New Research Raises Concern About Electric Vehicles’ Prospects

New Research Raises Concern About Electric Vehicles’ Prospects

Share to Linkedin Much of the media overage on electric vehicles consists of either glowing reports of planned models and booming sales (in select markets) or on the other end, descriptions of expensive battery recalls or autopilot failures. Few if any of these reports are analytical in nature, and do not shed much light on the prospects for electric vehicles in the next few years. I often feel like the guy in the old commercial who, listening to a sales pitch about a new microwave, keeps mumbling, "But does it brown the food?" There are any number of people who rave about electric vehicles' attributes—you don't have to stop at gas stations! You just press a button and it goes! You can recharge while you get lunch!—but they leave me mumbling "But will everyone want to buy one?" Consumer acceptance is a funny thing and difficult to predict. (Organic dog food? Really?) There are always early adopters and people who like the exotic, but when it comes to mass markets, some things tend to be true, or at least most of the time. My mother loved the Checker brand automobiles but they were pretty rare on the road except for