You won’t be surprised to learn that demand for electric and hybrid vehicles is rising as gas prices continue to soar.
But with shortages of almost everything because of the pandemic and global instability, you’ll probably be equally unsurprised to hear that it’s getting tougher and tougher to find such cars.
“There’s a ton of demand in the market, but there just isn’t the supply,” Pat Ryan, chief exec of the car-buying app CoPilot, tells NPR.
CoPilot shows that the price of used Teslas has climbed $1,700 in just one week, to $63,000.
This isn’t unusual. Interest in fuel-efficient vehicles typically spikes when pump prices go through the roof.
But limited inventory, along with an acute worldwide shortage of microchips, is making it hard to track down reasonably priced alternatives to traditional gas-powered vehicles.
We can blame ourselves in part for the problem. Americans simply don’t like little cars. Heck, we don’t even like proper-size cars.
Three-quarters of vehicles sold in the United States last year were SUVs and pickup trucks.
“If you’re General Motors, you’d rather make a big SUV,” Ryan told NPR. “A big Suburban might make you $10,000. There’s no way to make $10,000 on a $25,000 car.”
The shortage of electric vehicles and hybrids won’t last. Every major carmaker has embarked on aggressive programs to develop and manufacture EVs. The chip shortage will be resolved.
For the time being, however, most Americans are forced to pay whatever’s asked at the pump.
According to AAA, gas in Los Angeles was averaging more than $6 a gallon Friday.