this post was submitted on 07 Jan 2025
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Electric Vehicles
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Just what we need. Another 100k EV. Why can no US automaker make a small EV hatchback or sedan with good enough range for 20-30k? I sure wish I had the freedom to buy a BYD Dolphin or Seagull.
The battery pack is basically the expensive part. For a US car maker a 20k econobox EV doesn’t make sense. The margins are just too small because the battery eats most of the cost. BYD can sell these small cars because they get the batteries for much cheaper since they produce their own batteries from scratch and the Chinese government subsidizes their battery industry.
This is effectively a startup, as Sony doesn't yet have any of the infrastructure needed to manufacture these. Tesla started out with $100k+ cars as well.
As for legacy automakers? Well they don't make cheap anything anymore. Just giant trucks and SUVs.
You can buy a Nissan Leaf for <$30k but I would not recommend it at all until they add some sort of active cooling to their batteries. They're an absolute joke without it. But it is a valid demonstration that it is possible.
That's very true. The recalls for the Leaf and Volt also concern me. They do not seem safe or reliable. I totally get that China isn't the standard-bearer for quality, but they definitely have more experience making EVs. I feel like anywhere around $30k is steep for the Volt and (considering your insight on battery cooling) way too much for the Leaf.
The recalls for my leaf have been: rear camera issues, 15m fix, an issue with my OS that was a 20m fix, and the battery melting once in 110f weather because it was made wrong AND they don't have active cooling, which took 9 months to fix because they're a garbage company, but that issue only impacted my model year and the batteries from a specific factory
The real issue with the Leaf is the pathetic range and the CHAdeMO connector that they still put on their cars despite that losing the war back in like 2019
The Leaf is so close to being reasonable its just needs to be $10k less
The Bolt is returning later this year and is rumored to be sub 30k.
That's fantastic to hear. I hope they got the battery issues fixed and they last 150k+ miles.