What people say they value and what they spend their money on are usually very different things. The reality is that Tesla is selling well and companies that are investing in similar products are doing extremely well currently. For all their flaws, these cars are way better than ICE cars.
VW is getting a lot of criticism. Yet, if you try to order one now, you might be waiting until well into next year. They are selling pretty well despite the software issues. They have invested a lot in production capacity and they are on track to match Tesla in production volume in a few years. Few other manufacturers can say that. And most of those are based in China.
I’m not criticizing EVs in any way. I’m criticizing the industry trend to use a touch screen to control everything. That trend applies to both EVs and ICE cars if you look at interior car designs over the last few years. I view it as a huge regression.
I don’t see EV sales as relevant here. It doesn’t prove that people are lining up to buy them because of touch screens. There’s a wide variety of reasons to account for sales numbers and for wait lists: great EV cash rebates, high gas prices, the awesome feeling of instant acceleration, supply chain problems with batteries and chips causing multi year wait lists, etc.
People can also get used to lots of surprising changes, even if they’re for the worse, as I’m arguing. If TV manufacturers all started replacing tv remote buttons for touch screens, I’m sure we would eventually get used to it despite it being annoying at first. Likewise, I’ve been forced to get used to the touch screen in my car.
> They have invested a lot in production capacity and they are on track to match Tesla in production volume in a few years.
Are they? Because that's not what the actual numbers tell me. But that is what they are claiming. And its what GM claims as well (with far less credibility of course). Its just the trendy thing to say.
The underlying assumption is that Tesla will slow down, but that hasn't been happening.
VW thanks to Diselgate is in a good position with EV, to be sure.
VW is getting a lot of criticism. Yet, if you try to order one now, you might be waiting until well into next year. They are selling pretty well despite the software issues. They have invested a lot in production capacity and they are on track to match Tesla in production volume in a few years. Few other manufacturers can say that. And most of those are based in China.