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> When is electric going to be affordable for the average person? The average price of a car bought in May of 2019 was $36,718. A Model 3 is $37,990. Given the

> When is electric going to be affordable for the average person? The average price of a car bought in May of 2019 was $36,718. A Model 3 is $37,990. Given the offsets in maintenance and gas, I'd say the answer to that question is "now". https://www.edmunds.com/industry/press/new-vehicle-prices-climb-to-highest-level-of-the-year-in-april-according-to-edmunds-analysis.html https://www.edmunds.com/industry/press/new-vehicle-prices-cl...

deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
bradlys 6y ago
From what I know, this is due to trucks and SUVs - which there are not comparable alternatives in the electric world. (A Model X is way too expensive and there is no electric truck available now or anytime soon in mass quantity)
- foolfoolz 6y ago
  and this is only looking at new cars
- bonestamp2 6y ago
  How soon is "soon"? GMC's pickup is supposed to be a 2022 model year, which means it will likely arrive in about a year.
kevindong 6y ago
Just because you can spend the average amount, it doesn't you have to spend the average amount. A car can cost well under even the base model Model 3 and have 90% of the same functionality (the price disparity gets even larger if you opt into Autopilot); albeit it won't be the status symbol that is a Tesla.
- rrrrrrrrrrrryan 6y ago
  There are cheaper EVs on the market than Teslas. Nissan Leafs and Toyota Priuses are closer to $30k flat, and the Honda Fit is $16k new.
  - partiallypro 6y ago
    A Honda Fit isn't 0 emissions and runs on a gasoline engine. So it would be banned.
    - rrrrrrrrrrrryan 6y ago
      Wow, I guess I always assumed it was an electric car because it looks so wonky. Thanks for the correction.
asdff 6y ago
The average person is not buying a new vehicle.
- shaftway 6y ago
  So that turns the question into "When is used electric going to be affordable for the average person?" My gut says the answer to that is going to be ~5 years after new electric vehicles are more prevalent. But if electrics continue to retain their value the way the have been it might be a little longer, which is obviously a good thing; a car that last longer has even lower impacts. You can't expect new cars to trickle down to the used market that quickly. Used sales are about 2x new car sales [1] and the average used car is probably north of $20,000 [extrapolated from 2]. The best estimate I see of Teslas retaining value is 90% over 3 years [3]. If that holds then it would take 15 years (probably much closer to 10 given inflation, other cars coming up, and the average of other cars going up) for these to hit the used market at an average price point. Also, the average person doesn't live in California, where the median family income was almost $10,000 higher than the country as a whole [4 and 5]. 1: https://www.statista.com/statistics/183713/value-of-us-passenger-cas-sales-and-leases-since-1990/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/183713/value-of-us-passe... 2: https://static.ed.edmunds-media.com/unversioned/img/car-news/data-center/2017/feb/used-car-report/used-car-report-q4.pdf https://static.ed.edmunds-media.com/unversioned/img/car-news... 3: https://electrek.co/2020/07/16/tesla-model-3-retains-90-percent-value-3-years-study/ https://electrek.co/2020/07/16/tesla-model-3-retains-90-perc... 4: https://www.statista.com/statistics/205778/median-household-income-in-california/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/205778/median-household-... 5: https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2020/income-poverty.html#:~:text=Income-,Median%20household%20income%20was%20%2468%2C703%20in%202019%2C%20an%20increase%20of,respectively%2C%20between%202018%20and%202019 https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2020/income-p....

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

bradlys 6y ago

From what I know, this is due to trucks and SUVs - which there are not comparable alternatives in the electric world. (A Model X is way too expensive and there is no electric truck available now or anytime soon in mass quantity)

foolfoolz 6y ago
and this is only looking at new cars
bonestamp2 6y ago
How soon is "soon"? GMC's pickup is supposed to be a 2022 model year, which means it will likely arrive in about a year.

kevindong 6y ago

Just because you can spend the average amount, it doesn't you have to spend the average amount. A car can cost well under even the base model Model 3 and have 90% of the same functionality (the price disparity gets even larger if you opt into Autopilot); albeit it won't be the status symbol that is a Tesla.

rrrrrrrrrrrryan 6y ago
There are cheaper EVs on the market than Teslas. Nissan Leafs and Toyota Priuses are closer to $30k flat, and the Honda Fit is $16k new.
- partiallypro 6y ago
  A Honda Fit isn't 0 emissions and runs on a gasoline engine. So it would be banned.
  - rrrrrrrrrrrryan 6y ago
    Wow, I guess I always assumed it was an electric car because it looks so wonky. Thanks for the correction.

asdff 6y ago

The average person is not buying a new vehicle.

shaftway 6y ago
So that turns the question into "When is used electric going to be affordable for the average person?" My gut says the answer to that is going to be ~5 years after new electric vehicles are more prevalent. But if electrics continue to retain their value the way the have been it might be a little longer, which is obviously a good thing; a car that last longer has even lower impacts. You can't expect new cars to trickle down to the used market that quickly. Used sales are about 2x new car sales [1] and the average used car is probably north of $20,000 [extrapolated from 2]. The best estimate I see of Teslas retaining value is 90% over 3 years [3]. If that holds then it would take 15 years (probably much closer to 10 given inflation, other cars coming up, and the average of other cars going up) for these to hit the used market at an average price point. Also, the average person doesn't live in California, where the median family income was almost $10,000 higher than the country as a whole [4 and 5]. 1: https://www.statista.com/statistics/183713/value-of-us-passenger-cas-sales-and-leases-since-1990/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/183713/value-of-us-passe... 2: https://static.ed.edmunds-media.com/unversioned/img/car-news/data-center/2017/feb/used-car-report/used-car-report-q4.pdf https://static.ed.edmunds-media.com/unversioned/img/car-news... 3: https://electrek.co/2020/07/16/tesla-model-3-retains-90-percent-value-3-years-study/ https://electrek.co/2020/07/16/tesla-model-3-retains-90-perc... 4: https://www.statista.com/statistics/205778/median-household-income-in-california/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/205778/median-household-... 5: https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2020/income-poverty.html#:~:text=Income-,Median%20household%20income%20was%20%2468%2C703%20in%202019%2C%20an%20increase%20of,respectively%2C%20between%202018%20and%202019 https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2020/income-p....