They both have their pros & cons. Life is already overwhelming for a lot of people, the last thing they need to worry about is how to charge.. were to charge.. when to charge.. etc. Anyone driving lots of highway miles surely appreciates being able to take practically any exit and fill up their gas tank. And while AutoPilot works great, the reality is Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) and Lane Keep Assistance or Lane Centering (LKAS/LC) works much better than you probably think in most new ICE vehicles. Coming from a 2018 Honda.. there's still a ton of stuff missing off my Tesla that's absolutely inexcusable.. like rear cross-traffic alerts and real blindspot monitoring with the LED in the mirror.
That's without considering other EV headaches like freezing cold weather, towing a trailing, hauling a heavy load, or even just traveling with a carload full of passengers and needing to stop randomly to charge. Finally, ICE still offers several form factors.. vehicles in every size and shape.. including stuff like real pampering luxury cars, convertibles, lifted trucks, off-roading vehicles, sports cars, etc. How many EV's do you even see with a sunroof? You never know what things someone loves, that might keep them wanting the vehicle they already have. I can tell you right now if I was truly rich. I wouldn't have a Model Y. My garage would have a Ferrari supercar, a 911 Turbo S cabriolet, and a Range Rover with every option possible.
I think we all can agree EV's are the future and most of us would probably never buy anything BUT another Tesla. But we all must admit we made some pretty heavy changes to get to this point. Many of us have laid the groundwork to first install charging stations at home, before paying A LOT of money for the EV we currently have.. basically, a large wager that any future gas & maintenance savings will eventually close the gap on what we might have spent on ICE. I still wonder how are people who live in condos, apartments, dorms, barracks, rowhouses, etc.. are supposed to keep their EV charged up? I'd imagine the majority of drivers are not homeowners.. so this means taking extra time to locate a public charger, drive there and sit somewhere to charge up weekly. Meanwhile, practically anyone with a minimum paying job can source a fairly cheap 10-year-old Camry or Accord, drive the living crap out of it for another 10-20 years, and still, avg 30mpg which isn't bad at all considering gas is still around $3. And speaking of a 10-year-old car.. exactly how reliable will a 10-year-old Tesla be? How much range? What needs to be replaced?
Most of the people I talk to who aren't ready to make the switch to EV's have some pretty damn good reasons not to. Many of the I listed above.. but the biggest one is still price. The cheapest brand new Model Y now starts at $60,440. That's $58,990 for what is basically a midsize SUV, $1200 delivery, and a $250 order fee (it's an additional fee, not a deposit). I'd say we have it pretty lucky to be able to even AFFORD to live on the bleeding edge of technology & EV adoption. And their decision only gets more complicated depending on their living situation, family, young kids, long commutes, debt, etc. We are still a very long way from ICE dying anytime soon.
