For real. If I’m getting an EV, I’m getting it for efficiency, not luxury. I wouldn’t be traveling across the state or the country. I’d be using it to get to work and get the groceries. You can’t tell me it’s not possible to make something with an electric motor, spartan accessories, and a decent range for less than 12-15k. Seriously, I don’t want a car that drives itself. I don’t really even want automatic transmissions, although electric almost negates the need for any transmission. I just want a car that is cheap, does the job, and that I don’t have to chop my left nut off for these days.
Honestly, I think most of the cost is safety stuff. Much of the weight is that too. To meet crash test standards (well, to get the 5 star) set by countries and some insurance companies, they need automatic breaking for instance. Rear back up cameras are mandated, so now you need a screen in the dash. 10+ airbags, sensors, controllers, and on and on.
We had 2 seater cars that got 50 MPG in the early 90s, passengers just wouldn’t survive many crashes they will in modern cars.
Well perhaps UNICEF will one day get into the EV production business but for now they’re not profitable.
Most of the ~$30k cars on sale today are being sold at a loss. Tesla is your best bet as they still have considerable profit margins but given the speed of their progress and their current demand it likely won’t be for a couple more decades.
I think the point is that they should be accessible to people without “luxury” budgets.
I refuse to pay 30k plus for a car that I only need to get me from point a to b. Not everyone is a car fanatic.
Pricing is very much the problem if they want wider adoption.
For real. If I’m getting an EV, I’m getting it for efficiency, not luxury. I wouldn’t be traveling across the state or the country. I’d be using it to get to work and get the groceries. You can’t tell me it’s not possible to make something with an electric motor, spartan accessories, and a decent range for less than 12-15k. Seriously, I don’t want a car that drives itself. I don’t really even want automatic transmissions, although electric almost negates the need for any transmission. I just want a car that is cheap, does the job, and that I don’t have to chop my left nut off for these days.
Honestly, I think most of the cost is safety stuff. Much of the weight is that too. To meet crash test standards (well, to get the 5 star) set by countries and some insurance companies, they need automatic breaking for instance. Rear back up cameras are mandated, so now you need a screen in the dash. 10+ airbags, sensors, controllers, and on and on.
We had 2 seater cars that got 50 MPG in the early 90s, passengers just wouldn’t survive many crashes they will in modern cars.
Well perhaps UNICEF will one day get into the EV production business but for now they’re not profitable.
Most of the ~$30k cars on sale today are being sold at a loss. Tesla is your best bet as they still have considerable profit margins but given the speed of their progress and their current demand it likely won’t be for a couple more decades.
I don’t think it’s possible to make cars at that price. We have several that are <$30k and all are being sold at a loss.
That’s fair, but also moot while there are non electric cars available for less than 30k. Hopefully in time they can get the cost down.
Most of the cost of an EV comes from the battery, which those other cars don’t have.
While it’s possible to make cars with smaller batteries, several decades of history have shown us consumers won’t buy them. At least not in the US.