USA Today: "Are Electric Cars Losing Their Spark?"

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Train said:
And that strategy, in my opinion, is a loser. You'll only continue to get 1/10 of one percent of the buying market.

Cars are getting more fuel efficient without being a hybrid. Because the article says things that some people don't want to hear, out come the typical comments about how the media "hates" electric cars, blah, blah, blah. The truth hurts. It sounds childish everytime ANY article states the facts of an EV. It DOES have a short range. It DOES take too long to charge for many. It does NOT have the needed infrastructure at this time. It IS priced high.

What do you think's going to happen to sales when reports of the Leaf getting substantially less range and having difficulty heating start to appear? You think that will seal the deal in the cold winter states? Look, I have been saying things like this months ago. It's easy to sell to the congregation. It's a lot tougher sell to the average car buyer. As the article stated, higher price, much more limited range, low fuel prices, and other cars at just over half the price will make it extremely difficult for those other than the converted.

And like it or not, the reputation of certain vehicles is reality. Fair or not. Why do you think the VW Beetle was resdesigned? Because it is a chick car. 70% are sold to women. That's the way it has turned out. You can say "I'm secure in my manhood" all you want. But the fact is, when a car gets a reputation, perception is reality. Adric22 makes very good points. The Prius now carries with it all that flowery baggage.

Nissan is earning a reputation because of these commercials. Will that be good in the long run? Time will tell. But I don't think it's a good strategy. I think it looks like Sesame Street. It will further cement the EV (at least this particular EV) as a fringe car for fringe people. And you can say that the Prius is now a good seller after ten years despite the advertisments. I would say that you they would have sold a lot more Priuses if not for the silly, if not downright weird commercials that have turned the car into the equivilent of a metrosexual. That's the perception.

Excellent post Mr Train. What is needed in the advertising is fewer polar bears and more burnouts and drifting.
 
My guess is that it's neither bribes nor lazy reporting. My guess is that most auto reviewers got into that line of work because of their love for cars - the kind of cars they grew up with. And those cars were not EVs.

I agree with your thought about sales being equated to demand in most cases, while Leaf sales are constrained by supply.

evnow said:
No just plain old lazy reporting and blinders.

Since most car sales are demand constrained, they assume if the sales are low, it must be because the demand is low.
adric22 said:
You also have to wonder if somebody bribes these people to write stories like that.
 
All crude oil is not the same, and every refinery is designed to process a certain type, or limited range of types, of crudes. My guess is that the Canadian tar sands crude is pretty 'crappy' stuff, and may not be suitable for the Texas and Oklahoma refineries.

thankyouOB said:
as to the pipeline, I am with TTweed. why build it to the ports in the gulf and not the refineries in texas and oklahoma, if it is for sale in the US?
 
cwerdna said:
Whenever gas prices get "high" (>$4), people flee large trucks and SUVs and thus their sales plummet. When they get "cheap" again, they flock right back to them. US auto execs have complained about their behavior since it makes it difficult to plan production and future products.

The new fuel economy standards will be taking away that uncertainty.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2011/07/29/president-obama-announces-new-fuel-economy-standards" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

We gave reign to the "Invisible Hand", and it ended up yanking our orchids. And the US auto manufacturers didn't fare too well either, despite the glory days of the Minivan and then the SUV. A short-sighted strategy that nearly ruined them.
 
Train said:
... Stop with the contrived, smarmy polar bear commercials and singing electrical outlets. It's silly, stupid, and makes people gag.

My understanding is advertisers don't care whether you like their ad, as long as you remember it. :lol: But I think the polar bear and outlets have more to do with where they were/are in the product cycle. The early adopters go for the ad, others remember. As time goes on I expect the more practical aspects to be touted. And I thought the "what if everything ran on gasoline?" ads were very effective. I also liked one of their ads that had a brief hyper-timelapse showing a gas pump falling into disuse, disrepair, and rusting away. There are plenty of things to like about EVs, and of course most drivers are regularly reminded how much they hate gasoline when they fork over $50 or more to the pump for a fillup.


Stop with the ridiculous trees and leaves on the dash displays. Just make a car...that happens to be electric.

To Nissan's credit they have gone further down that path than many. The LEAF is fairly conventional in looks as well as in the accustomed standard features. They even went too far in some aspects, such as making the inverter look like a valve cover, etc.. But I do agree the eco trees are dumb, the spoiler solar panel is a waste of materials.

Cmon, LEAF? Really? The acronym is cringe inducing. That name needs a "kick me" sign on it.

There's no end to nonsense in car names in general. Going through the top 50 vehicles at Edmunds, here are a few that are at least as cringe-worthy as LEAF imho:

Toyota Camry
Jeep Grand Cherokee
Hyundai Elantra
Kia Sorento
Nissan Altima
Chevrolet Cruze
Kia Optima
Volkswagen Jetta
Nissan Versa

Gotta name it something, I guess. If in doubt, put an "a" on the end. :roll:
 
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