It amazes me how we've personified the actions of multinational conglomerates with their CEOs. I wonder if that started with Elon Musk, or whether social media made it inevitable.

Ford has really pissed me off over the last year with their pricing moves, but I think they're on the right path for the long-term. Sooner or later, competition is going to hit like a ton of bricks, and prices will have to respond to avoid having trucks weld themselves to dealership floors. If Ford can get their operations sorted and use early-adopter profits to scale production, they could be winners in the long-term.

I've always been a value buyer, though. Not the same as "cheap," but I have to feel like I'm getting the most for every dollar I spend. Ford distantly in last place at the moment, but I hope that changes. The aforementioned competition from Ram and GM are crucial to making that happen.

 

In my opinion, it started with Bezos many years ago, but that is just my opinion. We as a society have the need to blame someone and that is the role a CEO takes on. That is why they make millions of dollars a year, so they can publicly be the punching bag for the consumers and market.

I too am product loyal based on value and reliability, not brand loyal. I currently own two Fords, one Subaru and one VW. Each has a role and excels at that role. I don't care if the badge on the front says "Jim Bob", if it is a good product I will drive it if it meets the requirements we have set forth.

 

It seams like GM and Ram are in no rush????

 

I think GM is in a rush, but they’re not scaling production nearly as fast as most had hoped. Stellantis is more focused on EVs in Europe and is running over a year behind GM over here.

This is a great chart of their planned investments over the coming decades.

https://www.reuters.com/graphics/AUT...ypr/index.html

 

If that chart doesn't convince naysayers that electric vehicles are going to replace ice, nothing ever will.

 

I think that’s right. There are lots of people who throw their hands in the air and invent reasons it can’t be done while the entire car industry is busy doing it.

People resist change out of habit, but I think this an awesome shift. Nearly every aspect of the ownership experience is better.

 

EV's still have major roadblocks to resolved before going mainstream.

The Achilles Heel of Electric Vehicles... - YouTube

 

There are issues, but the companies in the Reuters chart are working hard every day to solve them. The YouTube link is perpetuating a myth.

This has been done; there have been people evacuating with EVs for years now. Why wouldn’t they drive an EV like they would any other car? I read a bunch of hurricane stories over the last year from EV owners, and none of them mentioned having to hitchhike because they couldn’t power their cars. Straight BS.

This was one of my favorites. https://teslanorth.com/2022/10/02/te...ne-ian-escape/

 

My concerns stem from the government telling us what the future is instead of manufacturers selling/giving us the future that we want. I have zero problems with the EV being the vehicle of the future, but it better damn well satisfy all of the needs and requirements that the current line of ICE vehicles does. I just don't want our society and nation to jump the gun and shoot ourselves in the foot when it comes to swapping ICE for EV.

Out of my current inventory of 4 vehicles, each of them serves a purpose. The current line of EV's will satisfy 1 or maybe 2 of those vehicles requirements and uses. For the 1, maybe 2 vehicles that an EV could replace, this all comes at a $40,000+ price tag as well.

Let's have the people provide their list of "wants and needs", have the scientists and manufacturers make the best product they are able and then with their profits from selling the best product, advance the technology so they continue to make the "best" product.

I am looking forward to what the next 5 - 10 years holds in store in the EV market, but until the range increases, recharge time decreases, costs stabilize and the EV is able to satisfy all the requirements of the ICE, I will be on the "looking toward the future" team.

Now, I am sure someone will come along and provide some documentation and white paper studies, but as I have said before and will likely say again... Anyone can find anything that will back up their statement... There are people out that that still believe the Earth is flat...

I'll leave it at that as I watch how the future of batteries, charging and EV's in general advance over the years. Unless something ground breaking happens, we will keep our 23 year old diesel truck to haul our 5th wheel and be looking ahead at the 2023+ Prius hybrid to replace our Escape (errand car) one day when/if it dies. The other two vehicles are not replaceable by and EV today an will likely not be in the next few years.

 

You call BS.... I call it a living hell.

Hurricane evacuations are way more involved that running through a flooded road. It's the pre hurricane evacuation when roads, highways and Interstates are overburdened and become massive parking lots and people are on the road for hours just trying to get out of the path of potential destruction.

 

Nobody has explained why this is different or impossible in an EV. Speculation and contracture, mostly from people who have never even driven one.

 

The video is clear what the concerns are...

 

Is there more than in that link? The person on the panel asks an unnamed person what an EV owner would do in the event of a hurricane evacuation. The unnamed person responds that they would have to hitchhike with an ICE driver.

Why? There have been more than a few hurricane evacuations since EVs entered the market ten years ago, can you find an example of an EV owner who couldn’t get out of Dodge without hitching a ride?

 

Pretty much a what if type of discussion, that represents some concerns from citizens. In addition there's been people who couldn't get out of Dodge in their ICE vehicles when it gets really bad.

 

Things are never a problem until they are, and then they make national or global news.

On the brighter side of the fence... I read an article this morning how a Toyota RAV 4 Prime drove 1200 miles without stopping for a charge. They ran the RAV 4 Prime on the batteries ONLY, isolating the ICE and not using it at all. This was conducted by a company in Israel using new wireless charging technology within the road. Obviously this is a pipe dream in current times as our DOT's barely have the fortitude to make a road smooth, let alone put in some sort of wireless charging. Humans flying with the birds in the sky was a pipe dream at one time too.

The company was Electreon or something like that if anyone cares to look at the details.

But... It is a step in the right direction yet again.