Absolutely! I don’t think you’ll find many people who think I don’t want sexy, cool EVs. I am constantly pushing for more passion-based marketing and education campaigns that include how fun they are to drive (yeah, some more than others!) and the other emotional and visceral experiences of using an EV. "Cool" has always been the #1 attraction to EVs, even to many that some of you probably wouldn't think of as so cool.
However, I think that even “affordable” EVs can be fun, sexy, and cool too- and are worth pursuing. That’s all.
I agree that affordable EVs can be sexy and cool, but I would argue that because these properties are subjective, it's virtually impossible to simply design a cheap EV that is sexy and cool.
It's easier to do so with ICE cars, because any ICE car will be compared to all other ICE cars, and there are a lot of cool and sexy ICE cars out there, and those associations will rub off. A new EV will be compared to all other EVs out there, and there are a lot of uncool EVs out there, which also rubs off.
If I had a Leaf, and I told someone that my car was electric, they would automatically associate my car with the electric cars they know of, which includes golf carts, mobility scooters, Th!nks, etc. These are bad associations, and will lead to them thinking that my Leaf is uncool,
regardless of how good the Leaf actually is. It is my view that Tesla with the Model S/X is doing absolutely vital work reshaping public perception. When Tesla gets more traction with the work it's doing, it's possible that if I say I have a Leaf, people will go "Oh, like the Model S! That's cool!". In the long term, I am certain that what Tesla is doing with the Model S/X will do much more for the EV cause than anything they could have achieved by making yet another EV with a 100 mile range. If they had made an EV with a 100 mile range, that would almost certainly have put more EVs on the road in the short term, but it wouldn't have done much about public perception, and before long one would run out of customers.
I agree here too. I am not opposed to fast charging, really. Some of it should be out there, for the psychological aspects as well as actual range extension. It’s some of the framing I disagree with- trying to suggest the LEAF becomes a true road trip car with a little fast charging, for example. And some of the estimates of how many are needed and when are way overblown, and often created by those with a vested interest, like the charging companies. It makes sense to stay a couple steps ahead of deployed vehicle volumes, but not ten. On that point, I’ve publicly complimented Tesla’s approach to the number of initial Supercharger locations- 100 makes total sense. The hundreds planned for CA alone just between the Ecotality and NRG projects in their time frames? Total overkill, and makes their mission of a viable business plan that much harder. It’s also not the best speed for all locations- sometimes L2 is better, and vice-versa. I get the whole "chicken/egg" issue around fast charging, and public infrastructure in general. In a variety of ways, I’d just like to see some moderation around expectation-setting on required fast charger volumes, installation promises, and just how much having DC charging will enhance the day-to-day experience of driving today’s EVs. It is one of the features that will make EVs attractive to more people, but only one.
I agree that CHAdeMO is being rolled out in a suboptimal fashion.
Tesla is doing it the right way, I think. They have a more capable plug, and they are setting up chargers where they will be needed by mass-market vehicles in the future. Five years into the future, Daimler will come with an EV with a 200-300 mile range battery option on the top range version, and they will make a big fuss about the car being Tesla charger compatible, saving so and so many hours on long trips. Then Infiniti will follow Daimler's lead, and then the rest will follow, one by one. Tesla is setting itself up to become a badge of quality, and other manufacturers will end up going to great lengths to get as much of that quality-feel as possible.
But on a similar topic, I think that the plug arguments are unnecessary. There's no need to agree on a single standard, because for fast-charging, there's room for more than one standard. I think CHAdeMO will become the standard for smaller range vehicles, at least in Europe, and Tesla will become the standard for longer range vehicles. EVs will be built with long-range or short-range in mind, and be fitted with the appropriate plug. Short range vehicles have no need to go where the Tesla chargers are placed, as they are mostly placed between cities, and long-range vehicles have no need to use the CHAdeMO chargers, because they are placed in cities, where a night of L2 charging is sufficient for several days worth of driving.
