Electric Vehicles

72% of Americans Believe Electric Vehicles Are Too Costly: Are They Correct?


72% of Americans Believe Electric Vehicles Are Too Costly: Are They Correct?

by Conscious_Armadillo1

44 Comments

  1. ATotalCassegrain

    Yes. They are.

    I say this is a 3 EV, no ICE household. Here in the US they simply cost more for a reasonably capable EV. I’m fine with that personally. But it’s generically a true statement.

  2. Nissan leaf was leasing for $9/mo with a $17K payoff after 3 years. Don’t tell me that’s too expensive!

  3. Dependent-Mode-3119

    Yes they are. They can be had for about the price of a new car, but the issue is that the price of new cars is also too costly for most people.

  4. In the sense that ideally there would not be any premium over ICE, sure.

  5. jonathanbaird

    Nope. I paid considerably less for my 2024 Model 3 than local Toyota dealerships wanted for a 2024 Prius.

    **2024 Model 3 LR AWD**: $40,000
    **2024 Prius Prime Premium**: $44,000

    The Prius came with stalks and better quality control, and that’s where its advantages end. The Model 3 blows it out of the water in terms of efficiency, performance, amenities, and maintenance.

    **edit: the proud ignorance on display in this sub is really disappointing to see. Elon is a godawful and useless human being, I 100% agree; now stop shitting on the talented engineers and designers who make incredible EVs. Comparing them to econoboxes? Are you out of your mind?**

  6. wooooooofer

    They are. Automakers also know exactly what they’re doing.

  7. brizzle42

    Yes and no. Given the savings in gas and maintenance my low cost Bolt has absolutely saved me money. That said I think what’s missing is smaller more budget friendly EVs. The bulk of them are too big or I should say bigger than some peoples needs. Not ever EV needs to be an SUV or dripping with all the advanced features etc.

  8. spider_best9

    Where I live(not the US) yes. For example an VW ID.4 starts at just over €42k, while a VW Tiguan which is comparable in size and class, start at €34k

  9. dequiallo

    No. Those are the people who wouldn’t take them if they were handed out free just to be spiteful.

  10. perrochon

    What percentage believes new cars are too costly?

  11. Entire_Frame_5425

    Yes. I refer anyone to the Sam Vimes ‘boots’ theory of socioeconomics.

    >The reason that the rich were so rich, Vimes reasoned, was because they managed to spend less money.

    >Take boots, for example. He earned thirty-eight dollars a month plus allowances. A really good pair of leather boots cost fifty dollars. But an affordable pair of boots, which were sort of OK for a season or two and then leaked like hell when the cardboard gave out, cost about ten dollars. Those were the kind of boots Vimes always bought, and wore until the soles were so thin that he could tell where he was in Ankh-Morpork on a foggy night by the feel of the cobbles.

    >But the thing was that good boots lasted for years and years. A man who could afford fifty dollars had a pair of boots that’d still be keeping his feet dry in ten years’ time, while the poor man who could only afford cheap boots would have spent a hundred dollars on boots in the same time and would still have wet feet.

    Do EVs offer long term cost savings? Yes. Does that matter to poor and working class folk who can’t afford the current upfront premium (at least in the West) of EVs vs modern ICE econo-boxes? No.

  12. 0utriderZero

    I think cars are too costly regardless of locomotive power.

  13. pool_n00b

    for cheaper cars yes they’re more expensive. for higher end vehicles ? absolutely not. try to find a 500hp ice SUV and see how much more they’ll cost compared to EV variants

  14. Affectionate_Yam_913

    Yes but in time the cost will be less than ice cars.

  15. MN-Car-Guy

    If you polled Americans with the simple question:

    “Are new _____ too expensive, yes or no?”

    Guess how they’d answer.

    This is flawed polling

  16. plasthandske

    To buy? For sure. To own and drive? No not at all.

  17. I’d like to get rid of my Ridgeline pickup for an EV pickup, but they are all too expensive and I don’t need or want a full size pickup anyway. I hate waiting because I really want an EV but I am not convinced I want to ditch the pickups utility.

  18. Not sure why everyone is ignoring the used car market here. New EVs are too expensive but they depreciate like mad on the used market, you can get a ton of almost-new EVs for 20 grand these days.

    Personally I’m holding out for the sub 30k Porsche taycan sport tourismos, that’ll be about 5 years I think

  19. Crawlerado

    We’re sitting at $4200 all in for our 90 mile Leaf. It’s been 5,000 miles since MAY with only another 25k to go before it ROIs out. YMMV

  20. party_benson

    Comparing apples the apples, look at the prices of the F150 EV and the ICE. One costs more and comes with range anxiety. 

  21. Nameisnotyours

    100% of all Americans believe that cars are too expensive.

    Fixed

  22. crazyrynth

    Higher MSRP, lack of a readily available small/budget vehicle, need for at home changing solution/public charging rates until an at home solution exists, higher insurance costs, and, in many states, higher registration fees. It does cost a lot to get an EV.

    However, it’s like buying in bulk, in that the expensive cost levels out/pulls ahead eventually.

    But given how non-immediate some of those costs can be, American car purchasing habits/patterns, and how labyrinthian car financing is to the average person, the “eventually” might never be worth chasing for a lot of people for a good while yet.

  23. Specialist_Crab_8616

    They have been. But that’s changing.

    Chevrolet equinox for under 30k after credits is going to change the game.

  24. NotCook59

    Compared to comparable vehicles, no they are not. Low end EVs are not more expat than their ICE counterparts. Look at Tesla Model 3, for example, compared to cars with nothing like the performance or space. I don’t know what compares to a Model Y, but it isn’t the likes of a low end sedan.

  25. To be more correct, they cost more upfront but not in total cost of ownership. That hasn’t been explained well to the average consumer.

  26. Ok_Giraffe8865

    Seems like they polled to many people that have only owned an ICE. Would be quite different if they polled only those that have owned both.

  27. Chiaseedmess

    To buy? Yes.

    To lease and charge at home? So cheap.

  28. BasicWhiteHoodrat

    I’m guessing the initial cost of a charger installation is definitely holding back sales.

    I’m 99.5% getting one next, but I could understand the average consumer not wanting to pay for that upfront

  29. There are barely any affordable new car options in the US. Average new car price is $49K.

  30. riajairam

    I think sometimes the prices for Teslas are too low. There really should be budget models of those cars rather than just slashing prices and decimating resale value. Something without all the fancy self driving stuff.

  31. SimpleMindHatter

    True. And whatever long term savings potential is eaten up by higher insurance and registration costs! In CA, avg EV registration is $728/yr compared to $113/yr for ICE vehicles. Zero savings… it’s simply costlier to use an EV vs ICE.

  32. lord_nuker

    And that’s thanks to how the government and the different states have decided to tax EV’s. Here in Norway we didn’t pay taxes on EV’s before 01.01.23. Now we have a 25% vat on anything above 50k$, an 1,2$ weight tax for every kilogram above 500kg, and reduction on toll roads and ferry’s, and some toll roads are still completely free for EV’s. And that is how we have managed to get another recordbraking month with 96,4% marked share for EV’s when it comes to new cars in September. And that is how we get a brand new Tesla M3 to 36k$ or other great cars for even cheaper. The new Skoda (yeah, probably not an well known brand in the US) will have a starting price of 30k$ with taxes included.

    And yes, we also have invested a lot in building out a fast charging network, both via Tesla but also other both privat and public owned chargers.

  33. Yes, very much so. I used to hope that all the talk of EVs achieving price parity with ICE vehicles was going to involve them getting significantly cheaper. I should’ve known that it would happen because the prices of ICE vehicles would rise to meet EVs.

  34. Don’t get the argument. I’ve bought 3 EVs so far, all used. Latest was 2 weeks ago a 2022 model 3 for 17500. Not too unreasonable considering what you get

  35. oobbyb_61

    Who gives a crap about these surveys. Adoption has increased tremendously in the last 5 years, and continues to do so. Once there’s price parity with ICE, then we’re off to the races…. The EV races.

  36. oobbyb_61

    Who gives a crap about these surveys. Adoption has increased tremendously in the last 5 years, and continues to do so. Once there’s price parity with ICE, then we’re off to the races…. The EV races.

  37. SpaceghostLos

    Yes. And without the infrastructure to boot. But I sure as fuck love my Mach-E

  38. Christhebobson

    Not at all. I would have to pay tens of thousands more to get the same performance as a model 3 performance. Easily double its price.

  39. WhileTrueTrueIsTrue

    If I want a 3rd row SUV with AWD, I could buy a Kia Telluride for ~$38k. The cheapest EV9 with AWD (Wind) within 200 miles of me is $54k, and I don’t qualify for all the rebates they have listed to get it to that price. Yes, the EV9 has more bells and whistles, but ultimately, I just need a 3rd row AWD SUV for my family, and a $16k difference between the cheapest trimmed EV and the comparable ICE from the same manufacturer is a hell of a gap.

    Yes, EVs are too expensive right now. I really want to buy one, but not at these prices.

  40. Difficult_Pirate_782

    Naw, it’s relative. An EV can be a tremendous value if it fits in your life.

  41. Upbeat-Ad-851

    How many think the price of a new ICE vehicle is too costly. There I corrected the title.

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