The White House appears to have convinced Congress to spend big on electric vehicles, but now it faces the challenge of convincing tens of millions of American drivers to purchase them.
According to a report by the Washington Post, Americans aren’t buying in. One woman said, “I want to believe these are good cars, but I am like, ‘Is this a repeat of the flip-phone era? Should I be sitting this out for now?’” [bold, links added]
The Washington Post reports that while the White House is celebrating Congress agreeing to invest in electric vehicles, there now remains a new hurdle – convincing tens of millions of motorists to purchase the cars.
The administration is attempting to upend the current auto market dominated by fossil fuel-powered vehicles.
But many Americans still see electric vehicles as inefficient, awkward to charge, expensive, and largely owned by coastal elites.
The belief that electric cars like those made by Tesla are best for elites in big cities is driven in part by the lack of chargers in many places, including West Virginia.
The Post reports:
The roadblocks to mainstream adoption of the cars are particularly daunting in states like West Virginia, where driver suspicion of the reliability of the technology is compounded by underinvestment in charging infrastructure.
When Robert Fernatt gets asked how easy it is to drive across West Virginia in an electric car, the answer is frequently that you can’t.
In other cases, consumers have had poor experiences with electric vehicles. The Washington Post describes the experience of one driver who purchased a Chevy Bolt electric vehicle:
“I want to believe these are good cars, but I am like, ‘Is this a repeat of the flip-phone era? Should I be sitting this out for now?’ ” said Kara Cooper, a 32-year-old photographer in Washougal, Wash.
Cooper took the plunge in 2020 when she bought a used Chevy Bolt, but the battery wouldn’t charge properly, she said.
“I was pretty turned off by the experience,” Cooper said. She returned the Bolt to the dealership and has been on the hunt for an affordable electric replacement for her gas-powered Volkswagen Jetta since then. “It is stressful,” Cooper said. “I have spent so many hours researching this that it is kind of embarrassing.”
Read more at the Washington Post here.
via Breitbart
I think that the best compromise for a car buyer would be a plug – in hybrid over a battery – only vehicle.
Why is Washington ignoring this? The Greens won’t compromise. They hate petroleum.
I just read that California’s new legislation allows for 20% of new car sales in 2035 to be plug – in hybrids, if they have a minimum 50 mile range on batteries.
Bidenistas remind me of used car salesmen or carny bakers.
barkers
Here in California our idiot leaders wants to force us all into Fire Hazard EV,s by banning Gasoline Powered Cars all over this Global Warming/Climate Change Lie. We have more reasons to vote that idiot Newsom out of the State this November
I live in a Denver suburb and am frequently in Denver, a far-left wing city. So much of the city the populous park on the street due to lack of garages. How are they going to charge their vehicles if there was even the electricity to do so overnight? This is the reality of so many left-wing cities.
Kara Cooper’s experience should be a warning to others who think it wise to buy a used BEV. A used ICEV can be repaired while a BEV – the only option is to buy a new replacement battery and they cost a fortune.
In the future, it might be practical for city dwellers to use BEV’s but for people living in the country, they are not going to work and country folk know that.
I’m surprised by the response of the car makers. Why are they going along with government? I guess it’s subsidies for BEV’s they sell?? In the end however, the market, something the government can’t control will decide the success of BEV’s and I think I know the answer to that already.
BTW – for those who haven’t driven a new ICEV lately and you might be thinking of buying a BEV, go and test one before you spend your hard-earned. You are in for a big surprise because they are really good and economical as well.
If you decide to buy a new EV, consider its battery life span and its resale value. Word is already out.
One reason that Detroit is so enthusiastic about EV’s is that it helps satisfy the Corporate Average Fuel Efficiency (CAFE) laws. The CAFE target keeps moving up. An EV theoretically gets infinite fuel mileage.