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In a recent Bloomberg survey of EV drivers, 14% of respondents said they owned more than one battery-powered vehicle, and 6% of those surveyed had three or more. That doubling-down dynamic is clear in sales data, too. Some 26% of EV buyers in the second quarter either traded their used electric car for a new one or simply added another to their garage, according to Edmunds. Another 9% of recent EV buyers were already driving a hybrid. Scientists, politicians and auto executives have championed electric cars to replace gas-burning vehicles, but much of the time that’s not what’s happening — at least not yet.
The repetitive buying isn’t all bad. It’s a validation of the technology, a clear pattern that, when familiar with both options and given the choice, many prefer to drive electric. It also suggests that the typical reservations among the EV-curious — namely range anxiety and charging confusion — fade quickly with use.
“It speaks to a level of excitement,” says Berkeley economist Lucas Davis. “These people love their cars.”
But it presents a problematic paradox: An EV is only a decarbonizer to the extent that it offsets both gas-powered driving and the emissions needed to make it, a process that leaves a far larger carbon footprint than that for a gas-powered car. The only way for the machine to cover its carbon, so to speak, is in miles. But, critically, in two-, three- or four-EV households, each successive car tends to be driven less. If a vehicle is going to be sitting idle in a garage, a gas-burning version is arguably a cleaner option than an EV, because of all the carbon that goes into making the latter.
https://roanoke.com/business/the-wr...cle_7b56ea06-4a68-5188-9b50-083b1e90ede7.html (limited free reads)
The repetitive buying isn’t all bad. It’s a validation of the technology, a clear pattern that, when familiar with both options and given the choice, many prefer to drive electric. It also suggests that the typical reservations among the EV-curious — namely range anxiety and charging confusion — fade quickly with use.
“It speaks to a level of excitement,” says Berkeley economist Lucas Davis. “These people love their cars.”
But it presents a problematic paradox: An EV is only a decarbonizer to the extent that it offsets both gas-powered driving and the emissions needed to make it, a process that leaves a far larger carbon footprint than that for a gas-powered car. The only way for the machine to cover its carbon, so to speak, is in miles. But, critically, in two-, three- or four-EV households, each successive car tends to be driven less. If a vehicle is going to be sitting idle in a garage, a gas-burning version is arguably a cleaner option than an EV, because of all the carbon that goes into making the latter.
https://roanoke.com/business/the-wr...cle_7b56ea06-4a68-5188-9b50-083b1e90ede7.html (limited free reads)
