I don't know about you but when $TSLA goes up, i go out and buy more things...j/k. The problem is the majority of people, esp in this generation, want to live for the now and the gram. It does not matter if he/she is $1M in debt, as long as he/she looks the part, that is all that matters. Here is some food for thought: What do you see when you walk onto a college campus? Tons of tents offering you free gifts to sign up for a credit card? Why you ask? You are fresh out of high school and you are given a CC with a limit of $3-$5k most likely.It is perhaps cruel of me to say...but I believe it's a cruel reality: MANY people, across many income levels (a) have no true idea where their money goes, and (b) are stuck living paycheck-to-pacheck, in part, because they spend what's in their pocket on non-necessities without thinking it matters, and then struggle with the bills at the end of the month that should be easily predictable. Paycheck-to-paycheck, for many, is also due to a signing up for enough monthly payments (mortgage, car, subscriptoins, etc.) to consume every month's income without adequately valueing a need for savings, etc.
I have no idea about the validity of the data, but at least one google-able study suggests that in the US "63% of employees can't cover an unexpected $500 expense." Nearly 2/3's of people just not having an extra $500 for an emergency is mentally shocking. At such a high percentage, we know this isn't just people with poverty or lower-middle-class incomes. There are people with pretty sizeable incomes in this category too.
With that in mind:
There are a lot of people who hear EV and just think "my electic bill will go up and it's already too high!". I believe that many people top up their gas tank with the cash in their pocket, and for them throwing a couple twenties over the counter every few days doesn't seem like it really adds up to much. There are also people who pay on credit card, so the many gas transactions are just part of the credit card bill at the end of the month. Either way, gasoline is a bunch of small/separate transactions so people don't see what it adds up to...and they can't really imagine that those "mandatory" expenses will go away and be replaced by a smaller addition to their electric bill.
For many people, there is also the problem that they seem to be itching to spend what's in their pocket without thinking. Stop at the ATM when their pocket is empty, spend the cash until its gone, then hit the ATM again. For people who are used to carrying around cash to pay for topping up their gas tank, they probably pay cash for many "impulse" type purchases as well. If the cash purchases of gas go away, for many people, that money will still get spent on something else. At the end of the month, the "gas money" will still have been spent, AND their electric bill will be higher than before. Until they can resolve that pattern, such people could end up feeling even more pinched at the end of the month if they own an EV.
What do you know about managing debt? Absolutely nothing! By the time you graduate, you are so far behind the 8 ball, you cannot spare any $ to invest and it will probably take you a good 5-10 years to pay off this debt, not including any student loans if you have any.
What does this all mean? It means that you will probably be working till 65+ because you will be so far behind in investing because of the debt you incurred in college. This keeps you in the work force for almost the majority of your life and keeps businesses happy with workers.
This is another reason why financial literacy is not taught in High School, they wanna keep you in the rat race for as long as they can and you won't figure it out until you are older!!
Rant over..back to $TSLA