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Old 11-06-2019, 12:01 PM   #16 (permalink)
redpoint5
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Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Oregon
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Acura TSX - '06 Acura TSX
90 day: 24.19 mpg (US)

Lafawnda - CBR600 - '01 Honda CBR600 F4i
90 day: 47.32 mpg (US)

Big Yeller - Dodge/Cummins - '98 Dodge Ram 2500 base
90 day: 21.82 mpg (US)

Chevy ZR-2 - '03 Chevrolet S10 ZR2
90 day: 17.14 mpg (US)

Model Y - '24 Tesla Y LR AWD
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Foreign EV markets are propped up by policy, and even then EVs account for next to nothing in sales with exception of certain very small countries.

The achilles heel of EVs is the battery. It's essentially a $10,000-$20,000 fuel tank, that can only be filled slowly, with sparse "rapid" charging infrastructure", that requires environmental regulation (heating/cooling/vibration), that shrinks in capacity over time, that holds less miles of range, whose range is severely reduced in cold conditions (up to half the range). EVs are better in every other way though.

Automakers don't want to make EVs because they aren't profitable. Their ICE counterparts cost half as much and don't suffer the limitations of a battery. Sure, it's a bit bothersome to visit a petrol station occasionally, and charging at home is superior, and the cost of fuel is a bit more per mile than electricity, but consumers prefer those drawbacks to those of an EV.

We'll transition away from ICE, but BEVs aren't there yet. They are for the 1% at the moment, but winning over the 99% will take time and improvements in technology and infrastructure.

As an aside, a used Model S is beginning to be on my radar as the oldest ones are coming down in price. I'd say I stand an 85% chance of purchasing an EV within a year.
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