![]() That number doubled in the past two years - so went from 17% to 34% in the past two years. Chris told me, “So, a third of the market, a third of potential new car buyers aren’t looking at conventional new car buyers. Notably, aside from reporting on the results and trends in consumer demand, Consumer Reports is pushing for stronger fuel economy standards for automakers so that the supply actually is matching the market demand. “In fact, 30% of licensed drivers in the market to buy or lease a new (and not a used) vehicle were not even considering a conventional gasoline vehicle, according to a CR nationally representative survey from 2022.” Chris mentioned this stat in our podcast as well. “Consumer demand for electric vehicles is surging, far outpacing supply, and automakers who fail to respond quickly to shifting preferences risk losing out on the market share, according to a new analysis from Consumer Reports (CR),” they write. ![]() However, incidentally, Consumer Reports just published a report today on the topics Chris and I talked about. This podcast was recorded in late January and published in February. To listen to the full discussion, click play on the Spotify embed above or listen wherever you listen to podcasts: Anchor, Apple Podcasts/ iTunes, Breaker, Google Podcasts, Overcast, Pocket, Podbean, Radio Public, SoundCloud, Spotify, or Stitcher. That’s about 7 minutes of the half-an-hour interview. Regarding US standards, he said, “Those standards only require around 16–17% EV sales in 2026.” (That’s below the EV penetration rate in Europe and China today.) “So if automakers are targeting those numbers, we’re looking at a relatively slow ramp of their BEV production, and that’s likely to leave a lot of consumers who want these vehicles waiting longer than they would like to, ah, to get those vehicles - because, again, automakers have a tendency in the past at least to do what’s required by law but only what’s required by law.” We also discussed regulatory standards a bit and how those relate to automaker electrification (in the US and beyond). I also wrote a short summary and posed the question for readers in 2021, “ When Do Fossil Fuel Car Sales Collapse?” But let’s get back to the podcast interview. ![]() My favorite piece on it is probably Maarten Vinkhuyzen’s 2019 piece on the Osborne effect as it relates to the EV transition. This situation has been something we’ve been discussing - or predicting - for years here on CleanTechnica. Consumer demand is strong, and it seems to be pulling away demand from their conventional ICE vehicles, vehicles they want to try to sell you so they can build up those profits to help transition to EVs.” So it really seems like automakers just aren’t delivering enough of these vehicles. You drive by dealers and they have plenty of gasoline pickup trucks to sell you, but if you want a hybrid, if you want a plugin hybrid, especially if you want a BEV, there’s none on the lot you can’t get one if they do have one on the lot, it’s often marked up really high - you know, $5,000, $10,000, $20,000 even hasn’t been uncommon in the past year or two for really popular BEVs. ![]() Certainly there are supply chain challenges, but it seems like, especially in the clean vehicle space, it’s just really hard to find a vehicle. ![]() “The supply chain crisis has definitely been a common excuse over the past few years from the automakers. One of the first things Chris mentioned to me when we met at the Electrify Expo in Austin, Texas - aside from noting that he enjoyed and appreciated our work ( yoohoo!) - was that he saw the supply chain issues many automakers were complaining about as a little bit of an exaggerated excuse. I encourage you to listen to the full podcast below, but I’ll also pull out a few extended quotes from the interview to enjoy in text or for those who have an affliction to audio podcasts. How many people are simply in line waiting for an electric car and delaying a new car purchase? How much is the auto industry being affected by this and blaming it on other things? These were issues raised by Chris Harto, Senior Policy Analyst for Transportation and Energy at Consumer Reports, in a conversation we had a few months ago that then turned into a podcast interview. Almost every decent electric car - and even some indecent ones - has a long waitlist these days. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |