Still more bad news on electric cars
The Biden administration wants more people driving electric cars. In fact, that’s why he’s creating emissions standards that really can’t be met by most of our current vehicles, to try and force people into those EVs.
Yet he can’t actually make people buy them. At least, not without some kind of legislation from Congress—while I think it’s unconstitutional, the fact that health insurance could be mandated would suggest the probability that the courts would disagree with me.
That means that unless people actually want electric cars, all the mandates in the world aren’t really going to do much.
The bad news for Biden? People don’t want them.
The future for electric vehicles is looking bleaker than ever.
According to a Gallup poll published this week, the number of Americans who own an electric vehicle has indeed increased in the last year.
However, the number of those interested in buying one is on the decline despite efforts from the federal government to transition the entire automobile market within the next decade.
Seven percent of Americans, up from 4% a year ago, report that they own an electric vehicle. That increase is matched by an equal decline in the percentage saying they are seriously considering buying one, from 12% to 9%.
Meanwhile, fewer Americans -- 35%, down from 43% in 2023 -- say they might consider buying an EV in the future. Thus, even as some people have moved ahead with their intent to buy an EV in the past year, public demand for the cars has contracted.
Overall, less than half of adults, 44%, now say they are either seriously considering or might consider buying an EV in the future, down from 55% in 2023, while the proportion not intending to buy one has increased from 41% to 48%.…
EVs are also far more popular among wealthier Americans, underscoring the fact that they are generally unaffordable for people struggling in the Biden economy:
Upper-income Americans are the subgroup most likely to own an EV, with 14% doing so, up from 6% last year. This relationship may reflect the much higher purchase price of EVs compared with traditional gasoline-powered vehicles.
Another 11% of upper-income Americans are seriously considering buying an EV. The combined 25% compares with 14% of middle-income and 9% of lower-income Americans who own or are seriously considering buying an EV.
...Sixty-one percent of lower-income Americans say they would not buy an EV, up 18 percentage points from 43% in 2023, the biggest increase among major subgroups. In general, most subgroups show higher percentages now than a year ago saying they would not buy an electric vehicle.
None of this is remotely surprising.
Electric cars will, in time, probably be completely viable for most people. They’ll have respectable ranges and decent charging options. People will be able to buy one knowing they can do what they want with one, including road trips to at least some degree.
The costs of these vehicles will decline then as they become more popular and manufacturers battle for a greater share of the market, as will at-home charging options.
But, to steal from the movie and the meme, it is not this day.
What’s more, the Biden administration’s push for electric vehicles is likely to hurt demand in the long run.
Americans are prickly. We generally don’t mind telling other people what to do, but we don’t want to be told ourselves. In the case of EVs, most people are being told what to do and they’re not likely to respond kindly to the thing.
Especially as a lot of EV owners I’ve talked to find themselves more annoyed by their cars than they would a gas- or diesel-powered vehicle. Nothing sucks quite like having to wonder just how much range you really have on a cold winter’s day.
So while the number of EVs on the road might be up, it makes sense that demand would be down. At least some of those EV drivers are less than thrilled right now and they’re sharing that with their friends.
Of course, wealthier Americans aren’t worried about it because they can just Uber to the airport and fly wherever they want to go, rent a car there, and call it good. Road trips in a car are only if they’re so inclined, and they’re probably not interested in such long trips. Meanwhile, many of us have that as our only option for leaving town.
But the long-term ramifications are significant.
If people aren’t buying them, what happens when the emissions standards go up? Well, people will buy what internal combustion engine vehicles remain on the market or buy primarily used vehicles.
For a lot of people, the latter is the truth already, but for those who might otherwise buy a new car to instead look at used ICE vehicles, that’s going to spell bad news for auto manufacturers.
They’ll conform to the new standards because they have to. People, however, will be less inclined to buy EVs and that’s not likely to change.
Right now, they have a choice. In this country, there’s almost always a choice.
On EVs, people will make that choice. You can’t force them to think otherwise and that’s ultimately a good thing.
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