[willxinc]

Vaguely curious why this is the case, if people are respecting the pandemic.

[aatharuv]

People are driving far less in general, and I suspect fewer people are road tripping, so range anxiety, and rechargeability becomes less of a problem for those who need to buy a new car.

But there are also more people replacing plane with car travel, which increases the numbers of people driving, but I presume that's much lower than the number of people no longer road tripping. And some of those people might decide it's worth it just to rent a car if they need to do that.

[willxinc]

Ah, this makes sense (as do the other responses, likely a combination of factors).

It had slipped my mind that people would still need to make (typically shorter range) trips for groceries and other critical things.

[WillPostForFood]

It is mostly driven by China, which isn’t locked down due to the pandemic.

[theshrike79]

I switched to an EV mid-pandemic, my reasoning was:

  - Close to zero maintenance
  - Cheaper to run
  - Less taxes (our cars get taxed by the amount of emissions)
  - Keeps its value better (less parts that wear or break)

Basically the amount of driving I did went down by a good 50%, it's cheaper to have an EV.

[dagmx]

There were some compelling new EVs and price drops around the pandemic time frame. For example we bought a Model Y.

A pandemic is also a great time to get a car, because prices had dropped with many incentives, but also driving to go on socially distant hikes is a great way to stay healthy and break things up.

[redisman]

I mean a car is the best way to get around in a pandemic? You're in a sealed cube.

[bpodgursky]

I actually know a ton of people who have taken road trips this year (to get out of the house and do anything, anywhere) in lieu of flights.