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EVs Take 23.6% Share In Germany — Below 2021 Levels
(cleantechnica.com)
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this post was submitted on 11 Nov 2024
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[Dormant] Electric Vehicles
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The price and quality go hand in hand.
Things have a cost and if you’re not paying it in full, somebody else has to. Maybe it’s the Chinese government. Maybe it’s the slave who built it. Maybe it’s future you, struggling to engage windshield wipers on an unresponsive piece of garbage while on the highway.
The price of EVs is due in large part to the battery, so there is only so much you can cut. Some companies sell you a battery with a bare bone car around it (see Dacia spring), others try to justify the price by selling you a premium car (see ioniq or tesla), and others cut down on the battery by selling you a city car with a very limited range (see Renault Zoe or that funny mini car from Citroen).
As things stand now there is just no way to make an EV with both comparable price and performance to an ICE. What needs to happen is technological development on batteries, which would have been much better by now had we bothered to give a fuck years ago.
I’m not sure how true that is, at least in the USA. Almost all OEMs are targeting the mid to top end of the market for EVs (SUVs, trucks, luxury models). Almost no one is coming out with an entry level model that would be the equivalent of a “Toyota Corolla” EV, that is, a bare bones car that runs on a battery. Yes, there is some protectionism going on with preventing the Chinese from entering the market, but I think most of it is just OEMs trying to maximize profit to a grotesque degree.
Maybe my point wasn’t clear, let me try restating it: a battery with wheels will still be super expensive, because batteries are by far the most expensive part of the car. That’s why EVs tend to be sold as premium cars, that way you feel the price is justified.
China can sell you the battery on wheels because their government is subsidising those cars in order to invade the western market, they are using the old trick: sell at a loss, become indispensable, enjoy your slaves.
I think I understand your point but various European OEMs are making small EVs in the 30k euro or less range that are not being brought to the US market. Examples include the VW ID.2 and ID.3. It’s not like VAG doesn’t have a US presence but they’re still only selling the $40k+ ID.4 and the $60k+ ID Buzz in the US market. The Volvo EX-30 was announced as a $30k+ entry level EV that was supposed to target the lower end of the market but by the time it wound up in the US the base model is now $42k.
Ah, turns out we just had very different definitions of “cheap” or “small”.
Here in Italy the basic vehicle is the Panda, which you get for €16k. €30k vehicles are mid market, €40-50k is high end.
Haha yeah. American “small” is different, sadly.