An outspoken automotive expert has criticized electric vehicles because they are expensive to repair and offer low resale value.
Motoring journalist John Cadogan, who runs the AutoExpert websitemade these comments in typically colorful fashion on YouTube video published on Tuesday and titled “Tesla electric vehicles are simply too expensive to own – says Hertz CEO”.
He said Telsas are twice as expensive to repair as comparable combustion engine vehicles.
Cadogan also argued that slowing sales have led to showroom discounting that destroys resale value and threatens the commercial viability of retailers.
The video follows a scathing attack on electric vehicles by a senior Toyota executive who questioned whether the vehicles were suitable for Australia.
Hertz announced this week that it was slowing down the introduction of 100,000 Teslas into its fleet – with only around 35,000 in operation – despite initially announcing the bulk purchase in 2021.
An auto expert says Tesla’s new brands (pictured, a Model 3) are being heavily discounted as demand slows in the electric vehicle market.
In a typically concise, expletive-laden post, Cadogan explained why.
“The damn things cost too much to keep on the road and the resale value is crap,” he said.
Stephen Scherr, CEO of Hertz Global, said collision and damage repairs on a Tesla cost “about twice as much as those associated with a comparable combustion engine vehicle.”
The global electric vehicle market is at a standstill, as stated by Sam Fiorani, vice president of AutoForecast Solutions. Business Insider “the spectacular growth we have experienced in recent years cannot be sustained.”
Cadogan explained this as a shortage of “virtue signaling t**ts.”
“The fanatical customers of electric Scientology seem to be plateauing,” he said.
John Cadogan said if Tesla could only compete by lowering the price of its cars, the company was ‘doomed’
“This could signal the end of the era of bullshit.”
In response, he said Tesla CEO Elon Musk, whom he called “electric Jesus,” was forced to “start slashing prices inelegantly to entice customers through his front door “.
According to him, this led to a sharp drop in resale value.
Mr. Scherr also mentioned it to justify Hertz’s slower adoption of the model.
“The decline in the MSRP (Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price) of electric vehicles during 2023, primarily due to Tesla, has caused the fair market value of our electric vehicles to decline compared to last year, by so that the recovery creates a greater loss and therefore a greater loss. burden,” Mr. Scherr said.
Prices of new Teslas have fallen as much as 20%, according to Cadogan.
“Face it, Tesla fanboy, how many 20 percent price cuts are sustainable for Tesla before the show collapses,” he said.
“If reducing prices is the only measure to increase competition, Tesla is doomed.”
He pointed out that a bulk buyer such as Hertz would get its Teslas at a significant discount and negotiated a good deal for maintenance.
“Even that wasn’t enough to reverse for Hertz the economic double whammy that Teslas were too expensive to repair and resale values imploded,” Cadogan said.
According to Cadogan, handing over the new Teslas was a cynical decision that had a huge impact on owners.
American car rental giant Hertz has announced its intention to slow down the introduction of Teslas into its fleet.
“Every time Electronic Jesus reduces prices, it also has a huge impact on the resale value of existing owners,” he argued.
“He’s happy to destroy existing owners if it keeps new loyalists, which isn’t a very sustainable long-term business strategy, is it.”
“If you really take the biggest bath on your (Tesla) Model 3, are you really going to face it again? How much Koolaid did you actually eat?
He believed that what was true of Teslas was largely true of all battery-powered vehicles.
“It seems like every day there is another brick in the wall of evidence that this mad rush to transition to exclusively battery-electric transportation is little more than an all-you-can-eat buffet of shit sandwiches,” did he declare.
“And problematically, I think we’re running out of bread.”
In the comments section of the video, many expressed their views on Tesla and electric vehicles, and the sentiment was mostly negative.
“If something is too expensive for a large rental car company to own/operate, that’s a good sign that us normal people know that,” one added.
A second added: People are starting to realize that electric vehicles are not the green utopia they dreamed of in their wildest dreams.
A third said: “I take pride in keeping my 1990 Volvo wagons maintained and on the road. I also can’t say enough about how the vintage interior is a welcome escape from the world filled with computer screens everywhere.
“Yes it needs premium gas and gets 25 mpg, yes it requires maintenance, but overall it’s cheaper to insure and maintain than a $400/month car with a 86 month loan. »
Toyota sales director Sean Hanley told reporters last week that electric vehicles were poorly equipped for many of Australia’s typical ranges, stresses and uses.
“It’s too early,” Hanley said.
“What battery electric vehicle do we currently have on sale in Australia that can tow 2.5 tonnes for 600km? We don’t do it. There is no such thing.
“If we only move to zero-emission vehicles, what are you going to say to the hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of Australians who tow caravans, who use their cars for work, who need their cars in the field , who need their cars in the mine, who needs a range greater than 200 or 300 km?
Despite his comments, Hanley said Toyota was “not against battery electric vehicle technology” and would launch its own model in Australia before the end of the year.
But he said hybrid vehicles were a practical technology for now and Toyota would press the federal government to adopt a generously timed standard that would reduce pollution without reducing vehicle choice.
“We have spoken to the government and I believe we have represented the silent voices of hundreds of thousands of Australian consumers who use their cars for leisure, towing and many other activities,” he said.
“I know that some pressure groups have claimed that we tried to stop, prevent, block electrification, but that is not true. We simply represented the truth and the reality of the market.
Mr Hanley made the comments at the Japan Mobility Show, which showcased Toyota’s first fully electric car for the Australian market, the delayed bZ4X SUV.
He argued that Toyota could make more hybrid vehicles with the same materials used to create an electric car and that electric vehicles were “powered, in many cases, by electricity generated from coal” and did not so practically nothing to reduce emissions.
These observations did not go down well with Electric Vehicle Council CEO Behyad Jafari.
“When we hear these arguments, we must pay close attention to the economic interest of the car manufacturer,” Mr. Jafari said.
“Some companies have not spent time developing electric vehicles and do not sufficiently understand the issues.”
Akio Toyoda, chairman and CEO of Toyota Motor Corporation, said earlier this year that electric cars would not enable the complete transition from fossil fuels.
“Frankly, (electric vehicles) are not the only way to achieve global carbon neutrality goals,” he said.
It was announced this week that US auto giant Ford would cut its investment in electric vehicles after the astonishing news that it lost around $US36,000 ($57,000) for every battery-powered vehicle produced.
Longtime Ford rival General Motors also announced it had abandoned its goal of producing 400,000 electric vehicles by the first half of 2024, citing slowing demand, manufacturing bottlenecks and low profitability.
