Posted on 03/18/2026 4:46:20 AM PDT by Skwor
Newly-released sales figures from the United States is starting to reveal just how much electric vehicle demand leaned on the federal EV tax credit that was discarded on September 30 last year. With that incentive now gone, the early numbers suggest the market is already feeling the adjustment, and it has not been a subtle one.
Data from S&P Global Mobility shared by Auto News show that 59,802 new EVs were registered in January, a massive 41 percent drop from a year earlier.
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The majority of EVs were never economically viable without subsidizing via our taxes, that is not capitalism, that is communism/socialism.
Gas is best!
You can:
Burn the fuel on board.
Burn the fuel somewhere else.
Either way, you’re burning fuel
Yay! That whistling sound is getting on my nerves
Aren’t hybrids still the most efficient overall?
I'm wondering if the same is true for AI.
Unlike EVs where the problem is the fundamental battery problem, AI's "expense" is in power consumption.
I think it's said AI is expected to consume 20% of all power produced in the US. Sounds overpriced to me, even though it's not necessarily funded w/tax credits.
The technology may need to mature, likely on the hardware side.
I was walking through a used car lot the other day and saw one that caught my eye. Then I saw the little door on the front fender and walked away.
Also, initially, one could charge their EV with subsidized, below market price, power. Now, EV owners might pay full price.
Also, FJB laid down ludicrous regulations for normal cars cars. President Trump lifted those regulations. Pray the automakers remove the engineering tricks and deliver engines that can deliver 200,000 miles without major overhauls, and lower the vehicle sticker price
Good.
The Tesla Model Y was the auto model with the largest number of vehicles sold in the whole world in 2025
Toyota sells the most vehicles.
Ford’s F150 is the top selling American vehicle.
There are good and bad points to both EVs and ICE vehicles.
I do not own an EV. I may at some point.
My observations from friends that own EVs.
Virtually no maintenence. My friends that own Teslas do very little to them. Other charge at home. Which is a must. IF you can not charge them daily or at least weekly at home there is no point in having one.
Except tires. They go through tires because the increased weight and the TORQUE. The instantaneous torque eats up expensive tires.
Repairs are very expensive. My friend with the Tesla Y just had to replace the headlight. This is not a bulb you can buy at the local auto parts store. They had to take off the bumper to replace the headlight. $1400 at the local Tesla dealership. I asked him what would you have done IF you had to replace BOTH headlights? His response, maybe trade it in.
There is very little value after 7-10 years. Who wants a used EV if the battery is toast? Unlike my 2012 Tacoma that is still worth about 50% of what I paid for it brand new($15K now-$30K new).
The cost to charge an EV varies greatly across the country/world. I have another friend who has a Tesla Model S Plaid.
He is in SE Idaho. All his electricity comes from the hydroelectric dams on the Snake River. His KHW rate is $.09.
So, his electricity really is GREEN and it is cheaper than driving his Dodge Cummins diesel pickup truck.
If you have solar panels and generate your own electricity to charge your own car it may be even cheaper. After you pay off those solar panels.
All the above being said I still do not want to park a 1000 pound Lithium Ion battery in my garage where it CAN burn my house down with me and my family in it.
IF an EV starts on fire you WILL NOT be able to extinguish the fire. This was told to me by my local fire chief. The best they can do is try to contain it.
I do not charge the 30 watt batteries for my Stihl chainsaw overnight because of the potential fire risk of Lithium Ion batteries.
The problem is Lithium Ion. IF they come out with a SOLID STATE battery which will last longer than the vehicle the battery sits in this will be the end of ICE for automobiles.
Especially IF that battery can keep at charge at below freezing. Until then it is Diesel and gasoline.
Personally I am waiting for Mr Fusion
It completely depends on the use case. From a cost per mile perspective, our EV (BEV -- full electric) gets 25 miles for every dollar added to the power bill (pretending I don't have solar for most of my power). That's $1 divided by 14 cents per kWh (night-time rate of my local power utility after including the fuel rate rider they add per kWh and the 4% state tax), times 3.5 miles per kWh (I removed the 10% loss converting AC to DC power while charging).
Those are real world numbers from real world experience in our 4-year old crossover shaped EV (including some power consumed running the AC/heat, headlights, every now and then getting on the interstate and driving faster, but mostly local miles, etc.) I'd appreciate someone else posting real world numbers for a hybrid, neither of us going by the stated MPGe (one of the most contrived "metrics" I've ever encountered, all to help the government assign carbon credits).
In my case, since I have decentralized solar providing 80% on average of all the power we consume (including charging the EV), that comes out to $1 giving us 125 miles. (In truth it's more than that, but I haven't been able to figure out how to calculate it beyond that.) I seriously considered having a hybrid (HEV) as our main car (our other car is a gas pickup). But a BEV getting longer range on electric portion (230 miles vs 50 miles of power alone in HEV before switching to gas) means we can charge the BEV to 80% on a sunny day for free, and probably not have to charge it again for a few days in a row if those are rainy days, before we give up waiting on free sun and plug the EV into the charger that's always powered (whether or not power is free at that moment). With a HEV we'd have to either charge it every day or use gas.
Use case scenarios I wouldn't go full BEV and would rather go hybrid:
For a pickup. A BEV pickup loses tons of range when carrying a load. Every now and then our out of town trips involves pickup chores and I'm glad it's a gas pickup (I'd be satisfied if it was a hybrid, but not BEV).
If you need just one car. Like a lot of married couples we need two cars anyway. So by having one a BEV and the other a gas car, we have the full benefit of both without it being a mutually exclusive decision. But if I was single I'd be very uncomfortable with depending solely on a BEV (i.e. long trips may have few fast charging options, or long trips up north during the winter).
If you can't set up charging at home. The gas saving$ and ease of charging benefits of a BEV are only with home charging. No home charging = virtually no efficiency (monetary) benefit of a BEV.
If you don't drive tons of miles for the gas savings to be worth it. By my math 4 years ago, based on how much more EV's cost vs gas or hybrids then, how much power rates were and gas cost in my area then, that came out to 12K miles per year (of home charged miles, not counting if you take the BEV on long trips and charge away from home). That also includes the cost of installing a charger. If EV's are cheaper now, then that 12K miles per year threshold may be lower. In my case it was 8K miles per year because on that year I was also calculating on adding to my home solar, how much more to add for charging the EV, and how much more the solar combined with EV would save me in the long run. Again, we drive it 18K miles on home charged miles so it's very very worth getting a BEV for us. But we're an unusual use case.
How about a return to 6 and 8 cyl no turbo engines. UNKO like ones that can be repaired easily and get out of their own way by not needing forced induction
I miss the days when I could crawl under the hood with room to spare and fix my car with a simple toolbox of tools.
My best Back yard fix was repairing the manual linkage on a dodge with electrical tape :). A bundle of tap around the joint kept the linage together for 2 years LOL!
In 2024, the toyota RV4 was the best selling vehicle followed by the Tesla Model Y number 2.
The model Y took first place in 2025
“Aren’t hybrids still the most efficient overall?”
Actually, diesel hybrids are the most efficient. Unfortunately, the Leftists have effectively outlawed them in the US and now Europe.
You can have all that when you move to Cuba
That might be really possible by summertime
“The Tesla Model Y was the auto model with the largest number of vehicles sold in the whole world in 2025”
Wow, man.
Bidens’ DoD was ordering electric tanks! Hahahaha
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