Are you looking for an electric car? Get in line. These vehicles can’t be built fast enough to keep up with the high demand for them.
The combination of record-high gas prices and the expansion of the EV market created a furious desire for vehicles that run only on electricity, This part of the market was responsible for a very small percentage of the overall car sales until recently. More automakers are moving toward electric vehicles than ever before, and now drivers want them more than anything else.
Supply-Chain Issues Raise Ugly Once Again
If you haven’t heard about the troubles with the lack of semiconductor chips in the automotive world, you’ve been hiding under a rock. This single item is responsible for nearly every strange occurrence in the market since the pandemic struck. Suppliers cannot produce these chips fast enough, and the electric vehicles being made use more of these chips than their gasoline counterparts. Some of the models produced need up to 1,000 of these items to offer all of the features you want. The slow ramp-up of these items has caused increased prices for used vehicles and a shortage of new models at dealerships.
The Demand is Much Greater Than Expected
Because sales for electric car models have been so low until recently, the incredible increase in demand was never predicted. Similar to the coronavirus shutting down the global economy, no one could have predicted the fact that customers would be turning toward the variety of EV models that could be right for the drive. This incredible demand means that automakers can’t keep up with the supply needed, which is creating a crazy world and a bit of a challenge for both automakers and dealers.
Some Automakers Stopped Taking Orders for EVs
Many brands that now offer EVs have said simply they are pretty much sold out of the electric models they want to offer. Some are no longer taking orders for their high-demand EVs, but others just can’t build them fast enough. Tesla only makes EVs, Mercedes-Benz is moving to an all-EV lineup, and Volkswagen is working toward an EV future. The incredible demand for the short supply of these vehicles. The Volkswagen Group has three electric models, the Porsche Taycan, Volkswagen ID.4, and Audi E-Tron, which all have very few models available for customers to buy and drive.
Some Dealers Are Doing the Wrong Thing
In an air of creative stupidity, nearly 10% of Ford dealers around the country were found guilty of price gouging. While this doesn’t change the fact that some customers paid nearly three times the MSRP for a Ford F-150 Lightning EV truck, it does mean that these dealers won’t receive future allocations of the high-demand EVs. This public action against those dealers by Ford should serve as a warning for the rest of the automakers to avoid facing. GM already issued a warning to dealers to avoid the same price gouging.
Could the Shortages Just be a Public Relations Stunt
Some people are skeptical about the announced shortage in the electric car market. The drop in sales during the pandemic has some wondering if automakers are collectively working together to tell consumers there aren’t very many of the electric vehicles available to get shoppers to pay more for the electric models they want to drive. It would be difficult to believe a collective action like this, especially considering how easy it would be for just one automaker to go away from the rest and offer more cars for sale. Still, it’s hard to think that some type of PR stunt isn’t being used against the public.
Can’t New Automakers Fill the Void?
New automakers Lucid Motors and Rivian began delivering vehicles to customers, but even these two names can’t fill the entire void left by the demand for the short supply of electric car models. While the new Lucid Air is an excellent luxury sedan that fights with the Tesla Model S, and the Rivian brand brings the R1S electric SUV, and R1T electric pickup truck add a trio of different models, they won’t fill the entire demand for these vehicles.
Are Automakers Holding Back?
There’s a delicate balance at play here. One of the biggest reasons that EVs are so hot right now is the fact that gas prices are through the roof. Automakers must take care not to grow their EV models too fast. What happens if gas prices suddenly drop back down to a much more affordable level? Would this suddenly destroy the demand for EVs? It could be because this demand is mostly built from the increased price of fossil fuels that power the cars and trucks that we enjoy driving every day.
Although the demand in the electric car market is incredibly high right now, EVs still don’t offer the same driving range as gas or diesel-powered vehicle and can’t be refueled as fast either.
When Will Supply and Demand Meet Once Again?
It’s hard to predict when gas prices will drop, when automakers will have enough production to meet the demand, or what the future EV models will offer. Right now, the entire automotive market is in flux, and it doesn’t seem to show any signs of changing. If you’re looking for one of the new electric vehicles offered, you’ll have to get in line or wait until the orders reopen for the vehicle you want to enjoy.
It’s possible the supply and demand will meet sometime when there’s enough variety in the EV world for everyone to find an electric car to drive. By the end of the decade, more than 50 percent of the car sales in America are supposed to come from electric vehicles. Will we reach that goal, and will the automotive market have enough vehicles to offer an EV to everyone? This might be a question that’s difficult to answer and won’t truly be answered until there is some form of normalcy back in the car world.
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