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Around 30 percent of the cost of an electric car is the battery: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-12-16/electric-cars-are-about-to-be-as-cheap-as-g

Around 30 percent of the cost of an electric car is the battery: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-12-16/electric-cars-are-about-to-be-as-cheap-as-gas-powered-models#:~:text=The%20battery%20pack%20is%20the,the%20total%20cost%20to%20consumers https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-12-16/electric-.... But having free rental as an option could make the car cheaper in other ways. For example, if it's free to rent a car, people would opt for 2WD instead of AWD in many cases since they can rent a truly capable AWD car when they want to go up to the mountains. AWD is substantially more expensive and requires much more maintenance than 2WD.

giantg2 6y ago
I get that AWD or 4x4 is more expensive, even for ICE vehicles. Even the 2WD is expensive for EVs. I grew up driving a RWD car in the mountains (out east... I get it's a bit different) and never had any real problems. I bought a truck and went with RWD and it does fine too (although I rarely go through snowy mountains anymore). So if we're cutting the battery in half, we save about 15% - going from about $35k to $30k using the Model 3 as an example. This is still expensive for me - my truck suits me better and was close to $10k lower. This is mostly because I don't want all the tech that's in it. I would rather have switches, sliders, and buttons like my old 80s caprice (the buttons in the work truck are fine too) instead of a giant screen. The cabin space and use of a bed is nice as well since I am on the larger side, do a lot of work myself, and tow a trailer at times.