[Fat Charlie]

Ecomodder users are not the car buying market. People who know anything about cars are not the car buying market. Idiots who wander into the showroom are. As a sleazy salesman at a place I once worked told me, "they buy the shine." In the showroom, hybrid and plug-in are premium features that are used to justify higher prices: if the Leaf is a plug-in Versa, why isn't it called the Versa Plugin? Because the Versa is a bargain $#*+box they make so they can say they have something inexpensive while the Leaf is aspirational.

Pricing is the focus and the cutoff for all new car sales. Because range is good enough for most people, it's either overlooked entirely or only brought in at the end- at which point the customer is already sold on the premium eco thing and gets a hybrid. At the dealership it's all the same: someone got steered to the premium end of the showroom and bought one of the offerings. Joe salesman doesn't give a damn about your life or needs and his idea of automotive efficiency is selling the most cars at the highest markup with the least effort.