Does Anybody Really Want An EV?

          The NYT Magazine had an (unintentionally) humorous article Sunday on the recent history of the electric car market.  “The American EV Has Been Crushed,” NYT Mag, 7-26-26.

         It is impossible to report on electric vehicles without at least mentioning the hefty subsidies governments provide for these products because—you know---climate change, so the article discusses the subsidies in passing, but attributes the rise and fall of EVs around the world to consumer preferences for this or that model or for this or that manufacturer or for this or that technology. 

         Reading the article, however, there is only one conclusion a rational person can draw: that subsidies are the ONLY reason people buy EVs.  Here in the US, for example, the $7500 purchase subsidy from the federal government ended last year and the domestic market for EVs has crashed.  This happened even though huge government subsidies remain.  EV owners, for example, are exempt from state and federal gasoline taxes because they don’t buy gasoline, but even that has not prevented the US EV market from falling apart.

         In Europe, on the other hand, the subsidies remain and they are much higher.  The article notes that in Norway, 92% of new cars are EVs.  With gasoline there at $8.50/gallon, even I would have to give up my 1963 Cadillac.

         I have wondered for thirty years whether consumers WANT electric cars.  But we will never find out until consumers have to pay their own money for them.

 

Copyright2026MichaelKubacki