Tales of Stellantis home nations: Italy is most interested in EV, U.S. least (major nations)

[AlexB]

The world's car buyers are ready to go electric

More than half of global buyers say their next car will be electric.

www.axios.com

52% of respondents to EY's annual Mobility Consumer Index who are looking to buy a car want an EV, according to the survey of 13,000 people in 18 countries.

• That's a leap of 22 percentage points in two years, and the first time that EV interest exceeded 50%, the company said.
• Buyers in Italy (73%), China (69%) and South Korea (63%) were the most interested.
• Consumers in Australia (38%) and the U.S. (29%) showed less interest.
• In the U.S, electric vehicles accounted for a record 4.6% of new car registrations in the first quarter of 2022 — nearly double last year's 2.4%, according to new data from S&P Global Mobility.
• • But EV ownership varies widely throughout the (U.S.)country, ranging from 14.7% in Los Angeles to 1.6% in Detroit.

 

[AlexB]

@Bili
@redriderbob

Thoughts on the apparent gap of interest between Italy and Michigan in EV’s ?
Or is this interest in Italy over-estimated?

 

[Bili]

@AlexB

Michigan and Italy? Uhm. I don't see huge interest for BEVs from Italians. If there is such interests it's pushes by subsidiaries given to customers. What's pushing BEVs are European regulations were once again French or PSA or Paris (use the naming you like the best) want to be pioneers.

I don't see myself in BEV only world.

 

[patfromigh]

I don't know about Michigan, but if someone sees the places where the closest charging stations are located near where I live, they would immediately understand why Americans cling so resolutely to their firearms.

 

[Deckard Cain]

Interest in Italy makes perfect sense. Small BEVs are great for the shorter driving distances in Italy and their narrow roads. You just need to check the sales of small EVs like the 500e, the Smart and Twingo EV in the italian car market to see that interest there is growing.
As it is in the rest of Europe, and it's not only a case of "subsidies given to customers".
I would assume that the interest for electric scooters there make even more sense than cars though.
If you look for interest in most car forums (Bili usually also participates a lot in AutoPareri discussions) the interst in BEVs over there is lower, since obviously in car forums you have mostly petrol heads. That's just a minority of the car market though.

 

[patfromigh]

The major metropolitan area where I live recently had its autoshow at the fairgrounds. The fairgrounds became the new venue for the event during the pandemic last year. The outdoor event also means changing the date of the show from March to May in the hope of friendlier weather. I decided to go this year. EVs and plugin hybrid vehicles were heavily promoted this year. The greater area allowed by the facilities (acreage with multiple buildings) permitted the local electrical utility to have an extensive display of in home charging technology. This was much better than the table with a few brochures in the basement of the convention center of previous shows.

Most of the BEVs displayed are not yet available for sale. Most had signs stating "prototype shown, production vehicle available for sale in ____". The time stated was from the end of this year to over two years, depending on the brand.

Fiat had the actor who played the Soup Nazi from the old Seinfeld episode. He was telling everyone "No Fiat 500e for you! Move on!" (Just kidding ) Unfortunately what the brand did have was a solitary 500X sitting off from a row of Chrysler minivans. Does anyone at Fiat USA understand that selling is an activity? BTW that Fiat 500X was very close in price to a nearby Challenger AWD, which in turn has close to the same EPA fuel economy.

Most of the sales reps I talked to expressed frustration about not having plugin vehicles to sell in the face of an increase in interest in alternative power-trains. Automakers are being goaded by government regulations into rushing products into production, while not ensuring adequate charging infrastructure is there. What we are being told about the available charging stations and what the reality on the ground are very different things.

In conclusion, the interest in EVs might be there, but it is dampened by the lack of availability of product and a supporting network of charging stations.

 

[Deckard Cain]

Some governments are waking up to that fact and starting to implement penalties on gas stations for not including charging stalls. I think heavier penalties should be reserved for oil companies if they don't include charging stations in their stations.
It's the same insidious sabotage movement to try to make EVs to fail to keep everyone sucking at their teat. Fortunately in Europe charging networks are booming and even retail chains are installing charging stalls. This still mostly happens in Western and Northern countries with Central/southern Europe lagging behind. Not surprisingly, those are also the places with lagging adoption of EVs.

I would say the US is even farther behind than Southern/Central Europe though. It's a bit of a pity because I really enjoy US cars and would love to see more EVs from your automakers. There's already some insane and fun models like the new Hummer, and the Mach-e but I would like to see more.

 

[patfromigh]

Petrol based fuels are mostly dispensed in convenience stores in the United States.Their business model is based on customers having a short time duration in the store. This quick in and out model is why such businesses are called convenience stores. Mandatory EV charging would then force many businesses to abandon their business model and force them out of business.

 

[Deckard Cain]

Oh yes, I should make it clear I was referring to Europe. That business model is a bit different in here.