dDF said:
SparkE said:
Just because the Ioniq doesn't meet YOUR needs, doesn't mean that it won't be attractive to other buyers. 125 mile range would suit me fine (for almost $10K less), and Hyundai is working on offering a larger battery for 2018. As a data point, about 17.5 million cars were sold in the US last year. You mentioned 1%. 1% of 17.5 million is 175,000. I think that Hyundai would be ecstatic if they could sell 175,000 Ioniqs. Or 17,500 (10% of 1%).
I did not say that Ioniq is unattractive to all buyers. And neither did I say I couldn't put an Ioniq to good use, to the tune of 20K miles a year easily.
The point is that the 2017 Ioniq doesn't have the range to fill the role of the
only vehicle of a typical US owner. This seems like a limitation to me, and the automotive industry agrees (hence everyone's effort to extend the range to above 200 mi).
Let's talk about 2018 Ionic's range (and price) when it shows up in the dealerships.
You keep changing your objection to the Ioniq. First you "do not understand IONIQ's purpose on the US market". It's purpose is to provide 124 miles of range. It would be a fantastic second car for a family/couple. Second, you said "it can be a primary everyday car for maybe 1% of the US drivers". But then (in your most recent post) you said "Ioniq doesn't have the range to fill the role of the
only vehicle of a typical US owner". Surely you don't think that 99% of the U.S. drivers only have one car available? ("primary car for 1% of US drivers"). But even if that were true, the Ioniq would fit the needs of 175,000 car buyers a year (using your 1% argument).
I think that most married households wouldn't be overly bothered if one of their two cars had a 124-mile limit. How often every a year do
both drivers have to drive over 100 miles the same day, in both of their cars, simultaniously? Supposing that only 33% of the new vehicles sold in the US are sold into two-driver households (a pretty low percentage I think, but let's be conservative), and let's suppose that only 33% of THOSE sales are cars instead of trucks, or SUVs (again, pretty low) - that's 11% of the annual vehicle sales - a lot larger than 1% (which was already 175K vehicles). 11% of 17.5M is around 1.9 million. That's a pretty large pool of possible buyers for an Ioniq.
The target audience for the Ioniq EV most likely *starts* with anybody who was interested in (especially if they bought) a 80-ish or 104-ish mile range LEAF, Golf, Focus, etc. Now, since the Ioniq has greater range, that should interest MORE than the people who were interested in those earlier, other makes with lower range. Since it is less expensive than the LEAF, Golf, etc were until recently - I would think that more people would be interested as well. And I would also imagine that some of the people who were put off two/three years ago because of the limited availability of public charging stations (both L2 and DCFC) would be interested *today* because there are a LOT more charging stations (especially DCFCs) around than there were 2-3 years ago (at least that is true in California). So, Ioniq EV has longer range than any other BEV sold in the US for under $60,000 - check. Ioniq EV is $1-4K less expensive than 2018 model BEVs with LESS range - check. Ioniq EV is almost $10K less expensive than the Bolt (for people who don't need a 240-mile range vehicle, and would rather have $10,000) - check.
At any rate, since the Ioniq EV is only being sold in California, I would guess that Hyundai's target audience are California residents. Quite possibly only couples/families, who have another vehicle available for longer drives. Since Hyundai is limiting their sales to CA, I would guess that their main purpose in sales of the Ionic EV (and PHEV) is to get ZEV/CARB credits. 1-2000 is probably more than enough to meet their needs in the first year. And since they developed the vehicle as multi-engine (hybrid, PHEV, and BEV), it really doesn't matter if they only sell 1000 BEVs - the development cost for the model is pretty much spread across sales of all the models.
I hope that helps you with your understanding of the "IONIQ's purpose on the US market".
Oh, and your comment on "everyone's effort to extend the range to above 200 mi". Please tell me what BEVs Ford has announced (even if not shipping today) that has a range over 200 miles? Chrysler? Toyota? Honda? Mazda? Mercedes? Subaru? (Volvo, Fiat, Renault, Citroen, Tata, ...) Honda's most recent BEV announcement (in April) was for a car with 80-mile range.
