I think they actually have a grasp on it. They just aren't being honest. If it was up to them, they would plain outlaw the sales of private transportation, something they can't say out loud. See "you will own nothing and love it". They perfectly fine with you realizing that you might as well take the train or the Bus. Especially since it couldn't charge last night because of the brown out, or that your 200 amp service means you can choose the cool your house or run your refrigerator..... or drive to work. This "Pushes" you into making the proper decisions to improve you ESG score so you can buy groceries next week. Meanwhile they will still take their private jets and Limos around while telling you how to live.Since I have heard it's a real deal, the BEV I'm most interested in is the Abarth version of the 500e. I have no idea what the specifics are though. If Fiat gives the new 500e enough upgrades to make it more practical for North America, I would also consider that. It seems likely the Jeep Avenger EV won't cross the ocean and I'm really interested in what will instead anchor the bottom of the Jeep lineup in North America. I like the Recon concept, but I suspect it won't be cheap. I don't want dual electric motors because of the complexity involved along with the extra battery capacity needed. What attracted me to battery electrics in the first place was the simplicity such technology can offer, but few EVs truly are simple. The Fiat 500e remains an exception and I know of some happy Nissan Leaf owners. Simplicity to me is a compact drivetrain placed over the drive wheels. Software and programming are today a fact of life, so I'm not referring to that, but when juggling front and rear drives, complexity more than doubles.
I'm going to now contradict myself and mention plugin hybrids. They have an engine and a motor to juggle, but hybrids never promised simplicity in the way it was touted in the film Who Killed the Electric Car? . In reality, sophisticated battery electrics require serious maintenance. I've driven most of the hybrids available in our fleet. The Chrysler Pacifica PHEV is a real joy when it's charged, but it seems to be a rare thing for rentals. I've had some experience with the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV as well, and it uses the same system the Jeep Renegade and Compass 4Xe plugin hybrids use. None of the rental fleets around here have the Wrangler or Grand Cherokee 4xe models that I know of. I'm very curious what the hybrid picture will look like for the North American brands. When the Jeep Avenger was shown in Europe, a 4Xe hybrid concept was shown as well. Would they offer some sort of hybrid variant of the Jeep Recon? I would find it acceptable even if Jeep went with the single electric motor connected to a traditional drive line, like the Magneto concepts use.
The problem with North America is that the people running things don't a good grasp of reality. They charging infrastructure capacity is nowhere near what they say it is. Now EV owners have to worry that the copper thieves have arrived before they charge up. America is just getting started on the hard sell for battery electrics and with only the recent increase in market penetration there are now lines at the charging stations. (Battery electrics went from 2% to nearly 6% of the market, so some see this as a dramatic increase.)
With these charging infrastructure woes popping up here in America I'm hoping Stellantis will hedge their bets and offer more plugin hybrids or even some range extender options. I'm guessing that the battery electric ProMaster shouldn't be affected too much by these problems because fleets often provide their own charging solutions. People with garages should be OK if they never have to venture beyond a certain range. Then we only have to worry about having enough electricity generated to support everything being pushed onto us.
Who are "they"? Every government of developed countries do whatever it takes to have the auto manufacturers or suppliers installed in their countries. It's crucial for the economies of those countries, and usually when factories are installed in a country it will stay there for at least a decade for the manufacturer to recoup its investment.I think they actually have a grasp on it. They just aren't being honest. If it was up to them, they would plain outlaw the sales of private transportation, something they can't say out loud. See "you will own nothing and love it". They perfectly fine with you realizing that you might as well take the train or the Bus. Especially since it couldn't charge last night because of the brown out, or that your 200 amp service means you can choose the cool your house or run your refrigerator..... or drive to work. This "Pushes" you into making the proper decisions to improve you ESG score so you can buy groceries next week. Meanwhile they will still take their private jets and Limos around while telling you how to live.
There areWho are "they"? Every government of developed countries do whatever it takes to have the auto manufacturers or suppliers installed in their countries. It's crucial for the economies of those countries, and usually when factories are installed in a country it will stay there for at least a decade for the manufacturer to recoup its investment.
The "you will own nothing and love it" actually comes from corporations that prefer that you pay a recurring subscription for a service than sell you a product once. This is not something that governments want. That is corporate greed pushed by idiots from consulting companies.
Now, as for taking the train or bus, how the hell is that part of a conspiracy? Trains are an amazing means of transportation: confortable, reliable,safe and, in countries with well-run high-speed networks, very punctual and competitive with airplane flights on medium distances. They handily beat cars. Buses? Again, what's the problem with public transportation? Go live in a city with decent public transport for a while instead of making everything sound like a conspiracy. Also, you don't need to charge a car every night. I know, I'm driving a BEV now and I make over 100km per day with it and without a charger at home. Haven't had any issues and I'm on an area that still doesn't have a lot of chargers.