• makyo@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    18
    ·
    9 days ago

    I obviously don’t understand the economics of it and I realize that China will always have the upper hand on price but is there a reason every western EV has to be $40,000+? Like surely it’s possible to build a barebones model for less than 30k right - especially if I don’t need or even want touch screens or fancy interior materials or heated seats or anything.

    • doctordevice@lemmy.ca
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      8
      ·
      9 days ago

      That’s why I snatched up a Bolt before Chevy (temporarily, they say) discontinued the line. I even did upgrade it a little to get heated/cooling front seats and a heated steering wheel plus the extra safety features. $32.5k with a $7.5k rebate from the federal Clean Vehicle Credit. So $25k for a car with a 175-280 mile range. (175ish in winter when the battery is less efficient, 280 in summer).

      Of course the IRS fucked up the point of sale rebate when I was purchasing, but it’s finally incoming with my taxes this year.

    • reddig33@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      7
      ·
      9 days ago

      Higher profit margins.

      Europeans get the bulk of cheaper and smaller EVs. Meanwhile in North America, Ford stopped selling sedans. It’s a niche that car makers could fill if they wanted to.

    • Sunshine (she/her)@lemmy.caOP
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      5
      ·
      9 days ago

      Touch screens are actually cheaper than physical buttons as it’s the reason why so many electric cars have them. Most of the cost comes from the batteries so they try to save in other areas.

      We should see more physical buttons back in newer electric cars as the batteries get cheaper to mass produce.

      • makyo@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        4
        ·
        9 days ago

        No kidding, I didn’t know that. I did some checking and it says replacement batteries are $5-15k! Well silver lining is the price is dropping precipitously:

        Jan 26, 2024 - According to the DOE, the cost of a lithium-ion EV battery was 89 percent lower in 2022 than it was in 2008

    • Iampossiblyatwork@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      3
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      9 days ago

      My guess is that none of them are at scale to the point where the margins are great. To make the margins acceptable price had to go up.

      Nothing is really profitable in auto until the whole production line is operating at full scale.

      • makyo@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        3
        ·
        9 days ago

        Yeah that makes sense, I bet you’re right or at least that’s a large part of it.

        Reminds me of this video I saw about economies of scale specifically regarding a special part that went into a guitar. The maker could get the material and produce that part pretty cheaply until the automotive industry stopped using that same material. Suddenly they could barely source the material anymore and just had to cancel the part.