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Comment by neogodless | Hacker News Reader

But you're not quite nailing the reasons behind the EV versions not selling well.

The Honda Fit EV had an 82 mile range, and could only be leased. (And Honda Fits were neat, but never sold that well, and even the gas version was pulled from the United States market.)

The Golf, on the other hand, is very popular, but the Golf EV had a 125-mile range, and was only sold in very limited markets/quantities.

What EV version of a popular vehicle had competitive range, produced in sufficient quality, and priced competitively? I can't think of any.

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IMO, short-range EVs are actually bad for the EV market as a whole.

You'd think "Not everyone needs a car that can do long trips, so an EV that trades range for affordability is just satisfying a market segment!", and you'd be right...if consumers were rational.

Range anxiety is one of the top hurdles for EV adoption. Manufacturers that produce cars with only ~100 mile range, that only support charging at <20 kW only perpetuate the mentality that EVs don't have the range to be viable for anything other than commuting.

People who aren't EV enthusiasts and don't follow car or tech news specifically are likely to miss the memo that not only do long-range EVs exist, but they can be charged FAST. Obviously, they still don't charge as fast as a gas tank can be filled, but fast enough that day trips are quite viable, and road trips only require a little extra planning.

Not all families should have long range car. Short range cars should be the best for second car that never used for trip. It's also best usage of EV for now because it uses less batteries.

Not sure if the Golf is the best example as it too has been pulled from the US market (with only more expensive performance variants remaining): https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a35281010/vw-ends-producti...

I can think of the e-niro, but that's about it. Maybe the Peugeot e-208.

But yes, these are exceptions.

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