Tesla and GM say “they will soon deliver 200+ mile range EVs at a game-changing price of $30,000 or less — including tax incentives.”
For GM, it will be the Chevy Bolt, and for Tesla, the Model 3.
200 miles would be 320 km.
Bloomberg New Energy Finance estimates the average cost of a new car in America to be $31,000. They say that EVs to be competitive will need to be within the $25,000 to $35,000 range.
- GM has said that its 200-mile-range Bolt will be available by the end of 2016 for “as low as” $30,000 — a price that assumes the buyer gets the $7500 federal tax credit. So the car itself will have a sticker price of $37,500.
It’s worth noting that more than a dozen states have an additional tax credit for EVs — $2,500 in California, Tennessee, and Massachusetts, and a whopping $6,000 in Colorado.
- If you are wondering how GM can you possibly offer an EV with that range at that price — while still asserting they will make a substantial profit on the car — the auto company disclosed last fall that the battery cell for the Bolt from the South Korean company LG Chem will cost just $145 per kilowatt-hour (kWh), an astounding price.
In 2013, the IEA estimated EVs would achieve cost parity with normal vehicles when battery costs hit $300 per kWh of storage capacity, which they said would happen by 2020.
So $145 per kWh is a paradigm-shifting, game-changing price. And GM is expecting the price to drop further.
Tesla confirms that the price of the Model 3 will be $35,000, but with incentives/subsidies, that could be $25,000. Bloomberg’s Tom Randall says, “a $25,000 Tesla would upend the US auto market.” The main limiting factor would be the company’s ability to supply, which won’t start for about two years.
The image is the European version, the Opel Ampera-e announced at Bochum, Germany’s CAR Symposium.
A 320 klm range will do it for me. On this morning’s French news they were looking at the coming autonomous drive systems, which have 5 categories from cruise controls through to no driver at all, and the discussion is in the present day.
My total preferred solution would be a 120 klm battery only range hybride with a combined range of 900 klm. That would have an 18 kwhr battery , not too expensive to replace.
I will do my bit for the environment and be a buyer when they arrive in the show rooms. At least now there is an availability schedule to which I can plan to make my current vehicles last.
BilB, I think you’ve confirmed what a game-changer we are seeing. People can now start making practical plans about what they will do with their next vehicle purchase.