For EV cheerleaders, sales are advancing. But EV manufacturers continue to lose money, cut their future manufacturing plans, and are emphasizing plug-in and regular hybrid vehicles instead.
The sales curve for EVs is unsurprising. When flat screen TVs were first introduced the price was so high that they were only bought by people with a lot of money and a desire for the newest thing on the market. By the time that niche was saturated the manufacturers had been largely reimbursed for their R&D investment and they dropped the price enough to sell to the next niche. Eventually mass production and the introduction of cheaply made units made them as cheap as the Cathode Ray TVs they replaced. This is of course apples to oranges for 2 main reasons. Firstly; for TVs there were no special government subsidies or grants to help offset the R&D and production cost. Secondly; mass production of cheap EVs can never match the price of the cheapest ICE cars. If anything the consumer price or EVs may well increase as government subsidies decrease. There is nothing currently in development with the potential to lower the cost of EV batteries the way that new integrated circuit development constantly lowers the cost of TVs. Only legislation can force the switch to EVs, resulting in many people not owning cars. Even then many of us will keep our ICEs on the road as long as repair parts and fuel are available.
The sales curve for EVs is unsurprising. When flat screen TVs were first introduced the price was so high that they were only bought by people with a lot of money and a desire for the newest thing on the market. By the time that niche was saturated the manufacturers had been largely reimbursed for their R&D investment and they dropped the price enough to sell to the next niche. Eventually mass production and the introduction of cheaply made units made them as cheap as the Cathode Ray TVs they replaced. This is of course apples to oranges for 2 main reasons. Firstly; for TVs there were no special government subsidies or grants to help offset the R&D and production cost. Secondly; mass production of cheap EVs can never match the price of the cheapest ICE cars. If anything the consumer price or EVs may well increase as government subsidies decrease. There is nothing currently in development with the potential to lower the cost of EV batteries the way that new integrated circuit development constantly lowers the cost of TVs. Only legislation can force the switch to EVs, resulting in many people not owning cars. Even then many of us will keep our ICEs on the road as long as repair parts and fuel are available.
Cuba is a great example of keeping old cars forever.