Actually it's the exact opposite. I have owned thousands of cars and have probably written over a thousand articles chronicling my experiences. However, I also own a car dealership and most car buyers out there appear to be mainly concerned about three things. type of transportation (car, truck, SUV), reliability and status.Is there a Cliff Notes version of the OP? From what I gather, he views cars as appliances. Something that performs a needed function in ones life with as little upkeep as possible and doesn't get much satisfaction from actually using it. As long as it does it's job, he is satisfied with it and has no intentions of replacing it. It's like my washer/dryer from the mid 80's. For the every 10 days to 2 weeks I run a load of laundry, it performs a satisfactory job. The newer models are cooler with exciting colors and neat features like front loading and automatic detergent dispensers, but doing laundry isn't really something I enjoy doing.
I'm also not from California. I'm from Georgia. Right now I'm seeing a lot of folks who would buy Benzes, BMWs and Lexuses buy a Tesla instead. When I go to an auction on Thursday afternoon that liquidates Tesla trade-ins, it's not the Nissan LEAFs and Toyota Priuses that are stacked siz deep. It's the luxury cars from not too long ago.
The southern arc from Oregon and California that stretches all the way to Tennessee and Southern Virginia represents a rust free and relatively temperate area where the majority of Americans now live. As a guy who has been given the rare opportunity to own some of the best cars ever made over the last 20 years, I would love to say that the EV market is just a trend and that gas powered vehicles will be able to fend them off.
They won't. EVs are safer, faster, offer better fuel economy, and allow for a far greater opportunity to pursue styling that isn't available for the gas alternatives. They are also going to be far more profitable with or without the current federal tax credits (new and used) even if it doesn't come directly from the net profit of selling that vehicle. An EV allows automakers to also build several gas guzzlers to a degree that no economical ICE powered car can match. This is why GM will be mass producing a new V8 engine in the near future, and also why small gas sippers are about to become extinct.
The automakers are going to spend over $500 billion on EVs this decade and for right now, many of the largest automakers such as Hyundai/Kia aren't spending any money at all on R&D for their gasoline engines. The cars we drive now are going to be incredibly cheap and last longer because most folks simply won't drive them as much. EVs are already far cheaper in China and other Asian countries, and the United States will likely be a market for many similar models.
In case you're wondering who I am, I'm this guy. The EV market is frankly only about a decade old in the American car market (2011 until now). We're still at the beginning of a paradigm shift.
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