Small electric cars may be unaffordable for some: VW chairman

[S'toon]

BERLIN (Reuters) - The move to electric vehicles will make cars significantly more expensive, meaning they may become unaffordable for people on low incomes in the future, the chairman of Volkswagen said in an interview published on Sunday.

The German carmaker is still reeling from a 2015 scandal over cheating on emissions tests and needs to ramp up production of electric vehicles to meet toughened European emmissions-cutting targets.

"We have the clear goal of making electromobility accessible to a broad section of the population, that is to make it affordable," Hans-Dieter Poetsch told the Welt am Sonntag newspaper.

But he said it could be difficult to maintain the prices of many entry-level vehicles.

"The current price level cannot stay the same if these cars are equipped with electric motors," said Poetsch. "Therefore, it will inevitably lead to significant price increases in the small car segment."

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Full article at:
Small Electric Cars May Be Unaffordable for Some: VW Chairman to Newspaper

 

[wycolo]

But poor folk buy used as always. With used EVs they will get a better car but likely a crapped out battery. They will learn to factor cost of eventual battery replacement and this can be postponed a few years which will spread out overall payments. Plus a weak battery still yields a clean running car as opposed to a worn out petrol burner.
--

 

[Cosmacelf]

It'll be interesting to see how long a Tesla battery lasts. Even at 50% original range, it is useful.

 

[Merrill]

I think that in the very near future the cost of batteries will come down.

 

[SSedan]

I don't know about Europe but here relatively few folks buy new anyway. In the USA there are something like 276m "cars" and only 17m and change sold in big sales years. The "average" age of a car on USA roads is nearly 12 years old and trending upward.

The folks who buy new often do so every 1-3 years and are likely to be able to absorb a price increase so long as the economy is allowed to thrive

 

[R.S]

I think that in the very near future the cost of batteries will come down.

Well, what he meant was that it's much easier to offset the cost of a longish range battery with a big engine and complicated transmission, than with a cheap 3 cylinder and a 5 speed manual transmission.

In an EV it's not really too expensive to make it go fast, but expensive to make it go far. In a petrol car it's the other way around. So while cheap cars might get wonderful 0-60s compared to their petrol equivalents, they probably won't get too much range.

 

[roblab]

An oft forgotten extra expense is maintenance, which for an EV is practically non-existant. Doing oil changes and filters and such like will run many dollars a year, not counting having to drive to the shop or dealer, leaving the car, and going back later (right... make your wife do it). My Toyota dealer was 30 miles away, so it was a big deal if I couldn't do any maintenance in my own garage. My three Teslas ('12, '15, and '18)have never had any maintenance other than two new windshield wipers, which nearly broke me.

 

[SSedan]

My experience with my 2014 P85 is that the idea EVs have no maintenance is a lie people tell themselves to help justify the cost of a Tesla.
RWD car is rough on tires with single pedal driving, heavy car too which again tires.
Brakes are used less which in wetter or worse climates they use salt in causes issues, binding in the calipers.

Maintenance and repairs wise this has by wide margin been the most expensive vehicle I have ever owned. My wife has a 2014 Impala with just a few thousand more miles on it, it has needed maintenance but all of it combined cost no more than the 4year maintenance on mine$800 and mine has needed several repairs TPMS module failed disabling the car, battery heater failed disabling the car, charger is wounded given choice of $300 to swap out to secondary or $2200 replacement, Brakes bound in calipers$700 in parts from EVtuning, and still have a suspension rattle to diagnose......
I love the car but the no maintenance is a lie. Yes you skip the engine oil changes but the rest of it is just a car.

Most ICE need maybe 2-3 oil changes a year at what $60 on the high end for domestics, it is peanuts.

 

[ricohman]

My experience with my 2014 P85 is that the idea EVs have no maintenance is a lie people tell themselves to help justify the cost of a Tesla.
RWD car is rough on tires with single pedal driving, heavy car too which again tires.
Brakes are used less which in wetter or worse climates they use salt in causes issues, binding in the calipers.

Maintenance and repairs wise this has by wide margin been the most expensive vehicle I have ever owned. My wife has a 2014 Impala with just a few thousand more miles on it, it has needed maintenance but all of it combined cost no more than the 4year maintenance on mine$800 and mine has needed several repairs TPMS module failed disabling the car, battery heater failed disabling the car, charger is wounded given choice of $300 to swap out to secondary or $2200 replacement, Brakes bound in calipers$700 in parts from EVtuning, and still have a suspension rattle to diagnose......
I love the car but the no maintenance is a lie. Yes you skip the engine oil changes but the rest of it is just a car.

Most ICE need maybe 2-3 oil changes a year at what $60 on the high end for domestics, it is peanuts.

As a mechanic I agree. All the other working bits are still a car. And they will wear out like any car.
That said, as long as even the cheapest Model 3 is worth 3 Honda Fit or 2 Civic in Canada they will not flood the market any time soon.

 

[Barklikeadog]

My experience with my 2014 P85 is that the idea EVs have no maintenance is a lie people tell themselves to help justify the cost of a Tesla.
RWD car is rough on tires with single pedal driving, heavy car too which again tires.
Brakes are used less which in wetter or worse climates they use salt in causes issues, binding in the calipers.

Maintenance and repairs wise this has by wide margin been the most expensive vehicle I have ever owned. My wife has a 2014 Impala with just a few thousand more miles on it, it has needed maintenance but all of it combined cost no more than the 4year maintenance on mine$800 and mine has needed several repairs TPMS module failed disabling the car, battery heater failed disabling the car, charger is wounded given choice of $300 to swap out to secondary or $2200 replacement, Brakes bound in calipers$700 in parts from EVtuning, and still have a suspension rattle to diagnose......
I love the car but the no maintenance is a lie. Yes you skip the engine oil changes but the rest of it is just a car.

Most ICE need maybe 2-3 oil changes a year at what $60 on the high end for domestics, it is peanuts.

THIS
too many posters here express these viewpoints
1. Oh there's so many less parts, less maintenance than ICE, saving so much money
2. I'm an early adopter, of course there are a lot of issues
3. I love Tesla but I would never own one out of warranty, too expensive to maintain/repair
1 and 3 can't both be true