This popped up today, in one of the Facebook EV groups I visit regularly. Sometimes, we in the EV world get so caught up in wanting this transportation revolution to move forward, we forget economics.
One of the “ah-ha” moments of EV ownership happens, when we realize exactly how cheap it is to drive our new pride and joy. We may have bought our EV for another reason, refuel at home, quiet ride, acceleration, ecology… but when the savings hit our pocketbooks, we become EVangelizers!
There are very real economic forces doing battle right now. Dealerships are an easy target, as they seem to be reluctant, if not downright hostile, to EVs. As I’ve written before, that’s not the whole story of reluctant selling. Some of them have earned the ire of their customers, by cheating them in Service, Finance or wherever they found an opportunity. This makes many dream of a day when Tesla’s direct-sales model becomes the norm. However, without the dealer model, how would people have gotten their vehicles serviced, in a timely manner, in small, rural towns? Would they be expected to drive hours to the nearest city? (remember, I live in Texas, where everything, including distance-to-town, is bigger…) Would they then be able to get a loaner vehicle, until their car was serviced and the customer was available to return to town? Dealerships have filled a need for consumers and also for OEMs, by stocking their inventory, providing a place where potential buyers can actually smell, touch, feel and yes, drive a vehicle in which they’re interested. The next few years will show whether EVs are trouble-free enough to allow the dealership model to fade into history and for the Tesla model to become the norm. However, there will still be a need for a place for buyers to experience a vehicle before laying their money down. Tesla-like stores will be needed. Apple found this, when Steve Jobs returned after his years in the wilderness.
My work at TxETRA has opened my eyes to the fact that many things have to change, before acceptably fast charging (like gas station fast) can become a reality. Our electric grid will need a major overhaul. We, as EV drivers, will have to become more cognizant of grid loads and charge late at night, rather than when we feel it is convenient. This probably won’t become voluntary, until the price of daytime charging becomes prohibitive, because we all think we should charge whenever we damn well feel like charging.
Charging infrastructure, as a business model, is challenging. I’ve written about this before, because I was thinking of cashing in part of my 401K to put up chargers and kick back and let the money roll in. That was when I’d been a Chevy Volt owner (and EV blogger) for about 4-1/2 months. Having a math background, it didn’t take me long to tear up the withdrawal form…
Back to the meme and the Facebook group:
The arguments both for and against the ideas shown in the meme got a bit testy. EV drivers, especially the newbies, are impatient for things to move forward into a brighter, cleaner future. They’re dying to prove they’re decision to buy an electric was justified. The old-timers, who’ve been around the block a few times, get exasperated that what they’ve learned, over the last several years, isn’t obvious to everyone else. Finally the dearth of actual EV lifestyle information out there and the outright FUD and lies propagated by those whose livelihoods are threatened by EVs is a huge problem.
Let’s remember, we’re all on the same side. Take a deep breath. The more experienced of us should be the guides to those just entering this world. Their enthusiasm and excitement should inspire us to be better mentors and remind us of the fact that we’re still as excited as they are, albeit maybe a bit more muted. If you’ll recall, all of us have placed a foot deeply in mouth, as we exposed our opinions…at least once.
I know I have.
