Electric vehicle registrations fell 41% in January from a year earlier as gasoline and hybrid vehicles regained market share following the repeal of the federal EV tax credit last year.
DB2
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To be expected…
The Captain
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While spending somebody else’s money is always fun, there is more going on. EV sales plateaued a couple of years before the subsidy went away, even in California.
DB2
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Sure is. Have you noticed Tesla’s pivot away from passenger cars to Semis and Cybercabs? Don’t fight city hall!
The world is finally noticing that Climate Change or Global Warming cannot be fixed by throwing money at it but that does not mean that EVs are not better than gas guzzlers.
The Captain
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Sure is. We’re spending $200 billion to try to get oil and gas through the Strait of Hormuz for all you petrol heads. Part of that $200 billion is MY money.
Or doesn’t that count?
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The US isn’t the center of the universe.
Meanwhile:
“The countries that are exposed to that supply disruption are not so much in Europe, or in the Americas, they’re actually really in the Asia region,” Michael Williamson of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific told AP News.
BYD showrooms are bustling across Asia after Iran oil shock
https://www.ndtv.com/auto/iran-oil-crisis-sparks-electric-vehicle-sales-surge-across-asia-byd-vinfast-lead-11242039
Asia’s electric vehicle makers like BYD and VinFast see sales explode as Iran’s oil shock drives fuel prices sky-high, accelerating the shift to electric vehicles.
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EV owners are laughing their way to the bank in the Trump economy.
I’m about a week short of my 1-year anniversary with my Tesla Model Y. The charging app tells me I spent $64 so far in the past 12 months charging the vehicle off the 110 volt plug in my garage – the only place I’ve ever charged it. (I’ve driven the car about 2,500 miles)
You’d be buying 80-100 gallons of fuel for a similarly sized SUV with a gasoline engine.
intercst
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Second verse, same as the first:
What to Know About Electric Cars When Gas Prices Are Surging
War in Iran has disrupted global oil supplies, which is prompting some car shoppers to look for ways to climb off “the gas-price roller coaster.”
Electric car owners may be feeling smug because they don’t need to worry about soaring gasoline prices. And people with combustion engine cars may be wondering whether it’s time to buy an electric vehicle.In the United States, prices for new electric vehicles have fallen but still average $6,500 more than vehicles that run on fossil fuels, according to Cox Automotive. From a purely financial point of view, an electric vehicle makes sense for people who will save that much on fuel and maintenance during the time they own it
The New York Times offers a tool to help people make that calculation based on local electricity prices and driving habits. But there is more to the decision than dollars and cents. Some benefits of electric vehicles are hard to put a price on, like the peace of mind that comes from not being at the mercy of geopolitics.
There are tentative signs that “people want to be taken off the gas-price roller coaster,” said Jessica Caldwell, head of insights at Edmunds. The share of people researching electric vehicles on Edmunds’s online car shopping site rose to 24 percent at the beginning of March from 21 percent in early February.
Here are some things to consider if you’re thinking about electric vehicles.
E.V.s are getting more affordable.
I wonder if when gas gets to $5 a gallon Dr Bob will get off his anti-EV bandstand? Probably not, but I’ll still be here with a post that starts “20th verse, same as the first”
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Not really anti-EV; just trying to introduce more facts into the discussion. I didn’t buy into those very optimistic uptake scenarios. Market share here in the US has plateaued around 8%. Maybe it will go up this year. Let the marketplace decide.
I’m also not a big fan of veggie burgers, although I eat them from time to time. But not anti-veggie burgers.
DB2
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Yes, well - but if you’re driving such a small amount, you’d probably spend less money with the ICE and the 100 gallons of gas. Whether you save money on an EV vs. an ICE depends on how much you drive - you trade a higher capital cost up front for lower fuel costs. If you’re only driving 2,500 miles in a full year, you’re almost certainly not saving enough on fuel costs to cover the higher cost of the car.
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I can drive the Tesla with my left foot after the right leg amputation. I’d be taking the bus in my wheelchair (or paying a fortune for an Uber) if I still had the Nissan with the 5-speed manual transmission.
And of course, I only paid $21,000 for it, so my capital costs are low.
I’m currently paying a $225 annual EV fee to make up for the gasoline road tax I’m not paying. That does negate my fuel savings.
But the Washington legislature is looking to change that to a 2.6 cents per mile fee, which would drop the $225 annual fee to $64 based on 2,500 miles per year of driving.
WA State continues to lead the nation in science and arithmetic informed public policy. (( LOL }}
intercst
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Oh, I’m not saying in any way that there might not be plenty of other reasons one might prefer a Tesla. For someone who needs to drive with one foot, the one-pedal driving might make it a no-brainer to get the Tesla.
But if you’re driving so modest an amount, cost savings wouldn’t really be among the reasons. That gap narrows when looking at used cars - but still, an EV generally costs several thousands more than a comparable ICE car, which a driver won’t ever recoup if they’re only driving 2.5K miles per year.
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That’s true. But you’d have a hard time finding a used $21,000 ICE SUV with the 4.2 sec 0-60 acceleration of my Model Y. And the used Mercedes and BMW models that might be candidates have abysmal maintenance costs.
I know that virtually no one does this, but I match the specs I’m looking for, with the lowest cost solution, new or used.
And of course, I had no idea when I bought the Tesla in April that I’d be losing my right leg in July. It was just another one of the fortunate series of events that made the medical disaster less of a disaster.
intercst
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