The main US market isn't fully convinced to go EV. The early adopter segment is happy, but that's a very different group of people than the main market. Totally different circumstances, different needs, different concerns, ...
Indeed, the US market has different concerns than much of the rest of the world.
In the USA we have the geography, and lack of political barriers, which allow us to drive for very long distances. The early adopters that are willing to tolerate the longer stops for a recharge, versus a refill of go-juice that takes much less time, have all pretty much got their BEV by now. There's going to be people buying new here and there as their new cars become old but that's a much smaller market than the initial growing market while BEVs were a novel item.
I know the BEV advocates will try to make the case on how its no big deal to have to recharge than refill but there's also horror stories still of people needing to have their BEV towed because they could not find a place to recharge in time.
Actually transitioning from the early adopter market to the main market is notoriously difficult. A well known and well discussed topic.
Perhaps this is a topic that has been well discussed but are people listening?
As best I can tell the idea of getting a PHEV is popular in the USA, so long as it offers all electric commuting while offering the ability to burn hydrocarbons for long trips and such that could make charging inconvenient or difficult. From what I've seen too many PHEV options available have a very short all electric range, at least compared to the average American commute. The typical American commute is about 40 miles round trip, or that's what I recall from looking that up before. That seems about right from what I know of other people's driving habits. A quick search of the web tells me quite a few PHEV options get only 25 (-ish) all electric miles on a single charge so that would meet the all electric commute needs of about 1/4 of American drivers? Something like that. There's a few PHEV options that can get in the 40-50 mile range on a single charge, so half of American drivers could get an all electric commute with those? I'd guess so, that's kind of the definition of average.
What I expect to be popular would be people seeking a BEV as a second vehicle, something for a household with multiple drivers to use for their commutes but then use their primary vehicle for long trips. This primary vehicle may be a PHEV so as to get some of their daily miles on electric power but Americans aren't ready to go all BEV yet. Americans may never go all BEV, or at least not likely in the lifetime of anyone alive at the time I'm typing this. There's a huge problem with battery energy density and recharge time that will not be easily solved. We'd need a large shift in infrastructure to make battery-electric transportation practical for large potions of the market, and that would take decades to build unless there's some World War Part Two level shift in industrial output. Americans understand the depth and breadth of ICEV options because we've been soaking in it for 100 years. The BEV as we know it today didn't really exist 20 years ago, and since their introduction they've been offered as high-end and high-price options.
To get maximum miles of driving in North America on all-electric power looks to me like pushing he PHEV as the best option for a primary or only vehicle, and the BEV as a secondary vehicle for multiple vehicle households. I've been seeing plenty of advertising for PHEVs lately so that's already happening. I don't know how willing the BEV makers would be willing to tackle the middle and low end market. That would mean shifting from the idea of the BEV as a sporty and/or luxury vehicle to what middle income parents would buy for their teenage children to drive to school and such. That would dilute the "brand" that is the BEV and I can expect automakers would be reluctant to go there as that can impact their ability to sell other BEV options.
