Only things to worry about, tires and brakes, and then of course, calculating how much you drive.

I built my EV for $5k. It get’s me back and forth to work and costs me about 75% less to operate than my gasoline Jetta did.

http://www.ZeroGasoline.com

Whatever you want to call it, it’s still an electric vehicle. You may not like its secondary source or method of electrical generation, but your disapproval doesn’t magically un-make it an electric vehicle.

The lengthy charge times are one of the biggest drawbacks of an electric vehicle. They make fine commuter vehicles, but they’re not so great for distance driving. A car that gives people the flexibility to commute on electric during the week and get away on the weekends is far more likely to get more people driving more miles on electric-only than trying to foist limited-application plug-in-only vehicles onto the public. Let’s not make perfect the enemy of good.

I find it interesting that you are coming up with replacement costs for the packs when the cars haven’t even been released yet.

Are you just quoting the replacement price for a hybrid like a Prius?? Do you think the Prius could drive 100 miles on that pack??

I’m willing to bet it could drive MAYBE 5 miles. Probably more like 2.

The automakers are charging honest prices. I’m willing to bet those Li-on packs are costing upwards of $25,000.

If you want a good comparo, look at how much it costs to replace your laptop battery. Now multiply that by at least 300.

E.Toohey

BUT… why the heck does it have to cost so much?

I mean really Mitsubishi, (and all the other manufacturers), are you trying to kill the success of EV’s by selling them so expensively?!

Think about it. It’s based on the body style they already mass produce. They merely add an electric motor and controllers and I’ll admit the Li Ion batteries are expensive.

But the price difference between the gas version of this car is like $30,000 dollars! Whaaaa…?

Replacement batteries only cost like $3000-$5000.

So it seems to me like they’re intentionally jacking up the sell price to ensure they don’t take over the market like they should.

I know I’d buy an EV in a second if they were $15,000 or so. E.g. just a few thousand more than the gas version of the same car.

I’m willing to pay a small premium for ditching the internal combustion engine. But come on! $30,000 more?! This looks intentionally expensive to ensure lackluster sales. ..

And I’m guessing the other big manufactures have silent agreements to do likewise. Big oil has influenced them into ensuring continued dependence on gas for as long as possible it seems. Just my opinion, but it looks rediculous that we’re still driving 100 year old technology that hasn’t improved in efficiency in the last 30 odd years or so. Seems to me to be almost by design…

Big manufacturers, I want my EV and I want it at an honest price.

I’m sure they’ll cite startup costs of the new technology for early adopters, etc. But they’ve had 100 years. It’s all excuses.

Stop playing around with us dependent masses and finally do something right for the globe by not killing the launch of these with ridiculous prices.

Signed,
Not so patiently waiting.