Consumer Interest In EV Vehicles Falters As Onslaught Of New EV Models Arrive

According to Statista, based on data from Motor Intelligence and Inside EVs: "...only 113,588 electric cars were sold in the US last year, accounting for roughly 1.4% of the total passenger car market... Electric cars are also failing to grow their overall market share. They have consistently accounted for 1.2% to 1.4% of total market share over the past three years, showing the electric car market is still in its infancy, serving only a small group of drivers..."

So while articles make assertions such as "Consumer Interest In EV Vehicles Falters" or "EV sales decline", the more relevant story is that in the past 3 years, EV market share has been stagnant, even though gas prices at the pump have fallen drastically in the last 1.5 years. Therefore:
- EV market share *isn't* closely related to gas prices
- Consumer interest in EVs has been tiny any flat for the past 3 years
- All this is true in spite of new EV tech, new models, big improvements, etc.

The effort most manufacturers are putting into EVs points to an electric future. They may be getting off to a slow start but I doubt many cars will be still powered by ICE in 25 years. Have to start somewhere...

runninglogan1: You MIGHT be right, but I found that when you roll the calendar back 25 years and see what predictions they were making, they were way off-base. We were supposed to me living on moon bases and driving flying cars (I mean *real* ones, not that useless monstrosity conjured up by Terrafugia).

Ran an interesting test. Charging a Tesla at home using the $.21/kwh that our New England electricity costs (still cheaper than "green" Germany's $.50/kwh) and looking at its range it works out to $.08/mile. Fueling up my Grand Cherokee Summit Diesel at $2.25/gallon and its average 28 mpg works out to $.08/mile. It's not a contest as the GC costs less with all the same premium features, can do a LOT more, and doesn't have any range anxiety. EV manufacturers should be worried.

Falter? How do they know that? I'm more interested in EV than ever especially with more options available. Probably a single EV model doesn't get the same undivided attention like it used to be with so many competitions now, but falter? No.

There will always be a certain group of "green" Eco people who will be intersted in the supposedly green features of an EV - BUT they are NOT zero emissions vehicles when you take into account the amount of emissions the power plants give off creating the electricity. WHen you take that into account -these cars are barely greener than the average car today. THEN - when you take into account the cost - especially the ADDED cost of Hybrids when they can no longer make up for that cost - and you get EV's and Hybrids that only attract those who THINK they are being green by buying them. The average buyer - who already cannot afford most new cars - simply cannot justify the added expense - and with gas prices low - doesn't bother - and that is the problem.

Until these cars become obviously better than other alternatives - they will be niche market vehicles supported largely by government grants and tax benefits - but cannot sell otherwise. And eventually - the general public will object to those subsidies - and if they go away - these cars will never justify the added expenses.

EVs have several major hurdles to overcome. They are ready for the greenie, early-adopter dweebe but for mainstream America...NOPE.

Unless and until they can be charged as fast as filling a tank with gas, they are not viable replacements.

Unless and until their price is equivalent to a gas vehicle, they are not viable replacements. The Bolt is $37K and the Obama taxpayer handouts drop that to about $30K, but that's still $10K over a comparable Sonic.

The price per mile of an EV--ironically--is not necessarily less costly than gas.

The Bolt is coming because GM has no choice. EV's will become cost effective because automakers will have to sell enough to earn credits to meet their overall fleet mpg mandate. In effect purchasers of below mpg mandate vehicles will be paying more, subsidizing EV's sales. Government subsidizes can then go away.

The real reason why manufactures are coming up with EVs is to satisfy regulations. They are called compliance cars. They need to have a certain % of cars in their line up that satisfies the tougher mpg/emission regulations. They certainly don't make money off these cars and sales have been slow since they are pricier and gas is cheaper now. But In time cost will certainly drop and when they start making electric cars that don't look like the BMW i3 maybe consumers will be interested.