bring up the no ground clearance for snow days issue. Not everyone lives in LA proper.

There are a couple of reasons...one is lack of availability of reasonably priced family/utility vehicle, and the other is range anxiety perpetuated by the ignorance of some automotive journalists.

Range anxiety is real and a fact. Most buyers obviously don't share vdiv's view of electrics, especially pure electrics. Otherwise sales would be higher. Charging is a time consuming inconvenience for a significant number. Wealthy buyers have other vehicles to use when having an electric is not convenient.

"Range anxiety is real and a fact."

True, but not an insurmountable one, and also strangely people without EVs tend to worry about it more than those driving one. You know what else is real as well? Gas anxiety.


"Most buyers obviously don't share vdiv's view of electrics, especially pure electrics. Otherwise sales would be higher."

True for now :) The question is why. What is so odd about the people that drive electrics? How do they manage? There are all kinds and all over the world.


"Charging is a time consuming inconvenience for a significant number."

Plugging in your car takes up less than a minute. Charging occurs at home and at night when people sleep, and they wake up every morning with a full battery, how is that inconvenient? Why is it more convenient to having to go to a stinky, dirty, loud and dangerous gas station at the most inopportune moment? Have you asked any women how they feel about that experience?


"Wealthy buyers have other vehicles to use when having an electric is not convenient."

Not just wealthy drives, most families have a couple of cars. Also one can drive a plugin hybrid and still cover a good number of their miles, often all of their daily miles without burning any gas, and still use it for long distance trips. (I've done that for the past three and a half years and so can you.)

There have been some interesting EV reviews by millennials who live in apartments. No way to charge at night. NO market there for a huge group of potential customers. As a non commuting retiree I make 250 to 700 mile trips regularly. Pit stop to recycle the coffee, pick up something to eat on the road, and fuel up takes 15-20 minutes. Own a diesel so tank will go for 600 miles. Refuse to wait around for actual charge to occur which is the real time, if there was even a place to do it which there are not on huge stretches of highway. The whole "time is money" crowd are lost customers. Finally, hate noisy uncomfortable cars so the "low Price" EVs which remove sound deadening to get range are out. Another group lost. You get the picture. The real available market for EVs is small. Hence the government forcing them on folks and subsidizing them.