The Chevy Bolt is pretty cheap, especially with a rebate.
There are a lot of people who just can't afford a new car. That's a legitimate concern. EVs are gradually working their way into the used market.
EV conversion is another option that's currently only for moderately well-off people with a lot of free time, but with the right kits it could be a more routine thing.
It's great that brand-new EVs are getting cheaper. Recall aside, a used Chevy Bolt is a much better value. 15-18k USD for 240 mile range, DC "fast" charging (50kV).
If you're in the market for a smaller, cheap(ish) EV with decent range, the Chevy Bolt (used) is basically the only option, and honestly can be had for less than any equivalent ICE vehicle of similar quality/mileage
I think the Chevy Bolt all electric vehicle is luring some customers. It's not as sexy but it's ~400km range and availability right now make it a great buy.
Electric cars are more expensive than ICE cars. But you can get a 2020 Chevy Bolt for $25k. And in the right circumstances with all the available incentives you can do even better than that:
Chevy Bolt, now discontinued, was in the $20K's. In general, EVs won't get cheaper until various supply-chain constraints (eg, batteries) are relieved.
I feel like everyone overlooks the Chevy Bolt (probably because of all the Tesla hype). At the dealer (w/ bargaining and/or discounts), you can get one for 30k USD.
This is before the US federal tax credit, so you'll get some money back.
If one isn't looking to pick cherries to suit their "EVs aren't affordable!!!!!" argument: the Bolt EV is $31k MSRP, not including state and federal tax credits.
That's substantially lower than the average price of a car sold in the US ($47k) or average pickup ($60k!)
And by the way: halo cars like the Hummer finance R&D. The Hummer is helping GM pay R&D costs on the Ultium system/platform, which will be re-used for a huge number of vehicles in the coming years.
I have been waffling over the purchase of an EV for the better part of 2 years. Despite being cheap AF, the cost of ownership isn’t really at the top of my list of concerns. Mostly that is because the cars I like are far more expensive up front and make the math rough.
That said, if you live in the US, the Chevy Bolt actually makes the math pretty fantastic. If they don’t raise the price at the end of the year, it will be an incredible value. Right now, at 29k or 32k, the math including gas and maintenance turns positive very quickly.
It is interesting that at the same time, sales of the Chevy Bolt aren't doing too good. This despite that at least a few reviews I've seen indicate it is a decent EV with decent range.
Ordinary people want an EV that looks no more spacey than a combustion engine car, but comes with wireless upgrades, long range batteries, large trunk, fast acceleration, high safety rating etc.
That describes the Chevy Bolt.[1] It comes off the same production line as the Chevy Sonic and looks about the same. At one assembly station, either a gas engine or a battery pack and motor go in. Reports are that every fourth or fifth car off that line is a Bolt. GM has the option of adjusting that ratio based on sales. That one line can make 90,000 cars a year per shift. They're only running one shift right now. So Chevy has, running right now, the capacity to make as many Bolts as they can sell, and can adjust output as needed.
The cheaper EVs like the Chevy Bolt start at $26,500.
To put the $26,500 in perspective, in 1972 that would have been $3,700.
That's within the same ballpark of a 1972 Ford Torino with some options (like air conditioning).
Unless you really need that extra 20 cubic feet of cargo capacity, the Bolt is superior in nearly every aspect.
I picked 1972 because that was the last year before the oil crisis, which caused car prices to start skyrocketing year-over-year until the late 90s.
The Lucid Air is a low-production (fewer than Porsche 911s) luxury/performance sedan that exceeds most performance figures of supercars from the 90s/2000s and is not a valid price floor to compare against.
There are plenty of inexpensive cars. The Chevy Spark is cheaper today than almost any car in US history, even stripped-down VW Beetles from the 60s and 70s-- which had been the cheapest bare-bones cars in the US for decades.
If you go to a lot asking for a Spark the salespeople will do the "jump in the air and kick their heels together" thing because lots are full of them, rotting away.
There are a lot of people who just can't afford a new car. That's a legitimate concern. EVs are gradually working their way into the used market.
EV conversion is another option that's currently only for moderately well-off people with a lot of free time, but with the right kits it could be a more routine thing.
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