I have seen the future, and it works. It is California.
Tony Farrell is a brand expert, alert to the cultural and symbolic subtext of consumer products. He says that Electric Vehicles aren't a leading-edge high-tech elitist status symbol. They are a car, just a car.
He is a Californian.
For your information: Premium gasoline in Medford, Oregon is $4.90/gallon; I paid $3.60 a gallon in New Hampshire last week; it is $6.20 a gallon in California.
Farrell is a college classmate. He was a brand strategist at The Gap, The Nature Company, and The Sharper Image. He handled the Trump Steaks account.
Guest Post by Tony Farrell
Electric Cars As Symbol? Nah.
In Peter’s September 23 post on “The Electric Car Vibe,” he opined EVs “still represent modern luxury” to some, and that Democrats pushing this “high-tech elitist baggage” may be “right on climate” but “wrong on getting votes from working class Americans.”
Even today (October 22), Ford’s CEO expressed his distress that “‘woke’ EVs are now a political football” because of Trump fighting Biden’s push for adoption. Republican ads signal alignment with striking UAW workers by dipping EVs in the poison of virtue-signaling and rampant correctness.
Because I’ve lived in the Bay Area for the entire life cycle to-date of electric cars (40 years), Peter asked for my take. My judgment is that, in the EV case, “a cigar is just a cigar.” EVs are not symbols. Everybody loves electric cars and wants one. That’s all I hear.
California is massively ahead of every other state in EV adoption, definitely spurred by Tesla over the past decade. Some 10 years ago, Silicon Valley early adopters could not stop talking about their love affair with the powerful, sporty EV that Musk guided into creation. Seasoned executives acted like teen boys who loved the speed, responsiveness, handling; they marveled at the top-safety-rating-ever from Consumer Reports, the anti-theft features, the customer service, the factory tours, the surprising retail showrooms. Everything. It was goofy but real American, and it signaled the beginning of mass appeal.
The first EV arrived here around 2000: Toyota’s homely Prius. Japan showed the way in battery technology. Before that, the promise of electric cars seemed impossibly remote. The ugly little Prius was an embarrassment, and that’s what Musk changed forever.
As I write, 25 percent of California’s new car sales are for electrics! That is much more than “elitist” appeal. We are living America’s future. California now accounts for almost 40% of all EV registrations in the U.S. (followed by Texas and Florida with about 5 percent each; see?).
The guy who does paint touch-ups around my house arrives in a huge GMC truck but his wife “drives the Tesla,” he tells me. People love these things; no one loves pumping gas. (Especially me. I drive a high-test Acura inherited from my mother-in-law; at $6.20 per gallon, it’s a fright.)
Of course, less than 2 percent of vehicles on America’s roads are electric, but the change is coming and will be welcome as vehicle prices continue to come down, model choices proliferate, and as needed infrastructure is built.
With this nearly quarter century of history, here the electric car carries no cultural baggage. People across a wide economic spectrum talk about EVs like they talk about other big purchases that take some thought.
It’s hard to keep us with advances in EV technology but here’s what I’m remembering: People always talk about the challenges of distance driving. Here, the common drive to Los Angeles (370 miles) cannot be made in many EVs without a long stop to recharge; one has to plan to lunch during one’s “gas up.” Another common drive, from the Bay Area to Tahoe, creates hours-long traffic jams at a charging plaza just short of where everyone needs to get to.
Things are improving with charging speed, range and battery capacity. However, many still shy from pure EV and opt for hybrids for those longer drives and general confidence (you never know when the grid might go down). Almost everyone still plans to get an EV relatively soon, it seems. The price of gas helps nudge that sentiment.
It was an eye-opener to learn how charging an EV at home can radically increase one’s home electric bill by, like, almost 25 percent for just one car. It really pays to add solar to the home if one will be charging vehicles at home and not at work (who goes to work anymore?).
It’s a surprise to learn that EVs retain virtually no value, unlike “regular” used cars. Because the technology moves so fast, and prices are dropping, there’s practically no value in an old used EV. Whatever technology’s been improved, people want that.
The whole issue of charging infrastructure is fraught right now; it’s a big transition. In many places, in cities especially, home-charging is not practical or possible. It’s taken a century to perfect the availability of gas stations; memories of the two gas crises show how awful it can be when fuel sources become suddenly insufficient.
I suppose electric vehicles will continue to have some “brand baggage” linked to the insufferableness of progressive Coastal elites. (Similar to Chardonnay, I guess. But wine sales are just fine.) I don’t think EVs will suffer a Bud Light fiasco; Musk hasn’t dragged Tesla down. His company still enjoys massive share.
Ultimately I believe electric vehicles of all types will prove to be really popular everywhere. The benefits are just amazing and the price of gas is always the go-to bugaboo for inflation; everyone will be happy to say goodbye to that.
As with the ubiquitous popularity of smart phones (where no one bothers to think about China as their source), electric cars and trucks will be just one more highly-desired consumer product with normal baggage, and no political baggage.
Meanwhile, I’m the last guy I know who has no electric car. But then, I was last to get a cell phone.
We bought our Nissan LEAF in 2015. $13,000 less a $3000 federal tax credit. That's $10,000 for a new car. This first-generation LEAF gets about 85 miles to a charge. For running around the Rogue Valley that works just fine. We have driven it up the Mt. Ashland several times. We have solar on our roof, so I have no idea what it cost to charge the car. Our electric bill didn't change when we got it. We have never charged anywhere but home, which is very convenient. The only maintenance so far has been a set of tires. We too have an ICE vehicle for longer trips. Nissan offers the same car in ICE. A lot of people that see this car, don't even realize it's electric.
We drove our VW ID.4 to Yellowstone and back in September. As retirees, we didn't mind stopping to charge, and made the 2,000 mile round trip without incident. The cost per mile to charge at home from the grid is about 8 cents per mile (26 cents per kWh), versus about double that for our small gas hatchback.
The car cost $34,000 before California taxes and after State & Federal discounts. People routinely pay a lot more for conventional cars.
Yes, we still have an ICE (internal combustion engine) in the family, but when we can afford it, we'll go all electric. These electric cars are a dream to drive.