In the long run, electric vehicles are less expensive than fuel vehicles, but consumers are not always cost-oriented when buying vehicles. So far, the value of electric vehicles has not created a huge market for new technologies.
Compared with ten years ago, we can choose more brands and categories of electric vehicles.
For example, the Nissan Leaf and the BMW i3, electric vehicles with relatively short driving ranges have been on the market for many years. Chevrolet Bolt and Tesla ModelS have continued their driving range and electric vehicle products for the mass market have also entered the market.
At present, the proportion of electric vehicles in global sales is still very small, only about 1%, but the proportion will be more and more in the future, and the data will improve over time. But now there is a less optimistic The phenomenon, that is, many of the analysis around the potential of electric vehicles tend to confuse all electric vehicle products, while ignoring some obvious conditions in the automotive market.
On average, an electric car costs 50% more than the cost of a fuel car. There is no disagreement on this point. Another rule of thumb that surrounds electric cars is that, despite the initial cost of purchasing an electric car, It costs more than the cost of buying a similar petrol car, but usually there is a turning point around 50,000 miles (about 80,000 km): At that time, owners of electric vehicles have earned back the previous purchase price difference, and in the vehicle’s Lifetime will enjoy cheaper usage costs.
It should be pointed out that the analysis of costs is somewhat unpredictable today, mainly because people generally know how much it costs to maintain a fuel truck, but they do not know that replacing a new battery on an electric car after aging is ultimately necessary. How much does it cost?
Differences in luxury car market
In the luxury car market, there is a greater difference in car ownership costs. FleetCarma.com has published an article comparing the cost of ownership of the Tesla ModelS and Mercedes-Benz C-Class sedans, and Tesla ModelX and Porsche Cayenne. In comparison, the article found that buying and using Mercedes and Porsche is much more expensive.
However, when it comes to actual consumer behavior, this method of analysis can run into a wall. One thing is indisputable: Few people will spontaneously want to buy an electric car. For this phenomenon, the general explanation is that There is a limit to the driving range of the car, but also need to change the usual way of use. In the market has been a competitive electric car has been introduced for many years, but did not bring much change to the concept of people. Do not know the price of 35,000 Will the US Dollar Tesla Model3 and Chevrolet Bolt at a comparable price change this situation in the future?
Therefore, we must look more closely at the basic logic of cost analysis. Buying an electric car is an easy task, but it must be used to replacing it with long charges. By the way, who wouldn’t want to save $500 a year? It can save even more money than buying a luxury car.
In the mass market, if the charging infrastructure can be spread more quickly and widely, this huge change may be seen in the coming decades. Many automakers believe that electric vehicles will usher in rapid growth, and the entire industry will wait and see. China can also introduce a number of supporting policies to promote future development in the huge automotive market.
And some people only want a BMW that burns gasoline.
In the luxury market, will a customer be tempted to buy Tesla, Mercedes or Porsche due to fuel costs? This is difficult to say. Consumers who purchase Mercedes-Benz or Porsche will be responsible for fuel costs. Sensitivity may be less than that of consumers who buy Honda, and more consumers ultimately make choices because of a particular brand.
The luxury car market is a part of the entire automotive market. The use of only general car costs does not really explain why someone would spend nearly $100,000 to buy a high-performance BMW. Obviously they can buy a good car for $30,000. Car, but the truth is that some consumers just want a BMW, they do not care about how high the price, the current price of gasoline and so on.
Experts who are deeply pursuing customer behavior analysis in the automotive industry have a natural understanding of this irrational behavior of the owner. Why do people want to spend $400,000 to buy a Ferrari? Because it is Ferrari. Similarly, when a $200 When watches meet all the needs of people for watches, people often still want to buy a Rolex with a value of 8,000 US dollars. In fact, everyone knows that buying a high-priced car simply because of the appearance of the car is an irrational decision. Even a lot of people's cars are still bought by loans, and will only be devalued afterwards.
The penetration rate of the current electric vehicle market is quite low - much lower than predicted 10 years ago. Electric vehicles may mean huge losses to automakers because of the small scale of production.
For consumers, there are too many options for automotive products. A large car manufacturer will produce dozens of different models. In the United States alone, no car manufacturer can control 20% of the market share, even the general public, etc. The share of some large global automakers is also less than 5%. Such a market situation is very difficult for executives of auto companies, but there is plenty of room for consumers to choose. Electric cars just mean one more choice. Therefore, when discussing whether consumers will choose an electric car or a fuel car, it cannot simply be judged by 'the cost of ownership of the final electric car is cheaper'. When this theory comes to the real market, how important is it? What?
