Sign up for daily news updates from CleanTechnica on email. Or follow us on Google News! I can’t say how well Toyota will be able to change course in years to come when the company realizes that it’s really time to switch to electric vehicles (BEVs). What I can say ... [continued]
I hear you that achieving a certain percentage of sales is dependent on people actually buying the cars. And if there’s a way to fuck over customers, dealers will find it.
What would you suggest as an alternative - the dealer has to have a certain number of electric models? Or when you say percentage of fleet do you mean just percentage of total cars on the road?
If it’s just a question of models I could easily see a manufacturer making some “fuck off” models that meet the regulation requirements but which aren’t desirable to customers so they don’t get sold.
If percentage of total cars on the road that seems more desirable but not sure it’s that different from percentage of sales? I guess less incentive to charge very high prices per car.
I gave a suggestion in a comment below but essentially more subsidies from the state directly to consumers since EVs are generally more expensive than their ICE counterparts currently.
By percentage of the fleet I mean 36% of a company’s lineup, or ~4 out of 10 models from each brand since they can actually control that. This is how fuel economy standards are set currently AFAIK.
If it’s just a question of models I could easily see a manufacturer making some “fuck off” models that meet the regulation requirements but which aren’t desirable to customers so they don’t get sold.
This is exactly how we wound up with cars like the PT Cruiser, Focus EV, Chevy Spark, etc. They’re referred to as “compliance cars.” This doesn’t really solve the issue, but perhaps the rules can be tweaked to eliminate this kind of thing while still working toward our goals.
I hear you that achieving a certain percentage of sales is dependent on people actually buying the cars. And if there’s a way to fuck over customers, dealers will find it.
What would you suggest as an alternative - the dealer has to have a certain number of electric models? Or when you say percentage of fleet do you mean just percentage of total cars on the road?
If it’s just a question of models I could easily see a manufacturer making some “fuck off” models that meet the regulation requirements but which aren’t desirable to customers so they don’t get sold.
If percentage of total cars on the road that seems more desirable but not sure it’s that different from percentage of sales? I guess less incentive to charge very high prices per car.
I gave a suggestion in a comment below but essentially more subsidies from the state directly to consumers since EVs are generally more expensive than their ICE counterparts currently.
By percentage of the fleet I mean 36% of a company’s lineup, or ~4 out of 10 models from each brand since they can actually control that. This is how fuel economy standards are set currently AFAIK.
This is exactly how we wound up with cars like the PT Cruiser, Focus EV, Chevy Spark, etc. They’re referred to as “compliance cars.” This doesn’t really solve the issue, but perhaps the rules can be tweaked to eliminate this kind of thing while still working toward our goals.