It came as the boss of Stellantis, which owns Vauxhall, warned that the middle classes cannot afford the cost of electric cars without the support of state subsidies.
That means the middle classes can’t afford EVs at all then. Because it’s the middle classes who pay all the tax. Which pocket the money comes from doesn’t matter if there’s not enough in either.
Somehow I don’t think the government gives a flying fuck that the middle classes can’t afford an EV. To them it’s a bonus. It will reduce traffic to the point where their 15 minute cities will become the defacto norm for us while they drive around in their zil lanes.
Back to the bio-fuelled horse and carriage then?
What Chernyy said. In spades.
An electric motor is simpler than an ICE, so should be cheaper. The rest is the same. So the excess cost of an EV must be in the battery. Are they so difficult to make /make safe?
Are they so difficult to make /make safe?
Difficult to make safe, but the materials are also be expensive.
“An electric motor is simpler than an ICE, so should be cheaper.”
Not necessarily true. These are high-performance electric motors. A tad more expensive to make than the lump driving your washing machine…
And an ICE isn’t just the pistons in the block either.. Same for electric propulsion. All the electronics driving them are part of the package, and reliable power electronics isn’t cheap.
The battery is a large chunk of the price of an EV, but the actual drive is pretty pricey as well.
An ICE is mostly steel and aluminium alloy: both much cheaper than the main ingredients of high power EV motors: copper and neodymium. Lots of copper in an EV. Could use silver instead.
Oh and the batteries are made from lithium and congolese children. At least the latter are recycled.
It’s often said the very essence of greatness is simplicity – which is why the comment of Chernyy Drakon needs repeating ad nauseam.
This isn’t a bug – it’s a feature.’ You will own nothing and be happy’ – that includes your own mode of personal transport.
Chernyy Drakon is spot-on. But you now have the big cheeses of the two largest car firms in the world, Toyota and Stellantis, both warning that this is going to hit their bottom line. Fewer cars means fewer people building, selling, servicing and maintaining cars.
The smartarses think they want a world where everyone rides a bike and works from home, but a world without an automotive industry (or a drastically reduced one) won’t be able to afford it. You can’t make drastic fundamental alterations to something and expect it to stay basically the same.
Small correction, Chernyy:
“…while they drive around in their zil
lanesroads.