New car sales in Europe in 2026 are approaching 50% EV with essentially none of the above. Europe has had generous EV subsidies in the past, but in 2026 those are mostly (but not completely) gone.

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jm4 19 minutes ago | parent | next [-]

EV’s do well in parts of the U.S. with good charging infrastructure. One of the challenges is this country is huge and there are large numbers of people in places where infrastructure or other factors make it difficult to drive an EV. Probably half the people in this country live in rural areas and smaller towns where the charging infrastructure doesn’t exist and doesn’t make much sense because no one drives an EV. It’s a chicken and egg problem.

Housing is another complication that’s related to the charging situation. It’s only worthwhile to own an EV if you can charge at home. There are people who make it work with only public chargers, but it’s a major PITA. That usually means owning a home where you can install a charger. That requirement excludes a lot of people.

It’s not that everyone wants a gas guzzler. There are real challenges here.

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JimsonYang 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Youre right, i forgot to add

4) europeans are environemtally conscious

Americans however like their gas guzzling F150s.

The reason I did the original comment was I know for a time the major car companies did a huge push into EVs.

Like the ford 150 lightning, chevy bolt and mustang mach E. But they stopped manufacturing them due to weakened sales and profitability.

Its a vicious feedback loop of consumer adoption, high car prices, and capital investment which makes us feel stuck

*edit this is based on what I heard from a GM exec during a lecture visit while at UofM

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Telemakhos an hour ago | parent | next [-]

> Americans however like their gas guzzling F150s.

Pickup trucks have always made up between 10% and 20% of vehicles on the road in America; it's the SUV that has picked up from next to nothing in 1980 to almost half of all new vehicles now, while the sedan has plunged from 80% to about 25% of new vehicles today.

A big part of that transition to larger SUVs (which are not F150s) was the CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) Standards, which sought to make cars more fuel efficient. They regulated based on the size of the vehicle, so larger vehicles (including both the SUV and the F150) became cheaper to manufacture, while smaller cars were squeezed out of the market as meeting CAFE became too expensive. Larger cars also perform better on safety tests and have an easier time passing onerous safety regulations. Had environmental and safety regulations been handled differently, or if there weren't any, Americans might well be driving more fuel-efficient smaller coupes and sedans.

That said, the Chevy Bolt and Mustang Mach-E are, in fact, being manufactured—the Bolt was recently brought back, and the Mustang Mach-E was never discontinued. The Ford F150 Lightning has been discontinued. Tesla outsells all of them by far.

	▲	tremon 36 minutes ago \| parent \| next [-]
		> Larger cars also perform better on safety tests That's only true if we're limiting the discussion to the safety of the people inside said car. Quoting one of the first sources I could find: https://www.unsw.edu.au/newsroom/news/2024/06/big-cars-feel-... a study found a 500 kilogram increase in vehicle weight, which could mean the difference between an SUV and a sedan, correlated with a 70% higher fatality risk [after the 2003 bumper height-matching standard] The likelihood of SUVs causing fatalities to drivers in other cars reduced from being 132% more likely for a collision with an SUV in the early 90s, to 28% more likely by 2016 A mere 10 centimetre increase in front-end height can elevate the risk of pedestrian death by 22%, with impacts more likely occurring at critical injury points like the chest or head Children are eight times more likely to die when struck by an SUV compared to lighter and smaller cars
	▲	socalgal2 13 minutes ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		> Pickup trucks have always made up between 10% and 20% of vehicles on the road in America This is false. It's true today that sales are in that range. It is not remotely true that actual ownership is 10%-20% today nor that it was in the past

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johnea an hour ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I don't think the jump in EV sales in Europe are primarily driven by environment consciousness.

The jump in EV sales this year are primarily driven by seeing what a psycho in the US whitehouse can immediately do to gasoline prices.

Gasoline only comes from one source., and is largely delivered around the world by shipping.

Electricity is able to be generated by many means, and is available everywhere.

I know several people in modest suburban homes, who generate all of their own electricity, including driving two EVs.

The supply chain can be very short.

There is no other form of energy that can deliver the individual and national energy independence that can be delivered by electricity.

Gasoline and petroleum in general can never, ever, ever, deliver this degree of autonomy.

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tzs 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

The major US car companies pulled back some on EVs mostly because of hostility toward EVs from the Trump administration.

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yobbo 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

4) add taxes to effectively double price of gasoline

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bryanlarsen 2 hours ago | parent [-]

The price of electricity in Europe is also approximately double that of the US.

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nutjob2 an hour ago | parent [-]

This is not true, it varies widely between countries, just as it varies between states in the US.

	▲	bryanlarsen an hour ago \| parent [-]
		The average price of electricity in Europe is 29 cents. The average price in the US is 17 cents. Both have a very wide variance. I'm not sure if there's anywhere in Europe that pay more than PG&E customers in the US...

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marcosdumay 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Hum... Announcing you will completely outlaw combustion cars soon is missing from the GP's options.

	▲	bryanlarsen an hour ago \| parent [-]
		AFAICT, that increases sales. "I better buy it now, it's going to be banned soon". Just ask the American gun manufacturers. They love announcements of bans because it provides a huge immediate boost in sales. And then in the end the ban ends up being watered down/removed, just like the European bans of combustion vehicles have been.