taraf I agree that we need more downward pressure, but you can actually get into a new EV for under $50k already in this country. And the Leaf is definitely not the turd it was in its 1st generation.
You likely won’t get out of the dealer with those under $50k however - by the time you add your sales tax, destination fees, delivery, dealer prep, and whatever else seems to end up on a car. Thats still the extremely high end of what an average car buyer would look at - people buying a Corolla or a Civic or an Altima or a Elantra on the sedan side, or a HR-V, RAV4, Tucson, Crosstrek on the SUV side - the “primarily $35k-$40k” MSRP area that is the sweet spot for a lot of car buyers today – I know talking to my coworkers their “pain point” is $600/mo car payment. Anything over that and it negatively impacts them - with $100 for insurance that is a $700/mo car payment. If they normally get 3 $50 tanks of gas that’s $150 they might be able to change into $40 of electricity and save about $100 on fuel costs, leaving them “capable” of a $700 a month car payment over the $600 they are comfortable with now.
84 month loan, 5.9% APR, $700/mo, $3000 down gets you $46,000 including tax, fees, omvic, and everything else - that $47,000 car with everything added gets you to about $53,000 all in - that’s an $800/mo car payment now and someone really needs to stretch.
I’m going with Australia here and converting to CAD, as that will likely be the most equivalent for a country that already sells Chinese cars in their domestic market, similar sales volume, similar logistics, etc - the BYD Atto3 (similar SUV to those i listed above) - is AUD$42,124 “drive away” (all taxes and fees in) - that converts to $39,182 CAD (so about what a $34,000 CAD car would cost after all fees/taxes/etc) - you’re in cheaper than a gas HR-V, RAV4, Tucson, etc - not even other EVs - but you’re coming in cheaper than the gas competition.
