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Fuel Price Shock Pushes Global Gas Car Sales Below 50% for First Time (oilprice.com)
submitted 4 days ago* by to c/electricvehicles@slrpnk.net
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[–] 3 points 4 days ago (5 children)

The 50% figure is gas-only vehicles. Can anyone explain to me why, outside of culture war bullshit, these even exist anymore? It seems that hybrids are better in nearly every single way, and nearly every single circumstance.

The only thing I can find is lower complexity, since it doesn't need the electric drive system.

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  • [–] 4 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (2 children)

    Gonna get hit with dislikes but whatever.

    1. Lower complexity - even the more advanced models can be fixed by common folk, assuming quite a lot of stubborness.
    2. Commonality. They are everywhere, are cheaper, and are what you think of when someone says "car".
    3. Preferences. I refuse to drive automatic transmission, because I find manual a lot more comfy and fun. A lot of folk think the same about ICE. From the sound they make to how they behave.
    4. Lack of infrastructure / Fear of lack of infrastructure. First Second is common, second first is still somewhat-common. But people would die if they did actual research, don't you know?
    5. You can grab ICE car, put a can of fuel in the back and drive to fuck-off nowhere and you're guaranteed to be fine. EV's are a lot more vulnerable to weird shit happening, or even their users stupidity. Does not apply to hybrids far as I know, but also hybrids are more popular.

    And fully subjectively - I love ICE cars. They purr, handling them feels nice, there's a feeling of connecting with a machine. I only drove hybrids on the electric side of things and it was an...eerie experience. Felt more like operating a trolley I guess? It was interesting and I am still fascinated by them just...it's deffo not anywhere near similiar experience except for the "get pushed forward in metal can" part.

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  • [–] 4 points 4 days ago (1 child)

    To be clear, I'm only asking about non-plug-in hybrids. These still get 100% of their energy from gas, but the drivetrain includes a battery and electric motor to supplement the ICE. While it includes the Prius, it includes a ton of cars (like the Camry hybrid) that don't stand out.

    1. I'll accept the added complexity as a deterrent, but only a minor one. It's getting much harder for shade tree mechanics to do even basic repairs on anything new, regardless of drivetrain. To top it off, it's only a small percentage of people (at least in the US) that will ever do their own maintenance, or even consider it. The electric drivetrain components are a very small part of the picture.

    2. Aside from branding and marketing, they aren't special. They're just cars that get much better mileage.

    3. Granted. It seems that a good number of people are comforted by the sounds and feel, which explains why some brands are adding it to EVs. But it doesn't cover the vast majority of users, who are already getting an automatic and consider "quiet" a feature.

    4/5. HEVs run entirely on gas. No infrastructure needed, and some could even be removed.

    BTW, I upvoted for the honest and detailed response. It drives the conversation forward. While I disagree with some of your points, I better understand why the market exists. I just think it should be a much, much smaller market.

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  • [–] 1 point 4 days ago
    1. What you think you can do matters as much as what you can actually do. All in all, when trying to sell a pen, you try to sell the need for a pen. Well, people already got sold idea of ICE cars being an easy fix.
    2. Yeah, doesn't challenge my point. They are common. When someones says they own normal car, they most probably mean ICE. Inertia at work.

    And about 5 - that's why I mentioned that hybrids don't deal with that, and that it actually boosts their sales. People I know balk at the idea of full EV, but are so-so against or for hybrids.

    And thanks for propagating healthy discussion place. ^^

    All in all what actually stops ICE from going the way of the dodo is mostly how much they're "real" cars in our mind, and subjective preferences. Well, and pricetag. That's also IMO why hybrids are becoming so common today - they bridge the gap.

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