The Real Costs of Electric Car Ownership - CNET

[Percolater]

So...how do we feel about this?

Activists storm Tesla gigafactory in protest over expansion plans

Staff told to work from home after hundreds of Left-wing protesters break through police lines

www.telegraph.co.uk

VW and BMW do not want a USA company to obtrude their monopoly…
I think you’ll find these “radicals” are sponsored. Not hard to imagine who might be upset at Tesla for having a footprint in their backyard.

 

[jamil]

Speaking of tesla, can we fully classify this as a truck? It can do some “trucky” stuff. But, part of being a truck is towing…



TLDW: couldn’t tow an 8K lbs load 100 miles. Cost more than a diesel truck to tow it 85 miles. Other than towing. It should get the job done.

 

[jamil]

VW and BMW do not want a USA company to obtrude their monopoly…
I think you’ll find these “radicals” are sponsored. Not hard to imagine who might be upset at Tesla for having a footprint in their backyard.

Plausible. I don’t think it takes much to get NPC’s to attack anything.

 

[Magyars]

 

[Ingomike]

Ford cuts orders for electric vehicle batteries amid losses: Report

Ford lost $132,000 on each EV it sold in the first quarter of 2024, and in 2023, the company lost $46,176 on each EV it sold.

justthenews.com

 

[BehindBlueI's]

Any new car, outside of exotics, needs volume to be profitable. Probably some parallel with new medications, where the R&D costs are front loading negative value for years before the first retail sale ever takes place. For whatever reason, Ford seems to be trying to take on the higher end of the market instead of snagging volume and building brand awareness and loyalty.

Compare to the Maverick hybrid. It's low cost without being cheap, it does what many consumers actually want, and Ford can't build enough of them to satisfy demand. It's also $40k cheaper than the Lightning...

My gut says a Focus ST sort of vehicle that's EV would move in volume and for many of the reasons the Maverick is. Lower cost that newer buyers could afford. Newer buyers are more likely to be open to an EV option than older, more entrenched buyers. Increased urbanization of the country means something that's city parking friendly appeals to those younger buyers.

 

[Ingomike]

Any new car, outside of exotics, needs volume to be profitable. Probably some parallel with new medications, where the R&D costs are front loading negative value for years before the first retail sale ever takes place. For whatever reason, Ford seems to be trying to take on the higher end of the market instead of snagging volume and building brand awareness and loyalty.

Compare to the Maverick hybrid. It's low cost without being cheap, it does what many consumers actually want, and Ford can't build enough of them to satisfy demand. It's also $40k cheaper than the Lightning...

My gut says a Focus ST sort of vehicle that's EV would move in volume and for many of the reasons the Maverick is. Lower cost that newer buyers could afford. Newer buyers are more likely to be open to an EV option than older, more entrenched buyers. Increased urbanization of the country means something that's city parking friendly appeals to those younger buyers.

They too are being subsidized by the ICE vehicles, just like the econo-boxes were…

 

[BehindBlueI's]

They too are being subsidized by the ICE vehicles, just like the econo-boxes were…

Mavericks *are* ICE vehicles, either pure ICE (base) or hybrid ($2500-ish upcharge). Ford seems to think they make money on the Maverick, though not nearly as much as a more loaded vehicle, of course. It's built on a C2 platform, same as the Escape and Bronco Sport, same as a bunch of Euro/Asia market models, so costs are spread out over a larger volume even if they don't make/sell a lot of Mavericks.

Prices aren't going to go down as long as customers pay them, regardless of if the profits go to R&D or toward the $2.3 billion paid out to shareholders annually or to exec bonuses. Companies will continue to make and market $85-$100k trucks as long as they remain more profitable...but how long is that sustainable when the average new car buyer in that market is in their 50s?