America Has an Answer to the Biggest Problem with EVs

I feel what this article fails to mention is how the depreciation of EVs compares to depreciation of gas cars. Apparently, based on google searches, cars depreciate 15% when driven off the lot, and then a further 15% per year after that. So it looks like EVs are depreciating quicker.

This would definitely be a good deal, as they also have lower operating costs.

The unstated bit is American new-EV sales.

> Electric vehicles made up about 8 percent of new car sales in the United States last year, compared with more than a quarter in China, where new EVs can go for about $10,000 or less.

Except, we've also made those unaffordable by

> Biden has quadrupled tariffs on electric vehicles from China — from 25% to an eye-watering 100% — in a move designed to bolster U.S. jobs and manufacturing.[1]

If it was all about new-EV sales, we could set the EV tariff to 0%. A $10k vehicle would indeed increase sales in a way that's congruent to a climate agenda that's all about new-EV sales.

The real story is that agendas are a function of politics, but we kind of already know that. The difference in outcomes ie: the differential gain in EVs being driven between these two scenarios is traded away in return for votes.

1. https://www.npr.org/2024/05/14/1251096758/biden-china-tariff...

This is the part that hit me. In America we have no idea how much we are overpaying for things. There are plenty of reasons, sure, but at the end of the day things are wildly expensive with little to no acknowledgment from the government.

As far as Teslas go, they seem to follow a similar value curve to German luxury cars -- you can get them very cheaply if they're 5-10 years old, because the parts are so expensive to keep them running, and a lot of the status wears off when they're not visibly the newest model. This I suppose is less true with Teslas where the visual style isn't that different from 9 years ago.

As in, they're finally getting into a sub-$30K range.

Meanwhile, I'm going to drive my 2010 Honda Fit (that I bought for $5K in 2017) practically forever.

I'm making 6 figures as a software engineer, as does my wife. We have no kids.

I have no idea who are these people buying new cars, or who are all these people for whom $30K is "cheap". I can pay that out of pocket, but unless held at gunpoint, I won't.

There are many ways to make EVs marketable, but the key is make them goddamn cheap FFS.

And the answer to that is infrastructure, not technology.

We could make $5K glorified golf carts street-legal, and not requiring a license. For many people, that's enough for their grocery store runs / work / school commute.

Oh, they won't fare well in a collision with F-150? Then maybe we can remove those from the streets outside specific delivery and maintenance hours, and impose a lower speed limit for heavier cars.

That's before we get to the dangerous idea that we could charge the EV's as they go if we put wires into our streets... And perhaps add electronic signaling to make self-driving an easier problem to solve.. Maybe even a guiding rail (or two) to define lanes instead of paint that the weather can strip away...

And if I may dream, this would enable us to replace tyres for traction with higer-efficiency rolling stock, and even link up cars going in the same direction on regular routes to reduce drag (and traffic).

If only! I've lost all hope.

Even thinking about it is tramatizing.

*Based on the current OEM/supplier relationship, network of repair shops, etc. All of the post sales businesses built up to support the initial sale.