Quote:
Originally Posted by redpoint5
.... Where are the $20k EVs?
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Obviously a reasonably ranged(200 miles?) battery pack still precludes the $20K EV. However my thoughts are that a lot of the creature features that these vehicles include could be done away with.
You guys have to help me out here but the only model 3 I was in had power everything....windows, locks, etc. Any base EV's that don't have power stuff(i.e. extra little motors)? I say go old school and make those manual again and eliminate all the little motors and solenoids that will likely wear out faster than the manual version in the first place..
I would imagine that software costs more than hardware up front and that over time it becomes much less expensive than the hardware since it can be installed in tiny little spaces in on board memory. But I really don't need(or want) a car that parks itself, drives itself, talks to me or anything else that that I can easily do myself.
While I'm sure everyone appreciates the massive amounts of acceleration and power of Tesla's motors, they simply do not need to be that powerful. Look at the vehicles we had in the past with their fifty or sixty hp engines. Unless they were severely under powered they did just fine for basic transportation. So smaller motors mean less expensive motors and less weight in the car and less expensive controllers. Basically all power control components can be sized down and then cost less.
I don't know what sort of equipment comes in other EV's so I can't comment on them but in general it just seems to me that EV cost is so high simply because they have too many gadgets even for the low cost versions. No one wants just a base package, bare bones unit anymore.
It is possible the reason EV's are so much more expensive than comparative ICE vehicles is because they have to perform so much better than ICE vehicles just to be accepted by the general public. Even today I still here the same old tired arguments against EV's. What happens if your battery gets too low? Well the same thing that happens if you run out of gas. You're stuck until you get a recharge or a tow. I will say I wouldn't want to pay $30 K or even $20 K for an around town car. That's what a used Leaf is for.
JJ