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Who's buying those F-150s and how amenable are they to EVs? It's not enough to just look at what's most popular if the underlying demographics are more resistan

Who's buying those F-150s and how amenable are they to EVs? It's not enough to just look at what's most popular if the underlying demographics are more resistant to EVs on an ideological basis.

heyjamesknight 3y ago
I belong to a social group of dads from my son’s school. Most of them are blue collar conservatives. They all have pickups. Not one is opposed to electric, as long as the details make sense. But these are camping, fishing, hunting folk. Even the Lightning, which is an awesome product all around, doesn’t have the range+charging network to make it useable away from the home. So for now, they’ll buy another ICE truck. But they’re absolutely open to it. Very, very few people are opposed to electric for “ideological reasons.”
toomuchtodo 3y ago
Great questions. Insights below on the emotional component of consumers in question: https://www.thedrive.com/news/26907/you-dont-need-a-full-size-pickup-truck-you-need-a-cowboy-costume https://www.thedrive.com/news/26907/you-dont-need-a-full-siz... https://coltura.org/gasoline-superusers-2-report/ https://coltura.org/gasoline-superusers-2-report/ https://www.axios.com/2023/10/25/electric-vehicles-politics https://www.axios.com/2023/10/25/electric-vehicles-politics https://www.axios.com/2023/09/27/state-politics-electric-vehicles-2024 https://www.axios.com/2023/09/27/state-politics-electric-veh... https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20231108-three-big-reasons-americans-havent-rapidly-adopted-evs https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20231108-three-big-reas...
bombcar 3y ago
I wasn't in the market for an F-150, but a minivan, and the EV minivan doesn't exist, the PHEV minivan is way higher priced than the regular one, and the hybrid minivan is nearly impossible to find. So I have a boring standard one now.
- floxy 3y ago
  VW is apparently coming out with one next year... https://www.caranddriver.com/volkswagen/id-buzz-microbus https://www.caranddriver.com/volkswagen/id-buzz-microbus
  - bombcar 3y ago
    My suggestion that we move to an 18-24 month gestation were rejected and so a vehicle available today was needed. Hopefully it does well, but it would be nice to see EV minivans competitive with the low-end instead of being luxury items.
    - floxy 3y ago
      I'm as sticker shocked about inflation as anyone, is there a new minivan that is less expensive than the Kia Carnival (starts at $33,200)? Assuming $40k for the ID.Buzz, minus a $7,500 tax credit, gives about the same ball-park price. https://www.kia.com/us/en/carnival-mpv https://www.kia.com/us/en/carnival-mpv
      - bombcar 3y ago
        Carnival is what we went with, but after all and sundry, it was $41k out the door (to be fair, we went up a trim level).

Who's buying those F-150s and how amenable are they to EVs? It's not enough to just look at what's most popular if the underlying demographics are more resistant to EVs on an ideological basis.

heyjamesknight 3y ago

I belong to a social group of dads from my son’s school. Most of them are blue collar conservatives. They all have pickups. Not one is opposed to electric, as long as the details make sense. But these are camping, fishing, hunting folk. Even the Lightning, which is an awesome product all around, doesn’t have the range+charging network to make it useable away from the home. So for now, they’ll buy another ICE truck. But they’re absolutely open to it. Very, very few people are opposed to electric for “ideological reasons.”

toomuchtodo 3y ago

Great questions. Insights below on the emotional component of consumers in question: https://www.thedrive.com/news/26907/you-dont-need-a-full-size-pickup-truck-you-need-a-cowboy-costume https://www.thedrive.com/news/26907/you-dont-need-a-full-siz... https://coltura.org/gasoline-superusers-2-report/ https://coltura.org/gasoline-superusers-2-report/ https://www.axios.com/2023/10/25/electric-vehicles-politics https://www.axios.com/2023/10/25/electric-vehicles-politics https://www.axios.com/2023/09/27/state-politics-electric-vehicles-2024 https://www.axios.com/2023/09/27/state-politics-electric-veh... https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20231108-three-big-reasons-americans-havent-rapidly-adopted-evs https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20231108-three-big-reas...

bombcar 3y ago

I wasn't in the market for an F-150, but a minivan, and the EV minivan doesn't exist, the PHEV minivan is way higher priced than the regular one, and the hybrid minivan is nearly impossible to find. So I have a boring standard one now.

floxy 3y ago
VW is apparently coming out with one next year... https://www.caranddriver.com/volkswagen/id-buzz-microbus https://www.caranddriver.com/volkswagen/id-buzz-microbus
- bombcar 3y ago
  My suggestion that we move to an 18-24 month gestation were rejected and so a vehicle available today was needed. Hopefully it does well, but it would be nice to see EV minivans competitive with the low-end instead of being luxury items.
  - floxy 3y ago
    I'm as sticker shocked about inflation as anyone, is there a new minivan that is less expensive than the Kia Carnival (starts at $33,200)? Assuming $40k for the ID.Buzz, minus a $7,500 tax credit, gives about the same ball-park price. https://www.kia.com/us/en/carnival-mpv https://www.kia.com/us/en/carnival-mpv
    - bombcar 3y ago
      Carnival is what we went with, but after all and sundry, it was $41k out the door (to be fair, we went up a trim level).