EV/hybrids were 20% of new cars sold last year

BulldogBlitz

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Dec 11, 2008
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I see a good bit of electric here in the neighborhood, and honestly, they sound like they were buying the vehicles to be on the foreskin of technology or because like their phone and other tech, they need the latest and greatest to show how fantastic they are.
 

Podgy

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Oct 1, 2022
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"25 percent of Prius drivers said they bought the car because of its low emissions, 36% because of its fuel economy, and 57% because 'it makes a statement about me'...The cash value of the Prius's superior signaling is an extra $4200...hefty identity tax" http://a.co/d/i4MkEHU
 

blacklistedbully

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Apr 9, 2010
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Charging at home at night pretty much eliminates that. I use an extra $40 a month,

except people hate them and never had one. Sometimes things are just too political.

Part of the reason they are losing value so quickly is new ones are better.
Charging at home won't be a cure because you charging at home at night pulls from the power grids as well. So a significant increase in people charging at home cannot be supported by the existing grids.

Additionally, charging at home gets you a set amount of miles before you need another charge. If you need to drive your car more miles than you can get on one single charge, then you will also be in need of a charging station. Depending on how far you are traveling, you may need multiple charges away from home.
 
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blacklistedbully

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Never is a long time. New batteries, more and more charging ports, even paint that acts as a solar panel are all being developed.

If commuting for work 50-250 miles a day, really consider an EV right now because it’s waaay cheaper, almost nonexistent maintenance and its starting to look like they last much longer. Some estimates have the batteries lasting 2 million miles. ICE = 2,000 moving parts - EV has 200

Those long trips you speak? I have made two in the past 2 years and my EV was just fine. Three stops to recharge in one day was a pain for sure, cost me about an extra hour of travel time but if that’s the bad, the good far out weighs it.

It’s funny how people say never, usually don’t own one. These things kick your typical gas burners *** for driving experience and that ain’t no joke.
How many extra hours would it be costing you if just 40% of the cars on the road were EV? Right now I believe it is under 8%. How many hours if it were 50, 60, 75? Sure, we can hope that by the time it got that way there would be vastly better infrastructure to help alleviate that, but, as I mentioned earlier, those charging stations place additional burden on our electric grid...a grid that is already insufficient for our needs.

Where and how are we gonna dispose of the ever-increasing batteries after they go dead? What might be the environmental impact?

Would you still love driving your EV if what was a 5 hour trip became a 10 hour trip? It wouldn't take a particularly large increase in EV's sharing the roads to get there. Is it possible a good deal of the convenience and pleasure you get from your EV is due to the fact that there just aren't very many of them on the road competing for charging stations?
 

mstateglfr

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Feb 24, 2008
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"25 percent of Prius drivers said they bought the car because of its low emissions, 36% because of its fuel economy, and 57% because 'it makes a statement about me'...The cash value of the Prius's superior signaling is an extra $4200...hefty identity tax" http://a.co/d/i4MkEHU
Impressive to see all 118% of responses summed up.

As for signaling...this is the US and we are a consumption culture- signaling thru purchased goods is commonplace for most all of us.
It's a rare day when someone legitimately doesn't signal anything thru goods.
 

Podgy

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Impressive to see all 118% of responses summed up.

As for signaling...this is the US and we are a consumption culture- signaling thru purchased goods is commonplace for most all of us.
It's a rare day when someone legitimately doesn't signal anything thru goods.
I drive a Honda CRV hybrid. I really like it. I remember buying it South Louisiana, where gas is king, and some guys looked at me like I was some gay lib tree hugger. Not an identity I was after but I didn't care. Now there may be some other things I own to project a particular status or identity. Not long after I got the hybrid my more liberal daughter bought the gas model. Oh well.
 
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blacklistedbully

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Apr 9, 2010
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Impressive to see all 118% of responses summed up.

As for signaling...this is the US and we are a consumption culture- signaling thru purchased goods is commonplace for most all of us.
It's a rare day when someone legitimately doesn't signal anything thru goods.
If by "signaling" you mean it the same way as Podgy, then we're talking only about status signaling. While there is plenty of that going on I'd guess you are vastly overstating how much that plays a role in most purchased goods.

Commodity items...the things we most commonly buy, aren't "status enhancers" for the most part. If I'm buying non-stick cooking spray and I know the Safeway brand is just as or nearly as good as "PAM" and costs, say $2 vs Pam at $3, I'm not getting the PAM to make a statement about my status. I'm going with the Safeway brand (which may well be made by PAM).

On the other hand, if the other choice from PAM is some weird, unknown brand out of Mexico, I'll spring for the PAM...not for status but because I don't feel $1 is enough of a savings to risk something that might be sketchy.

Same goes for most items, such as tp, paper towels, bananas, otc medicines, etc., etc. I might pay a little more for Coca-cola brand but only because I know it's gonna taste like what I think a coke should taste like, not because it'll impress the other shopper behind me watching me go through checkout.

I'd say most brand choices of that nature come down to faith/trust in the quality of a known product. Of course cars don't fall under the commodity category. To be certain, a large % of people will buy at least in part to project a status.
 

mstateglfr

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Feb 24, 2008
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I'd say most brand choices of that nature come down to faith/trust in the quality of a known product. Of course cars don't fall under the commodity category. To be certain, a large % of people will buy at least in part to project a status.
I was just referring to vehicles, clothing, memberships, and life accessories(yeti, Stanley, cell phone, sunglasses, etc).
 
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