RANGEfire! | Even with a million-mile lifetime range, nobody wants EVs

Atlantic writer Mateo Wong gushes about “a group of people in a red Tesla driving through the Moroccan desert,” when one exclaims, “Two million, Hans!” Apparently, the 2014 Model S became the first electric car to drive 2 million kilometers, or 1.24 million miles.

It turns out that to achieve that milestone, the car needed “several battery and motor replacements.” I’m not sure that counts as a record. In fact, almost any car might last that long with “several engine replacements.” In fact, it is far from setting any record. Guiness World Records lists several gas-powered cars that have topped a million miles, with their original engines and drivetrains and without major repairs. That includes Irvin Gordon’s famous 1966 Volvo 1800S with over 3 million miles; a 1976 Mercedes 240D with 2.85 million; a 1963 Plymouth Fury with 1.62 million; a 1983 Lincoln Town Car with 1.3 million; a 1991 Chevrolet Silverado pickup with 1.29 million; and several others.

Still, Wong’s headline boasted, “EVs Could Last Nearly Forever, If Car Companies Let Them” adding that “An electric car capable of running for 1 million miles is within reach.” He points out that gas-powered cars have thousands of moving parts, and a typical electric vehicle (EV) only a few dozen. That should mean lower maintenance costs and longer lasting cars. He concludes, “The first EV you buy could be the last car you ever need to purchase.”

You would think millions of people worldwide would be flocking to EV dealerships and trading in their cars for the latest technology. But they’re not. Instead, McKinsey & Company’s Annual Mobility Consumer Survey for 2024 shows “Half of Electric Vehicle Owners Switching Back to Internal Combustion Engines.”

EV owners in countries including Australia, Brazil, China, Germany, Norway, France, Italy, Japan, and the U.S. increasingly report frustrations, saying they will switch back to internal combustion engines. In Germany and China that includes more than a fourth of all EV owners; in the U.S. it is 46 percent, and in Australia nearly 50 percent.

Even though the average car in the U.S. is 14 years old, a remarkable 58 percent of Americans say they’re going to keep it and not trade for anything new, while 44 percent say they were planning to switch to EVs but have now “postponed” that decision. The luster of EVs is wearing off astonishingly fast. A year ago, 38 percent of Americans said they would at least consider buying an EV, but now only 29 percent say so, according to liberal investigative journalist Vince Beiser.

Why would so many people abandon the EV movement so quickly if EVs are the wave of the future, can go a million miles, and require so little maintenance? A third of the switchers say they just can’t take the long trips they’re used to; another third say the cost is too high; and 35 percent say there just aren’t enough places to plug in.

That is supposed to be changing, especially since the Biden administration’s massive 2021 infrastructure bill pledged $7.5 billion to build fast chargers across the country. But as the Washington Post reported at the end of March only seven stations had been built. Beiser writes that, “Some other stations that are up are no longer running: hundreds have been knocked offline in recent months by cable-cutting copper thieves.”

Today there are more than 20 electric cars per charger in the U.S., “overwhelmingly concentrated in wealthier, majority-white counties.” Beiser fears “the shortage of public chargers is a real threat to the transition we need to make from gas-powered vehicles.” Clearly, if you can’t charge it anywhere anytime, and you can’t be sure you’ll reach your destination on time, and you’re not sure it will start in the heat or cold, you’re not buying an EV until these problems are resolved.

Still, governments continue pushing EV mandates – if people won’t buy EVs voluntarily they must be required to do so. But people can only be pushed so far, and messing with their cars is bad politics. This was a primary reason the recent European Union elections saw the center-right European People’s Party win the most Parliamentary seats, along with major gains by the conservative and populist parties, and substantial losses by the centrist, liberal, and environmentalist parties. The new majority almost immediately called for an end to the EU-wide EV mandate.

Even a car that can log a million miles is not persuasive enough for people who value dependability, mobility, and freedom even more.

See more from Greg Walcher here

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