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The withering dream of a cheap American electric car

(www.wsj.com)
152 points voisin | 2 comments | 17 Nov 24 23:52 UTC | HN request time: 0.444s | source
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bartvk ◴[18 Nov 24 00:05 UTC] No.42168473[source]▶
https://archive.ph/9oIT4

I wish it would have adjusted for inflation. One quote: "The average transaction price for a new vehicle sold in the U.S. last month was $48,623, according to Kelley Blue Book, roughly $10,000 higher than in 2019, before the pandemic." However, about 9200 euros of that is due to inflation according to this calculator: https://www.usinflationcalculator.com/

That's a nitpick though. All in all, an interesting article, which can be summarized as: the EV car market is lacking demand, and car makers definitely don't want to make cheap EVs since it's already so hard.

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AgentOrange1234 ◴[18 Nov 24 00:21 UTC] No.42168570[source]▶
If even ICE cars are now super expensive, why isn’t this a screaming opportunity for some auto manufacturer to target the low end of the market?

I’ve never spent more than 20k for a car. With prices like this, I’m just going to keep my old one as long as I can.

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wyre ◴[18 Nov 24 00:24 UTC] No.42168584[source]▶
My understanding is that because cars are generally purchased rarely, they make more money with the status quo instead allowing customers a budget option.
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1. criddell ◴[18 Nov 24 14:57 UTC] No.42172858[source]▶
Budget options are out there but consumer demand for them is weak. Americans love their cars and seem to be willing to pay for a lot more car than they need.
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2. bluGill ◴[18 Nov 24 19:44 UTC] No.42176136[source]▶
Which would you buy - a brand new car with no options, or for the same price a three year car with all the options. Or you can go cheaper yet with a 10 year old car with all the options of 10 years ago. Anything other than the most luxurious car doesn't make sense for anyone to build in general because people who want to pay less are willing to settle for a used car.

If cars only lasted 3 years instead of the 20+ they do today (average car is 12 years old), there would be demand for cars that don't even have a heater by people who want to save money.