this post was submitted on 29 Aug 2023
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Yeah, so, how much is one of those Rivian trucks, exactly?
$73,000?
Yeah, fuck off. That's more than the median annual gross income for American workers. It's all good and well to tout a slightly more sustainable form of transportation--still not nearly as sustainable as busses or trains!--but when you're pricing it well outside what most people can rationally afford, you're not helping the situation.
Ah, because the only EVs in the market are Rivian ones.
That's true but you have to consider how much of the car market is made up of used cars. When I was last shopping for cars (4 years ago) there were hardly any EVs in my budget and the ones that were, were 10 year old Priuses. Most people frankly don't have the income to buy anything more than a gas car. (Market for EVs may have changed since my experience). The way I see it is the CEO is making a good point while also shitting on poor people.
The first response from Google shows me several late model used Nissan Leafs for around $15k. Those didn’t have much range but plenty for most people’s day to day
$15,000 is still substantially more than a 10 year old Prius, though, which hover around $10,000 right now. If your budget is $10,000, you're probably not getting an all-electric car.
I believe that from his comment ("what are you going to do with that in 10 years"), he was implying buying new cars. I see nothing odd in buying used ICE cars, but I wouldn't dish out for a new one at this point.
Now if you buy a used car for 10k now, you'll probably have a harder time getting value out of it in 10 years vs. EV.
I agree that an EV will probably age better, but, at least in the States, you can get a new ICE car a lot cheaper than a new EV, so there's still a huge price hurdle. There are still a few ICE cars that are available new for as little as $18k. If you want to jump to a EV with comparable range, even used, you're probably gonna have to spend more than that.
So, there are very real affordability considerations.
Edit: There was a time when you could get an early generation Bolt used for around $17k, but that's still a hard pill for a lot of people to swallow, paying almost the same for a used, early generation car (many of which were recalled for fire issues) as you could pay for a new car.
Not only the cost, but there's also the issue of infrastructure. I as well as many others in my city don't have a garage and park either on the street or on a parking pad in the alley. I wouldn't imagine a power cord running to a vehicle lasting very long because of the scrap prices of copper. We've got a long ways to go.