Hybrids are one thing. Electrics are another. Toyota, the best run car maker in the world, is betting on hybrids. My wife's new Camry XSE hybrid is the closest I'll ever come to having an electric family car, and I doubt I'll ever have an electric at all.
It will be interesting to see how VW does with all auto tranny cars. The people of Europe seem to like them much more than here in the U.S. I suspect there will be sports and performance cars manufactured with manuals for a long time. BMW is still doing pretty well with them.
Hertz just put for sale (fire sale) one-third of their fleet of electric car rentals. They don't have enough renters that want them. And the U.S. car producers will sell the types of cars that will sell in the U.S. I believe you under estimate the number of people that really don't want them for their primary car. Some will. And some might buy one as a 2nd car for around town. But lots of people don't want them, and won't buy one for their primary family, or for their only car. Cars are something that many people have strong opinions over.
I don't doubt that companies like VW will go for electric. They are headquartered in Germany where people are satisfied with refrigerators in their homes that we would only accept in a dorm room. Ford abandoned some of their electric vehicle switchover. They cut way back on their electric truck production because they didn't sell as anticipated.
It will be interesting to see how this plays out.
Couple of things here.
First, PA to Austin is about 1,700 miles. If the range of the car is 300 miles but he stops every 200, that is about 8 stops one way. But most people stop every 200 miles anyway (about 2.5 hours driving time). If you put your destination into a Tesla, it will tell you everywhere to stop to minimize the inconvenience along the way. I agree that ICE vehicles are better for long trips but how many of those does the average driver take per year? That is playing into the EVs' weakness instead of strength. I have a PHEV and plug it in every night into a 120 outlet. I go about two months before I get gas. I find not having to stop in the cold, snow, wind, rain to be very convenient.
If one needs a car for long trips, an EV isn't the best choice currently. I actually rent cars for long trips as I don't want the wear and tear, I don't have to buy a big car for my once or twice a year trips, and I save money in the long run. Why buy a GMC Denali for $80k when 355 days of the year a Rav4 does great, is cheaper to run and is easier to drive?
the Hertz case is interesting. The challenge Hertz had is that EVs are so different to use people didn't want to take the time or effort. But once you use one for a week, it is more convenient than an ICE vehicle. Plus the acceleration, convenience, and noise are superior by almost any measure. I rented one in Palm Springs last year and simply loved it and the driver experience (especially the ding when a red light turns green, not having to stare at the red light in the desert sky was a great benefit). I also really like the one-pedal driving, especially on highly congested freeways. It is a great commuter car in larger cities.
Climate is a big issue. Warm weather is helpful as batteries are less efficient in cold weather. I've got a friend that has two Teslas and lives outside of San Diego. She just put in solar panels and the Tesla Powerwall. She said that they use zero electricity and charge two cars every night.
To me the real issues are a) familiarity and b) infrastructure. As the infrastructure improves, EVs will be much more convenient for daily drivers. I get by with level one charging (120v with about 1.5 miles of driving per hour). I could add level 2 (220 and get about 30 miles of driving for every hour. meaning, a ten-hour overnight charge would get me 300 miles of driving). level 3, superchargers, take between 15 min to 45 minutes to get close to a full charge. Add to this no oil changes and very few moving parts compared to ICE.
Lastly, I've got several dozen friends who own Teslas and despite the media reporting to the contrary, none of them will go back to ICE vehicles. I am getting a kick out of the media reporting that 2m Teslas have been recalled. The recall is because the icons for certain options (like 4-way flasher) is too small on the screen. The recall is an over-the-air Wifi update (which shows the power of EVs over ICE, really). Another thing nobody seems to be reporting on is the self-driving feature and what that means in the future. The reality is that self-driving is literally over a thousand times less risky than human driving. the media concentrates on the one screw-up but never gives the story context of humans crashing because they were drunk, texting, or just not fast enough to react. I've heard that Tesla is looking into offering their own car insurance because insurance companies don't want you to know how much better, and cheaper, it will be. This will represent a sea change when perfected. With Uber and self-driving cars, you really may no longer need to own a car.
If you know what you are getting into and buy for the right reasons, you'll love them. Right now, you can buy a brand new Tesla Model Y for less than $40k.
