This is the key market for EV's. Those who don't travel too far and come home each night. Now consider if you have solar on your home too. A battery bank in the house charging all day, then you plug in the car at night and it recharges from the battery bank. Free and emission free driving, aside from the up front cost of course. If you have already banking the cost of your house solar setup against the savings in household electricity and you have excess capacity (some people are able to sell back their excess to the grid), then the upfront cost may be minimal. For a two car family, the EV can be the go-around-town car, while the second vehicle can be used for longer trips. City driving, stop and start, is where you spend most of your gas, and is also where most people do 90% of their driving. Los Angeles is 8 times the population of Wyoming, so even if it is never a good mountain car/truck, there is plenty of market to support these EV's with urban and surburban dwellers that have their own house and room for some solar panels.
As solar panels and batteries continue to drop in price and increase in durability, this is going to happen more and more. 20 years ago a solar house was mostly for die-hards who were willing to balance the long term (or never) pay-back against the enviro benefits. We are getting closer and closer to the time when solar makes fiscal sense for any new build, and even retrofits can be balanced over a 10-15 year term.
Your take on EV's is similar to mine.
Realizing recently that most remarks today about why EV's will never go mainstream are coming people who do not own an EV or have never maintained even a small bank of Lead Acid batteries for backup systems/solar so six weeks ago I bought a used EV. It is a 2016 Nissan Leaf SL showing just under 22,000 miles and a 35% degradation of the lithium ion 30 kWh battery pack.
While it is no Tesla in price or range Nissan was the first EV maker to sell about 500,000 EV's worldwide since late 2010 when the Leaf first went on the market in the USA. Having experienced the value of Nissan autos since 1973 I was already sold on the brand since this is the 6th one I have owned but the first one without a gas tank.
EV trucks have been of interest to me since reading the story about the F-150 EV with 600 HP at a car show like 10 years ago.
Updated: Hi-Pa Drive Ford F-15 Is All Electric - PickupTrucks.com News
One remarks that cracks me up is posted below. While it is over 10 years ago today one can still hear the same mindset today. Anyone that has been following EV progress since the 80's and 90's understands we are moving in the direction of mainly EV's in the world.
"If any of you think this vehicle will be for sale in your lifetime you are living in a dream world; the oilies won't permit it and they own the auto companies. So go back to sleep.
Posted by: Lance | Feb 27, 2009 1:24:44 PM"
Lance may have been a Baby Boomer that has pasted over and can not realize how wrong he was for others still alive today.
Technology evolves. Some minds evolve and others do not. More and more of Star Trek stuff is reality today. Will some version of this Tesla truck ever see the light of day? If I wanted one and thought I would be wanting it 2 years from now I would get on the list today. Hopefully our 2010 F-150 with 220,000 mile and 10K tow rating will be the last truck I will need for towing a few times a year based on the way I drive mainly the Leaf over the last 6 weeks.
In the next few years I hope to see 3 more EV's added to the family and is one reason I stepped in to the reality of the EV world last month in a real and tangible way even if it was at the low end.
