Initial capital outlay is the biggest (which goes hand in hand with limited supply). Tesla prices might be normal car prices to tech bros and coastal California residents, but in most of the rest of the country they're f'ing EXPENSIVE. A basic MYLR currently costs more than my last four vehicle purchases combined. Even the "average new car price" of $48k is simply unaffordable to most people. Anything at what would otherwise be an affordable price point is crippled by short range and/or slow charging, effectively limiting them to local-use-only cars--and nobody wants to pay those prices for that.
There are signs this may start to change in the medium term as more EVs come to market. But until EVs that are actually affordable and usable come along (and not just the highest trim levels at double the base price), and decent used EVs are on the market at decent used prices (not 90% of new) you won't see much movement. Plus, the cost savings over gas only works out if you're already making comparable payments on an ICE vehicle or you're already in the market and need a vehicle. A MY might save me $2k per year in gas over my owned-outright truck and van, but the actual cost would be $10k more per year for several years due to financing costs.
Next up is charging. Even leaving aside charging times (real or perceived), the network in most of the country (especially non Tesla) is poor and lacking in reliability and redundancy. If I'm taking a trip in an ICE vehicle, I don't have to worry about pulling up to the only gas station along my trip, finding out the gas pump is broken, and being stuck because I can't get to the next one. Gas stations are everywhere, with multiple pumps at each, and even if I get stuck paying a premium I know I can get gas just about anywhere without undue hassle. The public charging network just isn't there (yet, anyway). And if charging at home isn't an option, you're SOL for the moment.
IMO the ICE bans are bad (if well-intentioned) policy because they ignore the substantial logistical, technological, financial, and social challengesthat have to be overcome, waving them away with essentially "our cause is just and our conviction strong, and that alone will overcome all obstacles". A favorite aphorism of mine is "for every complex problem, there exists at least one solution that is simple, clear, and completely, totally wrong" and in my experience it is almost universally true. It's been also my observation that most such solutions begin with "All you have to do is..." or "Just..." and ICE bans fall in that category (same with punitive gas taxes). Plus, there's an inherent element of compulsion; try to compel someone to do something they don't already want to do (or even something they would otherwise want to do on their own!) and you will immediately get pushback simply because you are compelling them, regardless of how good you think it would be for them. This goes double when the thing you are trying to compel them to do smacks of "let them eat cake" and the proponents don't understand why "those people" won't just bend over and take it in the shorts financially because someone else tells them to.
If you want to sell EVs to the masses, take a lesson from Tesla. They didn't succeed by screaming "GREEN!!!"; instead, they sold a cool car that people wanted for what it was rather than what it wasn't. Emphasize the convenience of home charging and pre-conditioning, the low maintenance costs, the performance, and the operating cost savings (once purchase costs are in-line with comparable ICE vehicles). Make a real charging network. That's what will sell EVs, not "do it because we say so!" But it's going to take lower prices and greater supply (used and new) to make that happen.
Personally I'm totally sold on the EV concept, and if at all possible I'd prefer to avoid buying another ICE car. I just can't justify spending the money right now. My current vehicles are paid for and I do my own maintenance so operating costs are pretty low. Any EV that meets our needs is far too damn expensive right now (in theory, we could afford one, but that would be financially irresponsible at the moment). And ideally, I'd love to see an EV Maverick as that would fit perfectly for "my" car (I'd even take a PHEV version at this point). But right now, as much as I hate my short cab 2005 F150, I cannot financially justify buying something else. I'm an engineer, I've run the numbers and have a wonderful spreadsheet to show for it. A MY would be nice (if it didn't cost so much) and we're looking hard at the Equinox (we'll see what the pricing really looks like soon I guess) to be the "family car" and I'd get the van as a hand me down for now, but I don't see anything happening on that for at least a couple more years.
