Taycan and EV's on the road US vs EU

[ben1]

I recently visited the US for 2 weeks. I was thinking it is maybe interesting to share my impression of the current status of EV's on the road in both continents.
Off course I can only compare a part of the US with a part of the EU. But I assume they are comparable in size, number of inhabitants and average income.

At home I regularly drive in Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, France and Switzerland.
During my holidays, I drove in New York state, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Washington DC, Philadelphia, New York city and New Jersey. I drove about 2500 miles.

Taycan's:
To my surprise I only saw 2 Taycan for the entire 15 days (both where on the highway between New Jersey and New York). Where I live I have to drive only 15min to see at least 2 Taycan's ! If I would drive for 15 days in the european countries mentioned above, I would see more than 100 Taycans.
I also noticed that, if you see a Porsche in the US, it seems to be mostly SUV's (Macan and Cayenne).

EV's in general:
It is hard to really put a number on it. But my impression is that the different is huge. I would estimate there are easily 10x more EV's in the EU countries I mention here compared to the US states I have been to. Mostly Tesla's. Very small amount of other EV brands.
In the more rural area's it seems to be close to nothing. Easily 20x less than Western Europe.
Giving the extremely high percentage of pick-up trucks in rural area's I think the EV transition will be much harder in the coming years. (For a European the amount and size of pick-up truck is really insane.)

Cars in general:
What surprised me after not visiting the US for 15 years, was the very high amount of BMW's nowadays. Very high compared to other European car brands. Also LandRover/RangeRover was surprisingly high, for such a small brand.

Charging infrastructure:
It is hard to compare this because most of the fast chargers are hidden. Comparing slow chargers is maybe more accurate. In Western Europe you will find slow chargers at most parking lots of tourist locations like historic monuments, theme parks, city centers. Or at shops. It was a lot less in the US states I visited. I would also estimate 10x less. I really noticeable difference.

I assume it would give the complete opposite result if I would be comparing California with Southern Europe. But comparing Western Europe with Eastern USA, I would say that the US is several years behind on EV adoption at this moment.
And it looks like the Americans with a Taycan have a much more unique car.

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[jonbek]

I live in Chicago and I see more Lambos and Mclarens than Taycans, it's pretty wild. the only comparable EV density to Europe in my opinion is found in LA or the Bay Area. That is of course ignoring Teslas because, well just because.

 

[Valen]

When you see how it's hard to get an allocation in US, for sure it's a more unique car (sorry couldn't resist)

 

[Bill33525]

Should have visited California, your report would have been very different. I'm in central Florida and see Taycans now and then and of course Teslas are the new Camery here. Lot depends on where you are sampling in the US.

 

[Buckets265]

Coming from the East Coast, and recently there visiting family, the adoption rate is quite low compared to Norway. In Norway (Oslo specifically) you see a Taycan every other car it seems depending on the neighborhood you're in.

 

[wallace]

I live in LA and the density of EVs is quite high. Tesla does still have the highest market share, but I will see multiple Taycans every time I take a 10 min drive. It actually bums me out slightly since the car is less unique than it was even a few months ago. We do love our SUVs though - tons of Cayennes, Range Rovers and G Wagons. I find the last hilarious in LA.

 

[kort]

some of it has to do with the affluence of the community.
where I live teslas are very common and on a recent drive around the area close to me I saw 4 other taycans, only one was a turismo.

 

[Jhenson29]

Thanks for the report.

Excluding Southern CA, I’ve only seen two Taycans in the wild. Ever. Both around my city and never when traveling around the US.

But, I spent a week in Southern CA this past summer and there were several every day.

Range Rovers are definitely more popular in recent years. I see those all over now.

 

[kmcdonal]

Should have visited California, your report would have been very different. I'm in central Florida and see Taycans now and then and of course Teslas are the new Camery here. Lot depends on where you are sampling in the US.

I would echo this comment. The U.S. varies enormously depending on where you are located. Even within one state things can vary widely in more urban areas versus more rural areas, etc.

Near me there are a growing number of EVs. In addition to the usual Teslas, there are quite a few Polestars because they have a showroom here. We are also starting to see quite a few of the Korean EVs. If you go 50 miles from here, you would see only pickup trucks.

 

[ben1]

I would echo this comment. The U.S. varies enormously depending on where you are located. Even within one state things can vary widely in more urban areas versus more rural areas, etc.

Yes, that is expected. I also mentioned it in my initial post.
Same in Europe. A lot less EV's in the south and east. More in the west and north.

 

[GerhardF]

I recently visited the US for 2 weeks. I was thinking it is maybe interesting to share my impression of the current status of EV's on the road in both continents.
Off course I can only compare a part of the US with a part of the EU. But I assume they are comparable in size, number of inhabitants and average income.............

@ben1:
Thanks for this interesting comparison!

 

[simcity]

There are certain streets in London where Taycans outnumber Tesla’s.

The other day I counted at least ten Taycans in three streets in and around Harley Street in Marylebone. For those that don’t know it’s the private doctor/dentist/specialist medical capital of the capital.

Cheap on street parking for EVs like 89p for 4 hours - the same in a diesel car could set you back over £21 and zero congestion charge makes it almost a no brainer.

They’re actually getting disappointingly common.

 

[Dee]

I think you would get a much better idea by looking at registrations.
That's hard data instead of looking out of the window...
While you're driving you don't see the EVs which drive in front of you and/or behind you (they are travelling in the same direction, right?), you only see the ones you come across so there's that.
Or do you count them at parking lots?
Nevertheless it's nice to see a report of your experience during your stay.

 

[Mr.Smith]

EVs are really for California, not the East Coast or colder climate areas.
US has not required EV adoption like the EU and China.
Incentives definitely help which California has.

High income areas in California like West Hollywood, Beverly Hills you will see tons of Taycans, suburban areas like Orange County is ruled by White Teslas

I drove a Ford Lightning at a Socal dealer that was asking $75k over MSRP. They purchased from another dealer in the east coast because the demand is not like California.
Other Delalers in California are doing the same thing.

 

[kort]

EVs are really for California, not the East Coast or colder climate areas.

interesting considering that FL and GA have many, many EVs and the last I checked they are on the east coast

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