What Would It Take To Get You To Only Buy EVs From Now On?
Automakers are committing to EVs with dizzying speed and myriad reasons to buy them. Unless you’re a diehard ICE fan.
Pretend for a moment that I’m advocating for all of The Drive’s readers to only buy electric cars for the rest of their lives. I’m curious to know: what would it take for you to agree to it? (Don’t worry, I’m not planning to do that because I have a longstanding love affair with obnoxiously-loud internal combustion engines and I'm not the automotive dictator, anyway.)
Electric cars, SUVs, and trucks are either shiny new toys, the wave of the future, or the scourge of the automotive business, depending on whom you ask. In any case, there's no denying the electric vehicle train is roaring–I mean, silently gliding–into the mainstream faster and faster. Just about every automaker has declared an electrification strategy and they seem to be in a race to move up the timeline.
Some buy EVs for the Federal Electric Car Tax Credit of up to $7,500. Others want to limit their time and money buying gas at the pump. And some want them for environmental aspects. Follow the money and you’ll find that Wall Street is showing enthusiasm for even traditionally gas-engine-using companies like GM when they launch more EVs.
Akio Toyoda, the grandson of Toyota Motor Company founder Kiichiro Toyoda, may have expressed reservations about a hasty commitment to EVs, but others like Mary Barra of GM and Jim Farley of Ford are all in with tens of millions invested already. Just this week, Cadillac launched its Lyriq EV and Global VP Rory Harvey said that the brand will not be selling ICE vehicles by 2030. Honestly, if you would have asked me to predict Cadillac's EV strategy a couple of years ago, I'm sure it would not have been that aggressive.
Manufacturers are casting a wide net within the EV genre to cover a variety of interests. The torque advantage is evident for a zippy drive; for instance, the near-instantaneous quickness of the Porsche Taycan is clearly attractive to buyers, selling almost as many as its 911 sibling. The first time I drove a Tesla P85D, I was stunned by how fast it jumped at the touch of the accelerator. Most recently, I've tried out Ford's Mach-E and Volkswagen's new ID.4, and I can see why buyers enjoy the novelty and tech.
Range anxiety is a real concern for drivers, including me, and I'm interested in companies like Blink Charging, which just launched an emergency roadside charger for EVs at a Texas Auto Writer Association event a few days ago. Whether that's enough for you or me to buy an EV and drive it full time remains to be seen.
Tell me in the comments if you're into EVs and if you're not, and what you'd require to take the step of buying one.
Got a tip? Send the writer a note: kristin.shaw@thedrive.com
