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This is too US-centric. Here's some data for other regions.[1] Worldwide, about 20% of new cars are electric. The EU and UK are above 20%. The US is only around

This is too US-centric. Here's some data for other regions.[1] Worldwide, about 20% of new cars are electric. The EU and UK are above 20%. The US is only around 10%. China is at 40% and climbing rapidly. The advanced countries are going electric rapidly. So are countries willing to import large numbers of cars from China. [1] https://ourworldindata.org/electric-car-sales https://ourworldindata.org/electric-car-sales

SubiculumCode 2y ago
I think it will change, but the fact is, the U.S.A. is so darn big, and so EV range is super important to Americans. This is also seen when comparing how much Amerians drive compared to Europeans. Americans drive about twice as many miles per capita annually than EU citizens [1], which is probably related to more distant commutes in the US.. [2], e.g. average commute in 2014 was 8.79 km in the U.S., but 5.03 km Germany, and 1.68 km in France. But also, The USA is big, and we are more likely to travel by car and further than those in other countries. This is all to say, that adoption in America will go up, but only as electric cars improve their range. [1] https://frontiergroup.org/resources/fact-file-americans-drive-most/ https://frontiergroup.org/resources/fact-file-americans-driv... [2] https://www.nationmaster.com/country-info/stats/Transport/Commute/Distance https://www.nationmaster.com/country-info/stats/Transport/Co...
- kwhitefoot 2y ago
  If your commute is only 9 km each way then every EV now sold will do a a whole week or perhaps two of commuting plus shopping, etc., on a single charge. The 16 kmiles/year quoted by the Frontier Group is not really all that much. It's an average of only 70 km per day. I know several people personally who commute daily further than that here in Norway and I see plenty of people doing it in EVs. Again most current EVs can do at least four days of that on a single charge. Certainly my ancient 2015 Tesla S70D can and most newer cars have more range. The mean distance probably obscures a distribution which includes a minority that drives far more than the average, it would be interesting to know the median distance too. I've just returned to Norway from France in my Tesla. It was 2 700 km (almost 1 700 miles) and charging was not a problem.
  - SubiculumCode 2y ago
    I agree re median and mean. I suppose the other reason for the U.S. against adoption is their love for large vehicles..
  - dreamcompiler 2y ago
    > It was 2 700 km (almost 1 700 miles) and charging was not a problem. 1700 miles is two trips across Texas (which can also be done in a Tesla without a problem). I live in the US and the distances here compared to Europe still occasionally shock me.
stbenjam 2y ago
More populated cities and shorter distances make EV’s a lot easier. The only only only way they’ll take hold in the US is more networks as reliable as Tesla, integrated navigation in the cars, and fewer stupid charging apps. Tesla is the only EV I’ve owned with zero range anxiety because it plots the trip - and is correct. My LEAF’s tiny battery and famous guess-o-meter made it a totally unknown when I needed to charge, and then had to figure out in PlugShare or ABRP where to charge with at least one backup nearby because of how unreliable other networks are. Too stressful. Tesla is the ONLY good network. EVgo costs a fortune - 3x as much as a tesla supercharger near me! And EA is basically always broken.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- ufmace 2y ago
  Thanks for the perspective. I don't own an EV, but I have taken road trips in a friend's Tesla. My impression was that the supercharger network (at least in the Northeast US) is dense and reliable enough and the route planning software good enough that road trips basically anywhere in the region are reasonably practical, though you'll be spending much more time at superchargers than you would at gas stations in an ICE car and have less ability to choose any route you like. Interesting to know that that's actually the highest level of EV practicality and many other models are substantially worse.
  - klipt 2y ago
    Would be great if we could use antitrust law to force Tesla to let other EVs use the supercharger network too. Would open up a lot of competition and help reduce pollution.
    - lolinder 2y ago
      You must have missed this news from last year? https://www.edmunds.com/car-news/the-tesla-supercharger-network-is-officially-open-to-everyone.html https://www.edmunds.com/car-news/the-tesla-supercharger-netw...
breerbgoat 2y ago
[flagged]
elzbardico 2y ago
China has bet on cheap eletric generation with Coal and electric vehicles to decrease their dependence on Oil. Chinese EVs, for all practical purposes, run on Coal. Also, let's not forget that prices of chinese EVs benefit from the massive scale economies enabled by years of subsidies and tax credits.
- onlyrealcuzzo 2y ago
  Coal consumption in China peaked 2 years ago. China is leading the world (by far) in new renewable generation. China is the largest carbon emitter in the world, but they are also moving RAPIDLY in the right direction. Rome wasn't built in a day.
  - sgu999 2y ago
    > China is the largest carbon emitter in the world In part because they are also the largest producer of all the shit we buy but don't account for in our carbon footprints because it's imported
    - Ferret7446 2y ago
      Sure, but their economy also depends on it. We could stop importing from them, which would certainly lower their carbon emissions, but it would also crater their economy and cause millions of deaths. Putting the blame for China's emissions on Western countries is a really weird way of shifting governmental responsibility.
      - sgu999 2y ago
        Shifting the blame wasn't my intention, my comment intended to be fair. > We could stop importing from them Not without causing millions of deaths in the west as well. We've learned the hard way how much of our medical supplies depend on these imports for instance. Here in France comparing the country's carbon emissions to China's is a common argument for not doing anything about it.
  - 2y ago
ZeroGravitas 2y ago
It varies widely within the US too: https://www.sustainabilitybynumbers.com/p/us-states-electric-cars https://www.sustainabilitybynumbers.com/p/us-states-electric...
mikae1 2y ago
> The US is only around 10%. That's what you get when gas is dirt cheap, I guess.
kkfx 2y ago
[flagged]

SubiculumCode 2y ago

I think it will change, but the fact is, the U.S.A. is so darn big, and so EV range is super important to Americans. This is also seen when comparing how much Amerians drive compared to Europeans. Americans drive about twice as many miles per capita annually than EU citizens [1], which is probably related to more distant commutes in the US.. [2], e.g. average commute in 2014 was 8.79 km in the U.S., but 5.03 km Germany, and 1.68 km in France. But also, The USA is big, and we are more likely to travel by car and further than those in other countries. This is all to say, that adoption in America will go up, but only as electric cars improve their range. [1] https://frontiergroup.org/resources/fact-file-americans-drive-most/ https://frontiergroup.org/resources/fact-file-americans-driv... [2] https://www.nationmaster.com/country-info/stats/Transport/Commute/Distance https://www.nationmaster.com/country-info/stats/Transport/Co...

kwhitefoot 2y ago
If your commute is only 9 km each way then every EV now sold will do a a whole week or perhaps two of commuting plus shopping, etc., on a single charge. The 16 kmiles/year quoted by the Frontier Group is not really all that much. It's an average of only 70 km per day. I know several people personally who commute daily further than that here in Norway and I see plenty of people doing it in EVs. Again most current EVs can do at least four days of that on a single charge. Certainly my ancient 2015 Tesla S70D can and most newer cars have more range. The mean distance probably obscures a distribution which includes a minority that drives far more than the average, it would be interesting to know the median distance too. I've just returned to Norway from France in my Tesla. It was 2 700 km (almost 1 700 miles) and charging was not a problem.
- SubiculumCode 2y ago
  I agree re median and mean. I suppose the other reason for the U.S. against adoption is their love for large vehicles..
- dreamcompiler 2y ago
  > It was 2 700 km (almost 1 700 miles) and charging was not a problem. 1700 miles is two trips across Texas (which can also be done in a Tesla without a problem). I live in the US and the distances here compared to Europe still occasionally shock me.

stbenjam 2y ago

More populated cities and shorter distances make EV’s a lot easier. The only only only way they’ll take hold in the US is more networks as reliable as Tesla, integrated navigation in the cars, and fewer stupid charging apps. Tesla is the only EV I’ve owned with zero range anxiety because it plots the trip - and is correct. My LEAF’s tiny battery and famous guess-o-meter made it a totally unknown when I needed to charge, and then had to figure out in PlugShare or ABRP where to charge with at least one backup nearby because of how unreliable other networks are. Too stressful. Tesla is the ONLY good network. EVgo costs a fortune - 3x as much as a tesla supercharger near me! And EA is basically always broken.

deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
ufmace 2y ago
Thanks for the perspective. I don't own an EV, but I have taken road trips in a friend's Tesla. My impression was that the supercharger network (at least in the Northeast US) is dense and reliable enough and the route planning software good enough that road trips basically anywhere in the region are reasonably practical, though you'll be spending much more time at superchargers than you would at gas stations in an ICE car and have less ability to choose any route you like. Interesting to know that that's actually the highest level of EV practicality and many other models are substantially worse.
- klipt 2y ago
  Would be great if we could use antitrust law to force Tesla to let other EVs use the supercharger network too. Would open up a lot of competition and help reduce pollution.
  - lolinder 2y ago
    You must have missed this news from last year? https://www.edmunds.com/car-news/the-tesla-supercharger-network-is-officially-open-to-everyone.html https://www.edmunds.com/car-news/the-tesla-supercharger-netw...

breerbgoat 2y ago

[flagged]

elzbardico 2y ago

China has bet on cheap eletric generation with Coal and electric vehicles to decrease their dependence on Oil. Chinese EVs, for all practical purposes, run on Coal. Also, let's not forget that prices of chinese EVs benefit from the massive scale economies enabled by years of subsidies and tax credits.

onlyrealcuzzo 2y ago
Coal consumption in China peaked 2 years ago. China is leading the world (by far) in new renewable generation. China is the largest carbon emitter in the world, but they are also moving RAPIDLY in the right direction. Rome wasn't built in a day.
- sgu999 2y ago
  > China is the largest carbon emitter in the world In part because they are also the largest producer of all the shit we buy but don't account for in our carbon footprints because it's imported
  - Ferret7446 2y ago
    Sure, but their economy also depends on it. We could stop importing from them, which would certainly lower their carbon emissions, but it would also crater their economy and cause millions of deaths. Putting the blame for China's emissions on Western countries is a really weird way of shifting governmental responsibility.
    - sgu999 2y ago
      Shifting the blame wasn't my intention, my comment intended to be fair. > We could stop importing from them Not without causing millions of deaths in the west as well. We've learned the hard way how much of our medical supplies depend on these imports for instance. Here in France comparing the country's carbon emissions to China's is a common argument for not doing anything about it.
- 2y ago

ZeroGravitas 2y ago

It varies widely within the US too: https://www.sustainabilitybynumbers.com/p/us-states-electric-cars https://www.sustainabilitybynumbers.com/p/us-states-electric...

mikae1 2y ago

> The US is only around 10%. That's what you get when gas is dirt cheap, I guess.

kkfx 2y ago

[flagged]