Waitlist times for EV vehicles have always been more painful than buying a gas (ICE) vehicle. However, they have only been getting worse thanks to inflation and global supply chain issues. What used to take weeks to months is now pushing toward months to years.
This news isn’t new to some, such as original Rivian investors who waited years to get their vehicle (some of which are still waiting to this very day). However, the average wait time for many models, including Tesla and Ford are found to be in the months currently.
The only issue with this is that the window for getting buyers’ remorse increases since customers have all that time to change their minds. Where buying an ICE vehicle usually doesn’t require much more than visiting a lot and driving away with a new car, EV customers have plenty of time to convince themselves to redact their decision and run away. Sometimes with minimal losses.
I can definitely say that the long wait times are having an effect on sales because as of two months ago, I had three colleagues that were waiting on Tesla orders and now there is only one as the other two have canceled their orders (one because they grew tired of waiting and bought a hybrid and the other simply decided not to spend all that money after all).
To make things worse (for the EV market, at least), the Senate is looking to bring back tax incentives, leading to a tax credit reform that could help to stimulate sales and relieve some of the costs for buyers. This is good for buyers if it happens. However, if it fully passes and becomes a thing, it won’t include 2022 purchases. This means a lot of buyers may cancel their pre-orders (if still waiting) and wait till 2023 to try again. Just so that they can take advantage of a multi-thousand dollar rebate. Not to mention potential new orders that will be postponed to take advantage of it all the same.
This could lead to a sudden drop in orders for 2022, which could affect profits and progression for some of these companies. Possibly even leading to continued price hikes as companies look to make up for any losses that may come from it all.
Who’s to say though as there is always the chance that many aren’t even following the news? They might not even see this article about it all. So they’ll find out after it’s too late and will have to brood upon the fact that they are out potentially thousands in savings (I’m being a little deviant here). Regardless, plenty will see the news, and plenty will react to it (if it passes).
Hopefully, the global supply chain stabilizes sooner than later for both the sake of companies staying ahead and customers not having to wait forever for their purchase.
