Recently, there’s been some bad news out of Detroit. Ford’s backing off on some upcoming EV models, including a three-row SUV many had been looking forward to, and will instead be focusing more on hybrids. GM has been having different problems with software, recently laying off 1,000 developers after a string of Silicon Valley types failed to acclimate to more traditional corporate culture.
While these companies would like to have us all believe that making EVs and software for EVs is simply too hard, other companies like Tesla and Rivian have been doing a lot better. Tesla is now making more EVs than anybody, even beating out ICE models in some segments. Rivian is still climbing the profit ladder, but is selling software to Volkswagen, a pretty good sign that “legacy auto” is struggling in odd ways while newcomers are having no problem churning out EVs.
So, we need to ask ourselves why these established players are struggling while newcomers are doing just fine.
my kingdom for a sub $25k, 420 mile per charge, hatchback EV. Make that, make it dependable, without any subscriptions or fancy electronics that accidentally brick the car out of nowhere, and you’ll be able to buy the bank.
Maybe in 5-10 years unless it’s a Chinese OEM.
We’ll get there though.
A 300m version, hopefully much sooner.
Getting that in a new ICE vehicle is nearing impossible. Hell, used car prices were topping that number out for a while.
And yet their costs did not go up that much. The real complaint here is they don’t want to make an economic car anymore. Not that nobody would buy it.
I don’t think you can say on one hand they are “losing money on every EV” and that they don’t want to sell economical cars. But they are still a corporation and will take as much as customers will pay.
They aren’t losing money. They rolled long term capital investments into the “cost” per car. They had to make those investments or get left behind when the protectionist dam breaks. For what they actually spend per unit they make money on every car. In fact the cost doesn’t go up that much for higher models. So the higher the model they can sell, the more they make. They influence that by literally not making economic vehicles available.
I know full well Ford aren’t losing money on each sale. But that’s the idiotic meme that keeps popping up.
Yeah the expectations for a cheap EV in the US are insane. I want one too, but realistically I want a 30k EV that gets 300+ miles. There are a couple of close options today, but more competition would be great.
Exactly. That’s the problem they’re faced with. They’re struggling on figuring out the best way to take advantage on their consumers with the software and subscriptions.
They did in the Bolt EUV. And then they stopped making it to make more money. Fuckers.
It was nowhere near $25k or 400 miles of range…
Used are about 22k. But you are right about range. I thought it was greater.
The Aptera is supposed to be ~$31k and ~$400 mi. but that’s going to extreme levels of efficiency to get there. Any legacy brand could probably do it for $25k but it wouldn’t be profitable enough.
However I’ve mostly lost faith in them.
It’s never going to happen in a “normal” car like a hatchback. At least not until battery prices are driven into the ground.
Keep in mind the more batteries you add, the less efficient it becomes, and the more batteries it needs.