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Comment by helsinkiandrew | Hacker News Reader

Depending on the survey and the country (and they vary a lot) about 20-40% want to buy an electric car now (more so if you include hybrid) and the percent who are dead set against them at any cost is dropping. Those trends are growing at faster rates, before they are mandated EVs will be the main preference by ~80% of the public.

https://assets.ey.com/content/dam/ey-sites/ey-com/cs_cz/topi...

https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/business/energy-green/s...

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> Those trends are growing at faster rates, before they are mandated EVs will be the main preference by ~80% of the public.

Maybe of the same public who already owns an EV. Electricity prices are rising.

>20-40% want to buy an electric car now

What would that number look like, if there were no EV mandate? After all, the first link you presented shows that the second-highest reason to buy an EV, at 34%, is "Rising penalty on ICE".

>dead set against them at any cost is dropping.

I'm dead set against owning one, but my choices will become ever-narrower (and, in time, practically zero).

Let's not pretend this is a free choice.

Both electricity and EVs prices are skyrocketing not lowering right now...

Of course people want them when they end up cheaper in the long run. Many governments are subsidizing EVs while taxing non-EVs.

It is bait and switch. There is no 50% consumption tax on electricity where there is one on petrol. And you can already have BEVs more expensive than gas if you charge on fast DC chargers. So it is just matter of time before government will want those money.

In Germany charges, taxes etc on electricity are more than 50% already.

It can't be long before people realise that EVs will be more expensive to both purchase, and to fill with "fuel".

As such, EVs are very successful. They part people with large sums of money to keep economies moving, and limit how far they can travel, reducing CO2 emissions in the process.

In a way, they are like Rai Stones - expensive, immobile tokens of wealth.

In contrast to fossil fuels, Europe can ramp up electricity generation fairly easily as there is plenty of untapped potential left. That would reduce prices though renewables are already cheaper than fossil fuels. But even if renewables are not cheaper than oil and gas, the gained sovereignty is worth it alone. That much the war in Ukraine has shown very clearly.

>Europe can ramp up electricity generation fairly easily as there is plenty of untapped potential left.

Really? I look forward to heating my home with electricity this winter. All of those headlines of European countries facing blackouts, and record-high electricity prices, must be misinformation.

The energy crisis in Europe is very real. But the problem is the fossil fuels that have been cut off because of Russia. If the supply from Russia were not cut or if the EU had increased production from renewables faster in the past decade then this situation wouldn't have arisen. There is ample wind, solar and hydro energy potential left. We've accessed a small fraction of it.

Now Europe has been shaken and will hopefully learn the lesson and become completely independent in terms of energy in the next decade or two.

>become completely independent in terms of energy in the next decade or two

By buying a load more solar panels from China? :D

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