EVs? Oh-Oh -- May 11, 2019

Updates

May 12, 2019: Illinois looking to charge EV owners $1,000 to pay their fair share for using state highways. Chicago Tribune.  Corroborates my feeling that no one takes global warming seriously. IF the world was going to end in 10 years (Beto) or 12 years (Occasional-Cortex) wouldn't internal combustion engines be banned if that was the only way to save the earth? Just asking. But the earth coming to an end in ten years seems to be kind of a "big f'in deal," as Joe Biden would say.


May 12, 2019: after looking at the vehicle sales data this past month, it would be nice to see a better analysis of what's going on. Car sales were off across the board (some exceptions); EVs get a lot of ink but not much happening there except that Tesla is the 800-lb gorilla in the world of lithium. But the fact that car sales are down across the board is interesting. Five things come to mind:

• sticker shock
• buying experience (going to the dentist might be more terrifying)
• sales/business model
• leases
• quality/longer-lasting vehicles

I don't buy into "younger generations not driving as much as older generations."
 

Original Post

EV sales.

In all the commotion this past week, I forgot to check monthly EV sales for the month of April.

When I saw them, I thought "oh-oh." Not good.

I wondered if maybe something was going on with Chevrolet Volt. Google search.

Oh-oh.

I can't wait to see how the EV-enthusiasts spin this one.

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Tesla

Meanwhile, a quick look at US Tesla sales seemed mixed -- at least to me. So, the same google search. It was amazing how far one had to scroll down to find any "US Tesla story." Many stories of how well the Tesla was doing in Europe -- I didn't read the stories but I can bet sales correlate 100% with tax incentives.

So, what about Tesla sales in the US where tax incentives for Tesla are ending. There is no talk in Congress (at least that is being talked about in the mainstream press) about extending tax incentives for Tesla. My hunch is that the GM - Ford - Chrysler won't send lobbyists to Congress advocating for extending credits for Tesla.

I couldn't find anything in the first four pages of google hits on US Tesla sales in April, 2019. The stories were all about European sales. The only thing relevant was this CNN headline for US Tesla sales for 1Q19. Previously reported but this was the first US-Tesla sales story in today's search. 

Let's see if we can find something on April's sales. Nope, not in the first four pages, and I have places to be.