I’m not aware of such vitriol but I am also, at this time, somewhat deterred by the cost, but that’s a completely separate issue.
The software updates aren’t mandatory. The interior camera is currently only used for the full-self-driving beta. We may see that regulations eventually obligate Tesla to also use the camera for their smart cruise control / lanekeeping software (Autopilot), but Autopilot is not mandatory. You can put a piece of tape over the camera, just like your laptop or phone.
Of course, none of this is exclusive to EVs; it’s a Tesla thing. That said, many EV makers look at Tesla’s success and have attempted to emulate them.
I’ve only had nasty interactions with non-EV people online, never in person. I know it happens occasionally in person, because I’ve seen the dashcam videos of people throwing stuff or yelling at EVs.
In person I’ve encountered lots of what seems to be genuine skepticism, but not hate. By far the most common question I get is “how far does it go?” with “how fast is it?” probably a distant second. I try to be socially aware enough to only gush if I’m talking to a car person, otherwise I just give simple educational answers, “it has a full tank every morning.”
A few years ago, when a Model 3 was a rare site, and car was way cooler, I would occasionally get positive comments or questions from strangers. Now that they’re pretty common, and it’s about as cool as a Camry, nobody seems to care.
Big caveat, I’m in Colorado, which is one of the friendliest states for EV ownership. Even in Texas though, I’ve not had any negative experiences.
Absolutely not denying the hate exists, just claiming it’s a few loudmouths, than a major societal divide.
They already have for almost all Americans. Not everyone, but almost everyone. The main obstacle is availability (of which price is just a dependent factor). It’s too bad the established automakers were so cowardly and didn’t start developing practical EVs 10 years earlier.
Basically no one that drives an EV ever goes back. All the things they thought were downsides end up not being a big deal, and they weren’t imaginative enough to see all the upsides. It’s obvious when you drive one for a while, though.
Not quite true. There are some people who go back. Can’t remember the fraction. It was small but not negligible. But then there’s virtually nothing that everyone appreciates, so this is not unexpected.
They’re great for people who have a garage with 220 volts. That is not “almost all Americans”. they’re not great for the rest of the people. The charging stations are slower than a gas station and are still sparse enough that you have to plan trips around them.
I’ll be buying a hybrid in a couple of years in the hopes the battery size gets bigger. Those are cars that “almost all Americans” can buy to meet their needs.
240 V charging is a somewhat minor convenience, not a requirement. The average American drives under 40 miles a day, which a 120 V charger can do overnight. Even if the daily use is slightly over that amount, cars have long enough range that the occasional top-off at a fast charger can make up the difference (not to mention weekends).
Plenty of people still manage to use EVs without any home charging. They aren’t as convenient as with home charging, but still have some very nice factors in their favor.
There is a strong correlation between “people with access to home charging” and “people with long commutes” as well (i.e., suburbia).
Hence the “basically.” Obviously, it’s not zero. In the one case I know about, it wasn’t really related to the EVness of the vehicle; they just wanted one of the two family cars to be a large SUV, and they couldn’t justify a Model X. The other car stayed an EV and dominates their driving. Other people may find that they don’t really like the “Tesla experience,” but the competition either wasn’t there at the time or not good enough. My point remains that when people actually drive an EV, all the mental assumptions they had going in get reevaluated, and usually in favor of the EV.
The European automobiles were made by other white folks. The only thing I could figure out at the time about the hatred for the VWs was that company made the van that seemd to be very popular with anti-establishment types.
You’re not expecting cognitive dissonance from that crowd?
The American conservative movement is literally pro-pollution. Let that sink in.
No issue with EVs in principle from me, but I won’t be buying one until they’ve overcome some convenience barriers. My current car is a Subaru Outback diesel. It can do around 850km on one tank and takes a few minutes to fill up. I can fold the seats down and carry items that are up to 2m long. I don’t expect a direct replacement from an EV, but I pretty much need something that can do a road trip without having to stop for a significant amount of time recharging and that can carry a useful load. It may be that I initially get an EV for town running and keep a bigger ICE vehicle for longer trips.
You may already know this, but only some Prius autos are PHEVs (plug-in hybrid electric vehicles), although all are hybrids, of course.
My wife and I each have an EV. 120v charging out of a standard wall outlet has been totally fine for both of us for the last couple of years. DC fast charge stations thick enough on the ground down here that I’ve never bothered to alter my route To accommodate, nor have I ever spent more that, say, 20 minutes at one. I don’t fast charge very often though, more commonly I use the level two charging stations that are free or low cost at nearly every parking lot downtown.
But 99% of the time, my home 120v outlet gets the job done overnight.
People who don’t live in houses aren’t going to want to run an extension cord out in the street if that’s even possible in an apartment complex. And charging stations are few and far between in most of the country.
So it comes down to the ivory tower crowd with a garage and 240 service who are going to be the first in line to buy a pure EV. The rest are going to want a hybrid electric.
That’s reality.
I find it amusing that in your universe, it’s garage-owning suburbanites that are the “ivory tower crowd”, while city dwellers with street parking are apparently the Real Americans.
What resentment toward EVs exists (and I haven’t seen much) relates mostly to eye-rolling at the professed moral superiority of some of the all-electric crowd, who are the preachy vegans of the automotive world.
I’ve been an early adopter of some new technology (digital cameras for example), but new tech optimally should be better and more convenient than old tech; lower cost is a bonus. EVs will (mostly) get there at some point.
As for apocalyptic visions, it’s hard to beat Stephen King’s “Trucks”, where humans become slaves pumping gas into their fuel-guzzling masters.
I’ve said it before in various EV threads. Here in greater suburban Miami we have a high density of 6 million people. Where it’s always warm and so battery degradation in cold weather or the need to run a energy hungry heater are nonissues. Sounds like ideal EV counry. But …
Of our 6 million urban/suburban residents about 3 million live in condos or apartments with nil ability to home charge their vehicles. Our public parking areas have WAG 2 chargers per hundred spaces. Lots of public parking is on-street, not in dedicated parking lots or structures. Lots of people are retired so don’t have the opportunity to charge at work since they don’t work. Plus we have few large corporate employers, so most people’s jobs are with small enterprises or retailers unlikely to offer employee charging as a perk. Heck, they’re probably renting their premises in an office or industrial complex or shopping center.
There are lots of reasons we’d be ideal territory for an EV takover. And lots of reasons we’re going to be very slow to make EVs mainstream.
And I say that as an EV supporter who’d have a Model S if I had a place to plug it in. Either at home or at work or at a nearby quick-charging station. But I have none of those things. None. And no ability to get them without changing residence, employer, or county.
Not everybody who owns a house has money to spend on a new car let alone the extra cost of an EV. So the numbers of people who can afford one, and have the ability to charge it are not your average American. That’s reality.
We are going to make a rapid change to pure EV’s but infrastructure will have to catch up to the people who don’t have a place to charge their car.
The average Household income of a Tesla Model S owner is $151K. the average household income in the United states is $67K.
As the price of EV’s come down and there are more rapid charging stations then IMO the purchase of EV’s will accelerate like cell phones did.