In Southern California, I would say that the vast majority of fuel efficient cars on the road were Prius, Leafs, and a few Chevy Volts just before the pandemic. Teslas were considered more of a luxury car so they were there, but not as many. At that time, I would say that you would see 1 out every 20-25 cars being a hybrid or EV.
Over this weekend, I was at a busy intersection in Los Angeles and at least half the cars that I drove pass or were around me were EVs or Hyrbids of various brands. I know it’s a small sample size, but I would say that we’re now looking at about 1 out of every 10-12 vehicles in Los Angeles being an EV or hybrid.
The way you can really tell the large jump in EVs in particular are the long lines waiting to charge cars at an Electrify America station. Pre-pandemic, there were no lines. Today, there are long lines even at 1am at the popular EA level three stations.
For me, this is great to see. But, I am also aware that California has done a lot to promote EVs/Hybrids over the last several years to make this a thing. The other thing that has helped is that there are numerous charging stations around my city. Granted, many of these are level 2 chargers. But I have 8 charging points within walking distance from my house. We still need a lot more level 3 chargers, but my city has a very good spread of level 2 chargers throughout the city with many more to come.
For those that do not live in California, are you also seeing a boom in EVs/Hyrbids. I’m curious to see if this is what you see if your living in the midwest or the south.
I live outside of Richmond, VA in a fairly wealthy suburb. I wasnt very aware of EVs until 18 mo ago when i was told (incorrectly) that my head gasket was blown and I started looking for a replacement. So now I notice.
When I’m at the Whole Foods near me, there are always several EVs in the parking lot - but probably not more than 5 or 10% of the cars, max. When I worked at the DMV downtown I rarely saw any in the employee lot.
So definitely still seen as a luxury car here, i think.
Because the income to live somewhere “fancy” in RVA, like short pump, is basically the starting tech income on the west coast for someone fresh out of college (120-150k before stocks or bonuses).
For context, a typical annual bonus in west coast tech is enough to buy a model Y. Heck, an intern with a good return offer can buy one with their starting bonus.
wow! thanks for that context!
I’m in Ashland (Hanover County - screaming Tea Party and conservative, the GOP candidates win up here with 60-70% of the vote, and the GOP just talked the voters out of an elected school board in place of the current appointed one, and started banning books in the school district two weeks later).
Tesla’s are common as hell around here, at least in the Ashland-Atlee I-95 corridor. Bolt’s are fairly common, now being matched in numbers by Ioniq 5’s. Still, jacked up pickups outnumber them by at least 50 to 1.