Rowan Atkinson feels he's been duped by EVs

[CaminoRacer]

I've had issues with wheel bearings, ball joints, shocks, and brakes more than anything else related to the ICE itself on a vehicle...things that EVs also still have to have (aka, regular maintenance items).

People are so jacked they don't need to change their oil once or twice a year like it's some miracle from God.

No oil changes, pretty much no brake pad changes, no spark plug changes, no trips to the gas station every week, no transmission oil changes, no engine air filter changes, no head gasket problems, no topping up the oil once you're over 100k miles, etc.

If you look at the maintenance schedule for my Bolt vs. my Miata or 3 series, it's so much less.

[AutobahnSHO]

For sure maintenance is better!

I gas Mav up once/month and  don't ever fret about recharging..

I do fret over what the maintenance is going to look like in 6+ years....

[MrH]

No oil changes, pretty much no brake pad changes, no spark plug changes, no trips to the gas station every week, no transmission oil changes, no engine air filter changes, no head gasket problems, no topping up the oil once you're over 100k miles, etc.

If you look at the maintenance schedule for my Bolt vs. my Miata or 3 series, it's so much less.

Yeah, there's a substantially less amount of fluids, belts, etc to worry about.  The Bolt is literally: tire rotation and cabin filter   There isn't even an air filter.

That reminds me, I need to rotate the Bolt tires.  I'll probably just do it myself with jack stands in the garage.

[Eye of the Tiger]

I just put $15 in TUNDRA. That'll last through Wednesday. TUNDRA.

[Eye of the Tiger]

Yeah, there's a substantially less amount of fluids, belts, etc to worry about.  The Bolt is literally: tire rotation and cabin filter   There isn't even an air filter.

That reminds me, I need to rotate the Bolt tires.  I'll probably just do it myself with jack stands in the garage.

The problem with EVs for enthusiasts is that there is so little maintenance. You'll be rotating the tires every week.

[AutobahnSHO]

The problem with EVs for enthusiasts is that there is so little maintenance. You'll be rotating the tires every week.

[r0tor]

No oil changes, pretty much no brake pad changes, no spark plug changes, no trips to the gas station every week, no transmission oil changes, no engine air filter changes, no head gasket problems, no topping up the oil once you're over 100k miles, etc.

If you look at the maintenance schedule for my Bolt vs. my Miata or 3 series, it's so much less.

Most owners don't even own a new car long enough to worry about most of that stuff outside of gas and maybe the $20 air filter

[Madman]

Low maintenance is one of the few items you can put in the "plus" column for EVs when evaluating EV versus ICE, and probably one of an EV's biggest selling points.  If only there were more positives to outweigh the negatives, I could make a valid case for purchasing an EV.

I think the reason for the recent softening of EV sales is that we are nearing a saturation point for EVs in the marketplace.  By which I mean that nearly everyone who wanted to buy an EV has already done so, leaving limited scope for future growth in the segment.  With more EV models being introduced and competing for fewer customers, I predict a glut of unsold cars and a great deal of financial pain for a good many car manufacturers in the next few years.

[SJ_GTI]

Again, EV sales were up 49.8% over the same quarter last year (in the US). Saying that the "market is softening" is misleading. The growth is slowing. The growth is still extremely large relatively to anything else within the car market. 49.8% growth also does not suggest everyone who wants an EV now has an EV or that there are fewer people buying EV's.

2023 will be a record year for EV's. There is nothing on the sales side that suggest 2024 won't be another new record.

[MrH]

Again, EV sales were up 49.8% over the same quarter last year (in the US). Saying that the "market is softening" is misleading. The growth is slowing. The growth is still extremely large relatively to anything else within the car market. 49.8% growth also does not suggest everyone who wants an EV now has an EV or that there are fewer people buying EV's.

2023 will be a record year for EV's. There is nothing on the sales side that suggest 2024 won't be another new record.

The measure of success, both for the OEM and the general perception, is not comparing adoption rate and YoY growth.  It's the measure of supply and demand.  We're seeing inventory sit for EVs, big price cuts, and it's only just starting.  The EV capacity & number of models is growing faster than the demand.  The number of new EVs coming is wild too.  OEMs are scrambling to dial things back and invest more into hybrids.

It doesn't matter if EV market share grows year over year, if there's an excess of supply and every OEM is losing their ass on each car.

[SJ_GTI]

The measure of success, both for the OEM and the general perception, is not comparing adoption rate and YoY growth.  It's the measure of supply and demand.  We're seeing inventory sit for EVs, big price cuts, and it's only just starting.  The EV capacity & number of models is growing faster than the demand.  The number of new EVs coming is wild too.  OEMs are scrambling to dial things back and invest more into hybrids.

It doesn't matter if EV market share grows year over year, if there's an excess of supply and every OEM is losing their ass on each car.

You are talking about different things (ie: moving the goalpost).

The demand for EV's is growing. The production of EV's is growing faster than demand. Neither of those support the conclusions presented in the post I was responding to:

,,,nearly everyone who wanted to buy an EV has already done so, leaving limited scope for future growth in the segment./

[SJ_GTI]

BTW, as someone who will probably buy an EV when my current daily driver is done I am really happy that they are overproducing. Hopefully it will mean lower prices when I am ready to buy.

[MrH]

You are talking about different things (ie: moving the goalpost).

The demand for EV's is growing. The production of EV's is growing faster than demand. Neither of those support the conclusions presented in the post I was responding to:

,,,nearly everyone who wanted to buy an EV has already done so, leaving limited scope for future growth in the segment./

Ah, didn't realize you were responding specifically to Madman's post.  In that sense, I agree.  My bad.

BTW, as someone who will probably buy an EV when my current daily driver is done I am really happy that they are overproducing. Hopefully it will mean lower prices when I am ready to buy.

Same

The whole market is going to be wild, especially when you throw in potential tax incentives, the loopholes associated with them, clearing end of year inventory, and rapidly changing models.  Some crazy deals will be had.

[Eye of the Tiger]

BTW, as someone who will probably buy an EV when my current daily driver is done I am really happy that they are overproducing. Hopefully it will mean lower prices when I am ready to buy.

That's all I can hope for. I can't even afford a Bolt, Jolt, Spark, whatever the cheapest one is

[Madman]

For the EV manufacturers, the early adopters were the low hanging fruit.  They were going to buy one anyway, no matter what.  The problem is most of those early adopters already have their EVs.  Now the EV manufacturers have to convince everyone else that an EV is the way to go and that is going to be a MUCH tougher hill to climb.

EV sales may still be growing, albeit at a slower rate than before, but dealer inventory is also growing much faster than the rate of sales.

https://jalopnik.com/dealers-are-turning-away-ev-inventory-report-1850771467

https://www.businessinsider.com/dealers-turning-away-evs-velectric-cars-demand-cools-inventory-2023-8

[GoCougs]

Again, EV sales were up 49.8% over the same quarter last year (in the US). Saying that the "market is softening" is misleading. The growth is slowing. The growth is still extremely large relatively to anything else within the car market. 49.8% growth also does not suggest everyone who wants an EV now has an EV or that there are fewer people buying EV's.

2023 will be a record year for EV's. There is nothing on the sales side that suggest 2024 won't be another new record.

If I sell one widget today, and two widgets next year, I'm up 100%. But not really. My business is failing if not failed. IOW, Scale (and scope counts). Against the backdrop of the slow down in growth, the new entrants, the many (MANY) days of supply, the price drops, and EV sales have absolutely softened.

[ChrisV]

Hold up, there are a couple things that need discussing.

First of is EV mandates. There are no ban on ICE coming down the pike. the mandates (for 12 years in teh future) are for no NEW ICE sales (except for PHEVs with 50+ miles of range). No band on existing ICE vehicles, so in 12 years time, you'll still be able to drive/buy USED ICE vehicles. So we don't have to have the infrastructure ready for everyone to drive EVs in 12 years time. It'll be many decades before that needs to occur. So all this handwringing about how the infrastructure isn't perfect NOW for everyone to go to EVs is patently stupid. It physically can't happen, so acting like it will is just dumb. There's more than enough time to figure it out for the 25% of people that have either on-steet parking or are in apartments/condos.

Second is this horseshit:

"It's the measure of supply and demand.  We're seeing inventory sit for EVs, big price cuts, and it's only just starting.  The EV capacity & number of models is growing faster than the demand.  The number of new EVs coming is wild too.  OEMs are scrambling to dial things back and invest more into hybrids.

It doesn't matter if EV market share grows year over year, if there's an excess of supply and every OEM is losing their ass on each car."

Don't know if you've noticed, but inventory is up for ALL cars now, vs a year ago. It's not that demand is dropping, but that supply chains are working themselves out and we are getting back to historically NORMAL inventory levels. But, and this is important, EVs are actually doing well. Look how the Bolt has been doing in the links below, substantially under industry average (ICE or EV). At the top end, there is actually LOWER inventory for the F1-50 lightning than the regular F150 by a slight figure (both around 100 days supply). Look at how the industry has been trending for the last few months:

https://www.coxautoinc.com/market-insights/new-vehicle-inventory-june-2023/

https://www.coxautoinc.com/market-insights/new-vehicle-inventory-july-2023/

https://www.coxautoinc.com/market-insights/new-vehicle-inventory-august-2023/

Here's the takeaway: EVERY vehicle above $50k is seeing increasing inventory, as people shy away from the high interest rates and what that does to car payments on vehicles over $50k. As they said about EVs in that last one:

"As with the wider industry, EV inventory varies greatly across brands and products. The affordable Chevy Bolt – among the bestselling non-Tesla EVs – has less than 30 days, the tightest among volume EVs. Inventory of the popular new Cadillac Lyriq and BMW i4 is also well below the industry average. Hyundai, Subaru, Toyota and Volkswagen dealers are holding EV inventory between 80 and 100 days, about average for EVs. EVs with the highest inventory, as measured by days' supply, are mostly high-end, German-made luxury EVs, all with listing prices well above $100,000."

So it's EXPENSIVE cars (EV and ICE) that are seeing higher than normal inventory, but ALL of them are only just now getting back to pre-Covid inventory levels. NOTHING in the actual trends show a slowing demand for EVs, merely a larger number available and not supply-chain constrained anymore.

[Madman]

The House of Lords blames Rowan Atkinson for poor EV sales and a negative public perception of EVs in the UK.

For anyone not aware, Atkinson (who has degrees in electrical engineering and a master's in control systems) wrote an article in June of last year, telling of his own personal experience with EVs and why he feels they are not the panacea for all of motoring's ills their proponents make them out to be.

For reference, I posted the original article at the beginning of this thread.

Needless to say, Atkinson's logical, thoughtful, and well-reasoned assessment of the shortcomings of current EV technology unleashed a firestorm of biblical proportions and sent the EV Evangelist Brigade into apoplectic fits of rage!

And now the cabal of inbred toffs who have never had to live in the real world, known as the House of Lords, are blaming Atkinson for riling-up the peasants and causing them to say "No" to their silly ideas.  I say, the bloody cheek!  I heard one Peer of the Realm was so taken aback he almost spilled his gin & tonic! 

Article here...

https://news.yahoo.com/rowan-atkinson-blamed-poor-electric-173922796.html