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Electric Car Sales Are Surging, IEA Reports

The number of electric vehicles on the road rocketed to 2 million in 2016 after being virtually non-existent just five years ago, according to the International Energy Agency.

Registered plug-in and battery-powered vehicles on roads worldwide rose 60 percent from the year before, according to the Global EV Outlook 2017 report from the Paris-based IEA. Despite the rapid growth, electric vehicles still represent just 0.2 percent of total light-duty vehicles.

”China was by far the largest electric car market, accounting for more than 40 percent of the electric cars sold in the world and more than double the amount sold in the United States," the IEA wrote in the report published Wednesday. ”It is undeniable that the current electric car market uptake is largely influenced by the policy environment."
More in the link.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-06-07/electric-car-market-goes-zero-to-2-million-in-five-years
 

darkinstinct

...lacks reading comprehension.
As long as they cost more than fuel powered cars while delivering only 1/4th of the distance and having to refill in an hour or two instead of five minutes I don't see them taking off.
 
Wow that percentage is still tiny.

I still don't think that they have a shot in hell at mainstream until they have at least a 300 (preferably 400) mile range at a reasonable price.


I wish I lived somewhere where electric was viable, but I drive hundreds of miles in a day with regularity.
 
As long as they cost more than fuel powered cars while delivering only 1/4th of the distance and having to refill in an hour or two instead of five minutes I don't see them taking off.

So you don't actually know anything about electric cars today but you decided to spout your hot take anyways?
 

smurfx

get some go again
won't ever consider an electrical car until my apartment complex installs charging stations which will probably not happen in a decade.
 
My 2014 Mazda3 will be driven until it blows up (hopefully no sooner than like 10 years from now lol). But after that, I expect a ton of great all electric options.
 

Zackat

Member
As long as they cost more than fuel powered cars while delivering only 1/4th of the distance and having to refill in an hour or two instead of five minutes I don't see them taking off.

pretty sure a tesla can go ~320 miles or so. That is about what my car gets with gas, give or take.
 
pretty sure a tesla can go ~320 miles or so. That is about what my car gets with gas, give or take.
And even then, people should sit down an look at how often they actually travel 100 miles a day. Even 50 or so. I would bet it's not nearly as often as one would think.
 
I already have one. You will definitely need adjustments in your life but it has served more than 99% of my driving needs and my car only has a 100 mile range! I live in Los Angeles, arguably car central in the USA. I also have a car that is only has level 2 charging. Cars with level 3 charging that isn't called a Tesla is now getting increasingly more common.

Electric cars in their current form can already meet or exceed the vast majority of driving needs of most Americans.
 

Corran Horn

May the Schwartz be with you
Dont think I would be willing to go full electric yet with the lack of most infrastructure here but my next car will be the hybrid electric/gas like a Volt. Something I would have never thought like 5 years ago I would do.

Slowly though, more and more places I see have charging stations.
 
And even then, people should sit down an look at how often they actually travel 100 miles a day. Even 50 or so. I would bet it's not nearly as often as one would think.

Well a Nissan Leaf with only about 100 miles of range actually covers about 75% of the average American daily commute. Most people do not drive very far to get to work.

The only time most people would like 300 miles of range is when you are taking your car on a road trip, which for most people is what? Once or twice a year?
 

ascii42

Member
The cost of a Tesla far outweighs any cost savings from electric though, which kind of ruins that.

Yeah, for sure. The best deal right now is probably the Chevy Bolt, which is currently $30k after the tax credit and has over 200 mile range. But the similar sized Sonic costs half that.
 

Jezbollah

Member
Well a Nissan Leaf with only about 100 miles of range actually covers about 75% of the average American daily commute. Most people do not drive very far to get to work.

The only time most people would like 300 miles of range is when you are taking your car on a road trip, which for most people is what? Once or twice a year?

America is not the world.

I will be doing a 350 mile round trip for a meeting on Wednesday alone (UK).
 
His distance driven on a charge was wrong, but the charging is not.

The charging still takes far too long.

You must never have heard of the Tesla Supercharger
https://www.tesla.com/supercharger

You only charge your car during actual travel when you're on a road trip. The fundamental mentality of an electric car is like a cell phone. If you are just going to work and coming home, you're supposed to plug in when you get home and go to bed. When you wake up and go to work again, your car is charged and you don't charge again until you're home again and going to bed.
 
America is not the world.

I will be doing a 350 mile round trip for a meeting on Wednesday alone (UK).
I mean that's a rare case more than likely. To have to drive a total of 350 miles for a meeting. Not a typical case.

And for those one off cases, there are rentals, no?
 

RuGalz

Member
As much as I would like to have one for commute, I can't install quick charger at my condo so ... I'm sure that's going to be the problem for a lot of people renting as well.
 
Hyundai is coming out with the Ioniq next year, which will be $31k with a 200 mile range. The Ioniq this year will have a 134 mile range.

As much as I would like to have one for commute, I can't install quick charger at my condo so ... I'm sure that's going to be the problem for a lot of people renting as well.

A regular outlet works as well. I have one next to my parking spot and made arrangements with my landlord to meter it for me. No quick charging is required for apartment dwellers.

In California, the apartment complex is required to allow you to install one if you choose the faster charging route.
 
Well a Nissan Leaf with only about 100 miles of range actually covers about 75% of the average American daily commute. Most people do not drive very far to get to work.

The only time most people would like 300 miles of range is when you are taking your car on a road trip, which for most people is what? Once or twice a year?

That has never been the issue. The issue is the frequency in which Americans do drive long distances, whether it be for work, family, etc.

For me it would be almost a guarantee that at least twice a month I drive longer than an electric can sustain at a reasonable price.

Asking people to rent a car twice a month is not reasonable.
 
That has never been the issue. The issue is the frequency in which Americans do drive long distances, whether it be for work, family, etc.

For me it would be almost a guarantee that at least twice a month I drive longer than an electric can sustain at a reasonable price.

Asking people to rent a car twice a month is not reasonable.

Then you aren't a typical American driver.
 
You must never have heard of the Tesla Supercharger
https://www.tesla.com/supercharger

You only charge your car during actual travel when you're on a road trip. The fundamental mentality of an electric car is like a cell phone. If you are just going to work and coming home, you're supposed to plug in when you get home and go to bed. When you wake up and go to work again, your car is charged and you don't charge again until you're home again and going to bed.

Even with the supercharger it would take about an hour for a full change, as opposed to 5 minutes at a gas station.

More convenient than overnight, but still a turn off for many.


...and as I mentioned before, the absurd prices of the Tesla's already make them unfeasible for the vast bulk of Americans.
 
V

Vilix

Unconfirmed Member
His distance driven on a charge was wrong, but the charging is not.

The charging still takes far too long.

It would be innovative if you could just switch out the battery at a filing station.
 
That has never been the issue. The issue is the frequency in which Americans do drive long distances, whether it be for work, family, etc.

For me it would be almost a guarantee that at least twice a month I drive longer than an electric can sustain at a reasonable price.

Asking people to rent a car twice a month is not reasonable.

Sure, now go to the website I linked and actually look at the freeways you travel on and see if there are Tesla Superchargers on those routes. There probably are. So that's where you stop to soak up some juice on your way there or back.

I don't know what you mean by 'reasonable price' when the Tesla Model 3 will debut next month for a base price of $35k. If that's not reasonable enough for you yet then don't forget about how it will save you ~$500 a year in gasoline costs on average and that you get a federal tax rebate of $7,500 for buying one.
 

Sotha_Sil

Member
I would love to have one, but the current infrastructure is not good enough where I live (Louisiana, and I take a bunch of long drives) and the price is still too high.

Maybe by the time my Kia gets run into the ground (which will be a while) electric cars will be a viable option.
 
In my state that is extremely common, and I would say it is typical.


Even if you only do that a few times a year, it still isn't reasonable or cost efficient to have to rent a car for those occasions.
Isn't electricity massively cheaper than gas? If people are driving that much, it means they're spending a crapton on gas and other car maintenance. I'm sure over the year it is likely cheap to rent a few days a year versus the cost of gas and oil over a year.
 

Jezbollah

Member
I mean that's a rare case more than likely. To have to drive a total of 350 miles for a meeting. Not a typical case.

And for those one off cases, there are rentals, no?

Happens most weeks, my own car.

When you have a smaller country, with the country easily accessible within a few hours drive, you have less of an excuse to fly - thus you drive more.

This means you need a car that is economical and has a high range. Fossil fuels it is then.. Until the likes of Tesla can make a battery that has this and is faster to charge. In addition, charging infrastructure needs to expand exponentially if you don't have that range because when you do my job you dont have the luxury of charging where you sleep.
 

Usobuko

Banned
When I looked at the % weightage of sales breakdown worldwide, I'm left puzzling how Tesla would dominate and become the Apple of the industry.

I'm quite sure that if China is already pushing ahead of this electric car initiative, you're not going to stroll in to fill a vacant lot and just proceed to dominate the market. It will be rifled with plenty of competitors.
 
Even with the supercharger it would take about an hour for a full change, as opposed to 5 minutes at a gas station.

More convenient than overnight, but still a turn off for many.


...and as I mentioned before, the absurd prices of the Tesla's already make them unfeasible for the vast bulk of Americans.

You don't charge the car to full before continuing on your way. That's actually a sub-optimal method of traveling with an electric car. The Superchargers are purposely placed at distances apart such that you basically slam 50% charge into the car at the highest rate in about 20 minutes, then you continue to the next Supercharger and repeat this cycle.

This will happen, on average if you follow the speed limit, every 3 hours or so. If you're one of those people who drives 8 straight hours without stopping to get somewhere faster, this will not work for you. Most people will want to stop and get out of the car every 3 hours or so to pee, stretch, or have a meal. That functions well with the placement of Superchargers and optimal charge time.
 

Fuzzery

Member
When I looked at the % weightage of sales breakdown worldwide, I'm left puzzling how Tesla would dominate and become the Apple of the industry.

I'm quite sure that if China is already pushing ahead of this electric car initiative, you're not going to stroll in to fill a vacant lot and just proceed to dominate the market. It will be rifled with plenty of competitors.
Tesla is really popular there
 

Abounder

Banned
When I looked at the % weightage of sales breakdown worldwide, I'm left puzzling how Tesla would dominate and become the Apple of the industry.

I'm quite sure that if China is already pushing ahead of this electric car initiative, you're not going to stroll in to fill a vacant lot and just proceed to dominate the market. It will be rifled with plenty of competitors.

Apple is also a small % of the smartphone market, their aim is to dominate the whole battery supply chain with a brand to match but I agree they will have plenty of competition especially from China/GER
 

Sunster

Member
I'm a broke college kid so I'm still driving a bucket. But when I have my career and I'm in a position to buy new or at least a 2016+ model, I'm definitely going electric.
 

Swass

Member
Waiting for the all-wheel drive Model 3 to release so we can trade in our Ford Fusion Energi which has been fantastic. Owned the car for almost 3 years and probably only filled it up a dozen times.. will never go back..
 
...and most apt's don't even have those in their parking. Mine sure doesn't.

A little lifestyle change won't hurt most people. I've definitely changed my driving habits since I got an electric car. But it;s not that much more different than when I went from not driving to driving. I had to plan my routes to get the cheapest gas when I used to drive an ICE car so it's not that big of a leap. Now I plan ahead and check out charging stations when I'm driving to visit my parents in OC or plan to spend a little more time there to charge my car in thier outlet. People will and do adjust so long as it;s not too terribly inconvenient.
 

Mollymauk

Member
Been driving a Leaf for years, and I'm never going back to gas for a commuter car. I can drive anywhere I need to in the city, and charge overnight on a standard plug. It's such a smooth driving experience, and has far better performance than you would expect. I love it.
 

R1CHO

Member
My Auris is 10 years old, 95kKm.

Not in a hurry to change, but I do hope the next one will be all electric.

No emissions and much more comfortable driving.
 

Rentahamster

Rodent Whores
Good. Faster please.

I'm eagerly awaiting the day when I can walk through a bustling urban center and not have to breathe in car exhaust.
 
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