Where are All the Affordable Electric Cars?

What is an affordable electric car, how much it should cost and when will it be available - Nicole Scott of Mobile Geeks is here to talk about it all.

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[EforElectric]

Question to viewers: What price tag should an "affordable" electric car come at?

[jordanzs]

I think $15, 000 is kinda a pipe dream. I just looked on Toyotas website and a corolla even starts at $19, 600. I think if they can get it $25, 000 with at least 200 miles of range then it will be cost competitive due to gas and Maintenance savings.

[geoffshelley]

The average SRP of the top ten selling non-truck pass cars in 2018 was about $24, 000. If a n EV can be offered around that price point, that should be "affordable".

[jamesnogames]

I live in an apartment, and drive a Chevy Volt. I plug into my dryer plug in the garage. I made a convertor plug to adapt to higher charge.

[thenerdyarab]

And please make more of them available nationwide!

[Rodthgodx]

If you make an compact size suv around 30 -35 with 2-300 in range that’s not too far with off from prices today. Once that exists there will be probably be mass adoption of EVs at least in America. An electrified CRV/RAV4 would probably dominate the market today

[yourgarden]

In the UK we will getting MG ZS EV for £21500 this year same size as e niro

[stefanweilhartner]

i think the lady never heard the term 'total cost of ownership'

[iTuber]

You can get halfway there with a Chevy Volt

[kedaruss]

Sweden: average price of a new car over 33k Euro (37k USD). About 50% lives in houses (in general cheaper than apartments) and chargers are all over the place (in the town I live at there are more public chargers than gas stations). And we get about 7k USD cashback for buying an EV. Tesla Gigafactory in the EU will be the last step we need for good affordable EVs here I think.

[timcoleman]

Great guest Alex. She makes a good point. Our local Nissan dealer told me that in order to service an EV they have to have a special location in the service bay setup just for EVs and also specially trained service personal so, no, a local dealer is not required to service an EV even if they are a dealer for that brand. Very bad situation. As for your question, $20k - $30k price, fast charging with plenty of charge locations, and at least 250 mile range. None of that available here in eastern KY.

[snoopgawg]

I believe 20k is the minimum for a true “ mass market affordable car”. These EV’s are still luxury cars at the end of the day and buying used comes with a ton of risks. For example if the car is really cheap and depreciated it’s probably out of warranty, meaning you have to pay a ton out of pocket to fix it which people in this lower bracket don’t have. Also if your in a lower bracket you probably have a lower tax liability so the credit which isn’t refundable, it only brings the liability to zero you don’t get that cash in your hand. People talk about competition coming, this is the only way in my eyes they can compete with Tesla. If they innovate and bring a 15-20 k EV to market, that’s a game changer and will be adopted by MUCH more people who have a budget in mind.

[ronalaska]

I had a manufacture issue with my Focus Electric and it was fixed for free by my local Ford dealer! And I plug it into 120V outlet and never need to charge outside home! All our stores have EV power so while shopping I could charge it there!

[Newzchspy]

$30-$40 k is the sweet spot. Toyota Camry and Honda Accord show it.

[mavenaz]

I fear the US domestic brands may need to bring a new umbrella name to the market to get the consumers full attention. Not to mention having their sales reps trained and in different mindset knowing exactly what they are selling on the lot.

It’s too easy for sales reps to sell gas on lots filled with 99% ICE

[segson]

Solving Urban Transportation with cars seem to be trying to square a circle. It makes more sense to make bikes and scooters more priority.

[dogsdinner]

Zoe is getting more popular and you can buy it with out the battery lease as well now. There are quite a few 2nd hand in Europe.
There is also the MG ZS, Opel Corsa, and Peugeot e208 all coming soon that will be more affordable.

[ronalaska]

I bought my 2013 Ford Focus Electric used off lease for $9K and have driven it for nearly 3 years so far, my friend just got a 2014 Model S for $10K wish I could have got his! But used electrics are good for ever basically so the used ones are coming. I see other Focus for about $7K now. I don’t worry about my car it is more reliable than our gas car even though it is newer!

[pinkelephants]

Nicole, perhaps your friend might consider taking her used Leaf to an EV conversion company as they are used to dealing with any number of problems arising from converting different vehicle types. They may even have spare parts if necessary.

[martinostlund]

I have never paied more than 53.000SEK / $5500 for a used car. I might find a used 2005 Prius Hybrid for that kind of money where I live, but it is to small and have no tow hitch. So I save and wait, probably for a long time...