The best defense, it seems, is a cheap EV of our own.
No shit. Proving yet again that auto industry executives are complete morons waiting for another bailout.
Chevy has had a perfectly serviceable and low cost EV on the market for years. It’s possible to buy them new for $30,000 or less (before rebates) and used ones can be had for under $14,000.
It isn’t just about price or being an EV or the Leaf would be the best selling car in the world. People also want a car that isn’t a piece of junk with low resale value, is cramped, or has bad styling. These are big purchases and a lot more thought goes into buying them than two simple checkboxes.
You can’t have inexpensive and all the features you’re asking for though. It’s just not realistic.
I don’t want all the features I just want an EV with 300 miles of range, liquid cooling, and 20 minute charging… Automakers can shove their fancy computerized BS
The cheapest lease in America of any car, not just EVs, is a Hyundai Ioniq 6, with 300+ miles of range. And 20 min dc charging. I have one and it sure doesn’t feel like a cheaply made car.
Hyundai has the electric kona that fits that description for the most part.
Only $38k with outdated batteries that require charge limiting I’m looking for under $25k
Good luck! I think you’re asking too much TBH.
I feel the same way about feature bloat on pickup trucks. I don’t need a tailgate that opens and closes itself, but it’s a mandatory add-on if you want to buy the extended battery for any F-150 lightning. Trucks are meant for work, not loading them up with luxury bullshit.
Trucks are meant for work
When I see the size of them and the pristine condition they are in, I seriously doubt it’s the case for most pick up owners.
Tell me about it. It’s ruined the truck market for those of us that need/want one for work/light duty.
I have an opel and a merc and I prefer the opel. It has all the same features for less than half the price. It isnt impossible.
That’s awesome. So there are in fact low cost options then.
This is mostly true but I think a lot of the added cost is manufacturers pushing out vehicles with the maximum amount of markup possible in order to recoup their costs in developing EVs as fast as possible (along with COVID era proce gouging). I’m sure in a decade or two they’ll be dirt cheap comparatively, not that helps anyone now.
But isn’t this true with any “new” technology? The beginning of the timeline has high cost and as the product becomes “normal” costs come down?
Pretty much. I distinctly remember when plasma TVs first came out and seeing an advertisement in a magazine for them, 55" for $15,000. Now you can buy one (LCD) for a few hundred bucks.
Right. I doubt we see the exact same behavior with cars, especially in today’s world where all cars are more expensive than they were just 4 or so years ago. That said, I do expect EV prices to come down. I can hate on auto makers for being slow to the game all I want, but the reality is they won’t do it if they don’t think they can turn a profit. It seems like it’s coming just a lot slower than some would like.
Yeah, how else will they afford a third yacht?
Automakers don’t care about the used market in the same way video game makers or authors don’t. They only get money from the initial sale. Everyone is trying to move to a subscription model to capture some of that revenue. No such thing as a ‘used’ League of Legends copy.
There are tons of affordable used EVs under 30k. Most of them just don’t happen to be made anymore or have any parts availability without a fabrication shop.
The Bolt is nice, but it’s crazy that it doesn’t have much competition in the US.
Automakers do care about the used car market. Otherwise reliability would go out the window. There’s a reason Toyota is the #1 manufacturer in the world.
There’s more than 1 reason.
The Bolt is nice, but it’s crazy that it doesn’t have much competition in the US.
It’s early days for EVs and one thing that really pinched was that COVID happened literally right as manufacturers had just or were about to roll out their EVs. You can’t build cars when your workforce is sheltering in place and when they did show up to the factories they couldn’t get the parts thanks to supply chain problems. Those woes were then followed by super inflation and labor disputes with the UAW which delayed rollouts even further.
Right now sales are flat / declining because the early release EVs are too expensive for the current economic environment and the 2nd Gen Mainstream EVs are right around the corner. I wanted to buy an EV two years ago but in 2022 they were in very short supply and the dealer markups were insane so I didn’t. Prices have returned to something like normal but now we’re just months away from the release of the next generation so I’m holding off until they get here.
And GM tried to cancel it! Idiots.
Did cancel it - a promise to later release a more expensive car with the same name is not the same as revisiting their decision
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The US has a problem making shit ugly as fuck if it’s cheaper. We’re still in the mindset that something needs to be expensive to be good, but then complain when it’s expensive. The Bolt and Leaf are cheap because no one wants to buy that shit.
Ford didn’t need or take a bailout.
They did ask for one from Congress, and when asked during testimony if they requested money from Mexico or China, the response was, “No, We’re profitable in those countries.”
But Ford mortgaged their brand instead and came out on top.
I just read a whole article about the price of a car and don’t know the price of the car. “Journalism”
it’s discounted
Oh boy, that makes me want it! Take all of my money!
Yeah…sure it is. My brother ordered one 3 years ago and it was delivered last year - during which Ford hiked the price twice, removed features from the trim package, etc.
Each time he was given an opportunity to back out with a full refund of his deposit.
I’m pretty sure they were just trying to cut down the number of required deliveries while they figured out production problems - this discount is probably just returning to pre-hike pricing.
And even a replying comment doesn’t say the price.
Quick google says $40k. Not expensive, but definitely not a “cheap” EV.
From what I can tell, it’s still in the ~$50,000 range.
I don’t really see how that can be considered ’cheap’.
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And it still harvests all your private information to continually make more money off of you
But why is it so ugly?
The yellow is indeed bad. But it’s still one of the better looking EVs…
But why is it so ugly?
He literally just told you
I think they told someone else…
I much rather take my old car and pay to have the ICE engine taken out and replaced with a crate EV motor.
The problem is not the motor (as much) as it is where to put the batteries. Replacing just the gas tank on my tiny Subaru with a battery is not going to give the range I need.
Ya, unfortunately that’s the problem. But the majority of people don’t need to drive over 100 miles a day and most kits these days are over 100 now.
That take only works for families with multiple cars. A car would be pointless for me with a less than a 450km (280m) range.
That is a crazy commute. What line of work are you in that requires that much driving a day?
That’s not a commute. I don’t commute by car at all. I bike or take transit if I have to commute. A cars sole purpose for me is long trips with the family and going to the cottage, which is 320km away.
Not OP but a rural Canadian and farmer, I live 200km from the city. While I usually only go once every week or two, if I can’t make it there and back for any number of supplies that I might need in a hurry (parts, veterinary, hospital etc) then a vehicle is useless to me.
Even if the published range could barely squeeze it in, with winter temperatures dropping into the -30s any reduction in range would be a huge issue.
The thought of being badly injured while my car is sitting low on charge is terrifying. I always keep over 1/2 a tank in my car and also in my 4wd farm truck in case of bad weather.
Honestly the drop in kits are not for everyone. It’s really for people with a pure commuter car and a longer range vehicle that could be a hybrid, PHEV, All new electric or even ICE engine. Considering the average American family has over 2 cars, it’s quite possible.
I do own a little electric jeep with around 10 miles of range, it’s great for around the farm use. That’s where I like having the farmyard with plenty of room, I can keep special purpose vehicles.
It’s kind of a conversion-ish thing itself, Pinto transmission and rear end, heavy old 8hp series motor. 1970s electric tech.
The big killer here is insurance. I’m lucky to insure it as an antique for very little money, but if you have to insure a special purpose car it’s often not worth the fuel you save. I think they should have a special insurance program for short range cars, as you clearly can only drive one car at a time.
That would probably be way more expensive
Well, I have an old Audi TT that’s completely paid off. There is a 13k drop in kit for the Mk3 and MK4 VW golf which is the same chassis.
It’s only a little over 100 miles so there is that and I’m going to lose the Quattro, so it’s something that needs to be considered.
It looks like a Tonka toy
Fusion capacitor engines from elite dangerous when
