You don't think Americans care about cost savings, with how much they complain about gasoline prices?

michaelt 7 hours ago | parent | next [-]

The 10 bestselling vehicles in the US are: Pickup truck, Pickup truck, SUV, Pickup truck, Toyota Camry, Pickup truck, Electric SUV, SUV, Pickup truck, SUV.

Americans don't like having less money in their pocket - who does? - but it's pretty clear that for American car buyers, fuel efficiency is just one concern among many.

After all, a gallon of gas costs the same no matter how rich or poor you are. If government policy keeps fuel affordable for families in the 25th percentile ($41k annual household income) then a family in the 75th percentile ($153k household income) can easily afford the fuel needed to commute to their office job in a crew cab F150, if they so wish.

Of course, that 25th-percentile family's demand for fuel will be inelastic in the short term if their house is a 45 minute drive from their workplace. So when prices rise they'll really feel the crunch - and they'll make plenty of noise about it. But they ain't the ones buying brand new vehicles.

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deathanatos 8 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I've never understood the thing about gas costs. It is oft complained about. And while it always seems to be a point of contention, a quick google search suggests the cost is ≈$200/mo on average¹. Rent and healthcare vastly outstrip that; groceries is more but not by as significant a factor.

	▲	richiebful1 8 hours ago \| parent [-]
		It is a commodity product and the price is everywhere you go. It's just a low effort topic to talk about, like the weather or the local sports team

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ZeroGravitas 7 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Like the national debt and a thousand other things, it seems to be just a stick to beat the Democrats with, not something they actually care about when their team spikes both with a pointless war.

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apparent 8 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I think they do care about cost savings, and the near-universal retrenchment of car companies culling their EVs in the wake of the expiration of the $7,500 federal tax credit tells you that these vehicles do not save consumers money. If they did, people would still be clamoring to buy them.

	▲	jerlam 7 hours ago \| parent \| next [-]
		Used EV prices are rising, especially at the low end: https://www.recurrentauto.com/research/used-electric-vehicle... People who want EVs to save money aren't interested in buying brand new, expensive luxury EVs but that's where the supply was.
	▲	rdtsc 8 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		Yeah that was kind of surprising. EVs were supposed to a no-brainer cheaper and more reliable car. I was expecting it to cost no more than half of a ICE car, but they are just as expensive and even more expensive to insure often. I could see the government having a tax program or incentives to build charging stations. But the cars should have needed that, they should be selling themselves.

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sollawen 8 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

American, you know, they care about AI, chips, and Ukraine ......

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actionfromafar 8 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

To an extent... but Culture Wars, Rolling Coal and owning the Libs is more important to a large minority.