Early Adopter Curve has Lessons for EVs

Pool of Early adopters for EVs has kind of tapped out – getting to the next level is a challenge.
Note: interviewer above is reliable climate denier on the CNBC crew.

Omniplex:

Typical traits of the “Early Adopter” persona

  1. Adventurous in experimenting with new products and technologies.
  2. Open-minded towards innovations and often pioneers in adopting them.
  3. Typically well-educated and financially stable.
  4. Excited about trying new products and services and eager to experiment.
  5. Constantly searching for and participating in trials of new offerings.
  6. Regarded as leaders and trendsetters among their peers.
  7. Hold a positive view towards new products and services.
  8. Confident in their decision-making abilities.
  9. Well-informed about industry advancements and current trends.
  10. Willing to pay for new and innovative products before they become widely adopted.

But S-curves are pretty standard for new technologies, although they are not always perfectly smooth.

Reuters:

Tesla (TSLA.O), opens new tab has told suppliers it wants to start production of a new mass market electric vehicle codenamed “Redwood” in mid-2025, according to four people familiar with the matter, with two of them describing the model as a compact crossover.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk confirmed on a post-earnings call on Wednesday that the company expects to start production of its next-generation EV at its Texas factory in the second half of 2025.

That will be followed by Mexico and another factory outside North America to be decided later this year, he said, noting that ramping up production of the new vehicle would be challenging.

Musk has long whetted fans’ and investors’ appetites for affordable electric vehicles and self-driving robotaxis that are expected to be made on next-generation, cheaper electric car platforms.

Those models, including an entry-level $25,000 car, would allow it to compete with cheaper gasoline-powered cars and a growing number of inexpensive EVs, such as those made by China’s BYD (002594.SZ), opens new tab.

That said –

Green Car Reports:

Tesla on Wednesday affirmed that it delivered more than 1.2 million of its Model Y electric SUVs in 2023, making it the top-selling vehicle in the world, car or truck, electric or not. 

As Tesla put it, “the best-selling vehicle on the planet is an EV.”

14 thoughts on “Early Adopter Curve has Lessons for EVs”


  1. EV’s are a dead end. Unreliable, dangerous, expensive, uninsurable, no resale value, heavy enough to chew through tires, roads and ultimately collapse vertical parking lots.


    1. EVs convert 59 to 62% of electricity from the grid to motion. the numbers for ICE vary, but the best is 40% with many reporting between 19-21%. when you think of how much energy is lost to heat and friction, you know it is not efficient. dangerous? not sure where that comes from. given that ICEs have been around since the 1900s and this is how far they have come or not come, and EVs have been around at best 1/5th or 1/6th of that time… they are doing damn well. the weight will improve with the next generation of batteries but collapsing vertical parking garages??? come on. people bring up the raw materials used in the batteries but neglect to bring up the rare earth metals used in every catalytic converter on every ICE…necessary just to partially mitigate the mess they spew


  2. A current challenge: In very cold weather, not only must the battery provide for moving the vehicle, but for heating and defrosting, too… advantage: ICE cars.


    1. I wish you geniuses would go to Norway and tell them how EVs are not good in the cold weather. Oh, heat pumps too. They will love to hear your opinion.


      1. thank you!!! not sure where people get these ideas…. EVs, solar panels, heat pumps, geothermal… maybe they just work in other countries!


      2. I liked Norway. Pretty girls. Everyone seemed to speak English. Don’t think I could live there though with the funny solar situation there.


    2. Right, an internal combustion engine converts its fuel to heat more than motion. Conversely, I do wonder how much of the heat in traffic-congested tropical cities is aggravated by the burning of all the fuel (even when stopped).


    3. This reminds me of a problem with LEDs in the 1980s: A railroad company wanted to replace its existing incandescent railway switch signal lights with (then very expensive) LED lights in remote sections of track in Canada because they lasted longer and wouldn’t need to be changed nearly as often (which was the expensive aspect of incandescents). They started to notice that switches with LEDs froze up in the winter without the heat from the incandescents to keep the mechanisms warm.

      In more recent years the early-generation traffic lights in northern cities had a problem with snow sticking to the cool lights and obscuring them.


    4. Only have heat, defrosting in ICEs … when the motor is running

      If I get stuck in a snowbank, a real big if, I have over forty (40) hours of heat, lights, radio, phone and laptop chargers, and clean air. How long will the heat last in an ICE car without the motor running? How long can you run the motor? Without suffocating … ? Advantage: EVs

      But please, feel free, by all means … get stuck in a snowbank with an ICE


      1. I carry glass breakers in my car, so no worries about snow banks. The issue is moot in Florida anyway, but the glass breakers are for an unscheduled water landing.

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