The myth about electric car owners

[1st_EV_2011]

I enjoyed this post:

The myth about electric car owners

Excerpts:

"Every time I write about electric cars, there is an explosion of hostile comments online in which readers angrily denounce electric vehicles and the people who drive them. Much of this animus rests on a plausible yet mistaken assumption – that EV owners are all passionate environmentalists, sanctimoniously swanning around in their zero–emission vehicles while disdaining the ghastly, planet-killing masses burning dinosaur juice.​

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Let me disabuse you of this."​

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"(as Aesop’s farmer knew) it’s best not to appeal to sacrifice and self-denial until you have exhausted the possibilities of self-interest first. It is the consequences of a behaviour that matter, not the motivation.​

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And nearly all technological change is driven in its earliest stages not by high-minded purpose but by the selfish pursuit of novelty."​

https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-myth-about-electric-car-owners/

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[Mach1E]

People get that stereotype only because it’s true for the “loudest” EV drivers.

Kinda where a lot of stereotypes start.

 

[teermin8r]

We didn’t buy our Mach-e GT because it was electric. We bought it because we wanted a smaller car and it had more comfortable seats than our Lincoln Aviator. It was also an absolute blast to drive. We have had it a year now and 17k fun miles. We love it.

 

[Mach1E]

We didn’t buy our Mach-e GT because it was electric. We bought it because we wanted a smaller car and it had more comfortable seats than our Lincoln Aviator. It was also an absolute blast to drive. We have had it a year now and 17k fun miles. We love it.

What year Aviator?

My GTPE has better side bolsters than my wife’s 2022 Aviator, but hers are definitely more comfortable. She has the basic seats too and we had a loaner with the expensive massaging seats and they are even better!

FWIW, whenever anyone asks, I tell them I bought mine because it’s fast.

 

[teermin8r]

What year Aviator?

My GTPE has better side bolsters than my wife’s 2022 Aviator, but hers are definitely more comfortable. She has the basic seats too and we had a loaner with the expensive massaging seats and they are even better!

FWIW, whenever anyone asks, I tell them I bought mine because it’s fast.

2022 - we had the luxury seat option and both my wife and I on long trips it hurt our backs. Loved the car otherwise.

 

[SonicBlue]

There’s really not much to this short op-ed. Here is the key paragraph:

Let me disabuse you of this. That stereotype was perhaps partly fair when applied to the Toyota Prius – although even then I suspect it concerned only a minority of owners. In the case of fully electric cars, however, I would be willing to bet there is no correlation between tree-hugging beliefs and EV ownership – if anything, the correlation runs in reverse. The modal electric car buyer does not give a damn about the planet: they are buying electric cars because they like technology, or because they like cars, or both. You may imagine they are eyeing your tailpipe with disapproval – in truth the typical electric car driver doesn’t care what car you drive: they are too busy enjoying their own car, and for entirely selfish reasons. This is as it should be.

But he provides nothing to back it up, and the point of the article is not whether this observation is correct, but that the ends justify the means. In other words, who cares why people are buying EVs - more EVs are a good thing.

Except that this is exactly the sort of argument you expect to hear from the environmentalists he says have no correlation to EVs. And it may not be true.

Personally, I think he is correct that the early Prius had a much stronger correlation to greenies than today’s generation of EVs, but I think it is a stretch to say that there is no longer a positive correlation. It’s still very much there.

And stereotypes and false assumptions still abound on “both sides” of EV ownership. I can’t tell you how many times a progressive has mistakenly believed I’m part of their tribe when they find out I drive an EV. And about the same number of conservatives who mistakenly think I’m a progressive.

But there is an underlying factual basis for most stereotypes - stereotypes are simply shortcut over-generalizations. And yeah, a lot of folks who rushed out to buy Teslas did so for supposed green reasons, or back when Elon was in their team. That sentiment doesn’t just disappear overnight.

I think the biggest argument against this op-ed is, if there is no correlation to politics / environmentalism, then why has the EV market plummeted? If it’s all about tech, what changed?

I think the truth is that the market of predominantly left-leaning consumers who can afford a $50,000 mid-sized car is not that big, and has now been saturated. Sure, there are some folks who bought EVs for non-environmental or political reasons, but not enough to pick up the slack. The vast majority of normies just aren’t interested.

 

[nvabill]

Just another opinion piece with nothing to substantiate his claims, yawn, yawn.

 

[Sikkun]

Just another opinion piece with nothing to substantiate his claims, yawn, yawn.

But he wrote it confidently. Who wants to read something with citations, stats, and actually attempts to prove something like https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0965856415303153

That would be boring.

 

[BobCz888]

We didn’t buy our Mach-e GT because it was electric. We bought it because we wanted a smaller car and it had more comfortable seats than our Lincoln Aviator. It was also an absolute blast to drive. We have had it a year now and 17k fun miles. We love it.

So I'm not the only person who thinks my Mach E is more comfortable than my Aviator. The bolsters on the Aviator squeeze my thighs together, how could Lincoln think this was a good idea?

 

[HuntingPudel]

My GT-PE isn’t fast. I didn’t expect it to be. It’s quick, which I did expect. It’s fun, which is why I bought it (although the 5second or less limit kills some of that fun). My other cars are the kind most of the vocal EV owners hate. But they’re fun. ??

 

[Thunderbuck]

People get that stereotype only because it’s true for the “loudest” EV drivers.

Kinda where a lot of stereotypes start.

I'm pretty loud myself and I don't talk about the environmental benefits much at all, more the cost savings, performance, and comfort.

 

[johnmark]

This article sucks. The ideas behind fossil fuels reduction absolutely informed my car buying choice.

And I'm not "progressive" - I'm a realist. Absolutely crazy how EVs and fossil fuel reduction have become a politicized wedge issue. Humans are pretty bad at projecting into the future.

 

[dtbaker61]

I think the biggest argument against this op-ed is, if there is no correlation to politics / environmentalism, then why has the EV market plummeted? If it’s all about tech, what changed?

one purely financial thing that changed has been the changes to the fed tax credit depending on source of batteries and location of assembly. The attempt to adjust pricing Politically messed with the tech/financial models and marketing by artificially controlling price.

regardless of political right/wrong, adding tariff to potentially less expensive EVs has kept the minimum price of a new EV probably a little too high for lower-middle income people considering a new vehicle....

I am hoping that North American auto mfg will get the message and start offering 'stripped' base trims that don't have all the (expensive) optional infotainment and driver assist features that drive up the cost, insurance, and cost to repair minor accident damage.

The question is not what has caused the pause (obviously its the cost), the question is whether mfg will get the hint and produce lower cost EVs without all the bells and whistles, but retain 200-300 mile range to fit the needs of 90% daily use.

 

[Snakebitten]

I'm rarely seen, even by my own children and grandchildren, without my boots, Wranglers and hat on.

Or put another way, I'm truly at home on my tractor doing upkeep on the property, or in my truck fetching supplies from Tractor Supply or Ace Hardware.

Yet...... The GTPE is my second electric car. But in all honesty, BEVs aren't very numerous in my rural neck of the woods. If/when I venture closer to the city (Houston), the numbers increase exponentially. Quite common, in fact.

I'm pretty sure that at this point EV's are driven by every kind of person imaginable. But I doubt the stereotyping is going to fade for many years to come. Modern culture tends to declare everything a battle ground these days. Unfortunately.

 

[leehinde]

We don't emit smog, we emit smug:

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