The data found about 68 per cent of car shoppers in 2022 who did not own an EV showed an intent to purchase one, but that dropped to 56 per cent this year.
Because they cost an arm and a dick. I can’t afford a $40k car even if it’s cheaper per km to operate.
Fuck me, I can’t even afford 10k. Regardless of cost per km
They. Are. Too. Expensive.
I will never own a gas car again because gas cars are simply inferior technology. I’ve put 170,000km on my EV over the last 5 years, and they’ve been more convenient and less expensive kms than even the cheapest gas cars I’ve owned. The only maintenance has been rotating the tires and the cabinet air filter.
When I wake up in the morning, the car has more mileage charged in it than I’ll use in the day, which includes my 100km+ round trip commute. When I drive it, the instant torque blows by most other vehicles on the road. I live in a rural area, it snows, it freezes, it doesn’t get plowed right away, the car doesnt care. It always starts. I make half a dozen 1000km round trips a year in it, doesn’t matter the weather, sunny or cold. I take 2 kids, my wife and all our gear in it. Did I mention they do sports, we have equipment and bikes and all that stuff.
The darn thing does everything the skeptics say it won’t do and it’s a shame all the misinformation I see, almost daily, about EVs.
What vehicle and can I afford it?
I am with you! I first dipped my toe into the EV pool in 2020 when gas was at a modern era low, so EVs weren’t exactly flying off dealer lots. I only drove my ICE to keep the gas from going bad. Ended up selling the ICE and buying a second EV with a bigger battery and longer range. I’ve taken it on four road trips since March, and people don’t know what to think when I tell them I pay less for a full charge than most people do a single gallon of gas.
I think the best way to shift the apprehension is that home charging is the future, and you really only need to worry about infrastructure when you are going out of town. It’s a lot easier to put chargers on lampposts than it is to put gas stations every few miles, but oil lobbyists are making sure everyone is absolutely terrified of electrification.
I don’t have a parking spot at home, but my office installed four car chargers, and there were already 120V sockets in every second parking stall. Unlimited charging is included in the parking fee, and they don’t care if you plug into the 120V socket. I’ve left my car there when I was on vacation, and not a peep from them.
Totally. The inconvenience ( and inconvenient timing ) of having to fuel up is intolerable after being exposed to electric.
My wife drives an EV and I drive a gas guzzler. So jealous. It is going to change the second I can afford it.
Yeah well I don’t want a big ass SUV that costs a whole arm.
I want a reasonably priced Honda E. A Fiat electric. A VW e-Golf.
But most of all, I want better public transportation.
I mean, I do want a somewhat decent sized EV but not one that costs an arm. I mostly want a couple hundred kms of range without it costing an arm. I go on 200-300km trips almost on a weekly basis in the summer.
Also I’m still not sure how they think people will charge their vehicles if they live in apartments and townhomes or basement suites where they park on the street overnight.
Where I live there are many public charging stations. But probably not enough to match the demand if everybody switched to electric cars overnight.
There are new types of solid state batteries coming soon that will allow super fast charging within a few minutes and extended range beyond what current batteries can do. Let’s hope it arrives soon.
The faster the charger, the more powerful of a charging station you need, and the more expensive they are. No matter how fast your car is capable of charging, it’ll be limited by the charging station so the speed itself won’t change.
On the other hand, solid state batteries are supposed to have quite the increase in charge density so there’s the hope that they can be a lot cheaper since you don’t need as big of a battery.
On the other other hand, isn’t the car market slowing down as a whole? Sales seems to have slowed dramatically these last few years as people are relying on other ways to get around more and more, so rather than replacing cars with EVs, it’s more like cars are just plain disappearing, even it’s only at the rate of partial replacement levels.
Yeah people can’t afford them anymore. They gotta pick between a home or a car.
probably not enough to match the demand if everybody switched to electric cars overnight.
The same way that McDonalds wouldn’t be able to cope if the Public suddenly discovered Mig Mac Sauce can prevent cancer?
It’s okay to plan capacity a little less aggressively and then come up with demand, and not coping with a bizarre surge is almost okay.
I’m waiting for my ICE car to die. And I’m waiting for those new batteries that handle the cold better.
Preferably a non-tesla. Tesla would have a NAZI in the mouth
Same. I have an 08 sedan with 220K km. I’m not going to pay for a new car so long as my old car is still working reasonably reliably. It’s at the point that I won’t pay for a big repair, so it’s just a matter of time.
That said, if electric cars aren’t available to buy reasonably quickly, then I might not have much of a choice. I’m lucky that I don’t need to drive much for work, but I do need to often enough to need a car.
And fuck Tesla. I’ve heard way too many horror stories about their lack of quality control that I’ll never even look at buying one
I’ve experienced a similar decline in interest. Mostly because of one key thing, I got an e-bike.
The cost of gas was way too expensive, and I considered selling my gas powered car and buying an EV but the used and new market is well above anything I can afford, they only seem to produce SUVs or crossovers instead of anything the size of a Honda civic. I figured I’d just keep the gas car I have until it beefs it and use it for multi person trips, or far away trips.
Like it really is hard to beat when I can spend 1500-3000 on a bike that costs pocket change to charge, and doesn’t cost an arm and a leg to maintain. Honestly with the lack of public transit in a lot of Canada, a bike and whatever car you already have is a great way to save on gas money.
instead of anything the size of a Honda civic
Chevy Bolt. But they’re over $50k CAD before rebates. Fuck that.
God if the Chevy Bolt was like idk even 35k I could maybe justify it but ideally I think we need the Hyundai Elantra of EVs to exist…something in and around the 20k mark for them to be a purchase normal people can make without sticker shock
Even the used ones are still pricey. I’d get a 10 year old Tesla Model S for $25k before I’d spend $35k on a used Bolt.
I got an e-bike this past year and its been fantastic. Folds up and I keep it in a corner when I’m not using it. It’s been great for getting around town
Which bike?
Envo Lynx 20, not the best bike in the world but it was $1200 from Costco and it does the job for me. Moat folding ebikes are really expensive and so dang heavy its nearly impractical. The Envo is relatively lightweight so it’s not cumbersome
It wouldn’t surprise me if the biggest factor was just interest rates.
EVs still do tend to cost more than ICE vehicles, and the used market is still pretty new for EVs.
Autotrader is mostly a used car marketplace. So it doesn’t really surprise me that after a year where used cars cost more than news ones, and new cars were flipped for immediat profit.
Now that is starting to settle down and people who still can afford a new car just gets it right from a dealership.
Availability is some of the issue as well. I was able to snag an Ioniq 5 in May because another guy’s credit was rejected and I had called at the right time to add myself to the list for the new trim level.
I’ve been on the list at every dealer in SK for over a year and I’ve been called only twice, with both vehicles being the matte black. I don’t know why they even send matte painted cars here, they’re dirty the moment they’re exposed to air.
Meanwhile, there are many Ioniq 5s collecting dust in dealer lots in the US.
The Tesla brand has become distasteful due to the owner’s antics, and no other carmaker builds an EV that’s capable of long range travel due to a lack of quick charge capability and infrastructure.
edit: “the owners” meaning the person who owns the company, ie Elon, not the people who bought the cars. Apostrophe added for clarity.
Well, that, and Musk’s been torpedoing his own reputation by opening that mouth of his more and more these last few years. Tesla owners always though he was one of them, but he’s been proving them wrong more and more every time he opens that mouth of his, so it’s no surprise that people who are pro-EVs are seriously thinking about ditching Teslas.
Yeah, that’s what I meant.
You could rewrite this as “Canadians crunched by inflation, corporate profiteering, are unwilling to spend money on top-trim, high-margin electric vehicles that manufacturers want to them buy instead of cheaper cars that they can afford”.
It is true, though:
- More people rent, and so can’t charge at home
- Interest rates have made monthly car payments out of range
- People are squeezed everywhere else
- Automakers (and frankly, the rest of the supply side) got addicted to debt-fueled spending and are absolutely unwilling to go back to an era of lowered expectations. I mean, we all have to do with less, but we can’t expect our Captains of Industry to share the pain.
Maybe people don’t want to drive a vehicle that spies on them? All EVs are privacy invading.
That’s a bit of a non-issue when smartphone penetration is as high as it is.
Sales doesn’t equal interest.
I’m very interested. But, our country isn’t interested in making life affordable.
From reading other stories it’s not just Canada.