Car companies will try a new strategy to make electric cars cheaper. The average consumer still cannot afford an electric car, even though it has been on the market for several years now. This hinders the spread of electric cars and, accordingly, the achievement of humanity's ecological goals.
What is the market situation?
It's no secret that electric cars are more expensive than LPG ones. The average price in the US today is over $48,000, with some examples reaching over $100,000, like the Cybertruck for example. But now that they have established the production of "luxury" cars, manufacturers also want to cash in on a market looking for cheaper all-electric vehicles. Many companies are scrambling to roll out similar offerings as more people move away from expensive electric vehicles.
European and American automakers are already making plans to woo buyers of their cheaper new electric cars to get customers to buy their car instead of a Chinese one.
What companies are planning?
Segment leader Tesla promises to launch affordable models next year using an updated version of its compact car platform that underpins the Model Y crossover and Model 3 sedan, though the company has not provided many details.
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Tesla's lineup is rapidly aging, leading to a drop in U.S. sales in the first half of the year. Of Tesla's five models, only the Cybertruck is new. The Model Y, Model 3, Model S sedan and Model X crossover are still in their first generation. Tesla also plans to create a special robot taxi that can be driven without human intervention.
Frankly, Tesla is probably the hardest automaker that analysts try to predict. The reason for this is the unpredictability of CEO Elon Musk. All these plans can die at any moment as most of his promises tend not to come true.
However, this is not the only company. Rivian and Lucid, in order to bring cheaper models to the market, have also planned some interesting steps:
Rivian Automotive has already unveiled its more affordable models - the R2 mid-size crossover, which will arrive in 2026, and the R3 hatchback, which will arrive later in the same decade. Pricing for the R2 is expected to start around $45,000, with the R3 expected to be even lower.
Lucid Motors is already launching its second vehicle this year, the large and expensive Gravity crossover, with a starting price of around $80,000. But the company also plans to launch more affordable cars in 2026 on a midsize platform priced around $48,000.
Finally, there are VinFast and Scout, which are relatively new companies on the market.
Vietnamese automaker VinFast plans to bring several models to the U.S. market to join the only model sold there so far, the two-row crossover VF 8. VinFast also says affordable crossovers will follow next year.
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Startup Scout Motors, backed by the Volkswagen Group, will become one of the newest entrants to the electric car market. The first Scout vehicles will be an SUV and a pickup truck. The brand shared few details, saying that the body model platform is unique to the Scout and that the cars will be rugged. Production of the Scout is scheduled to begin in late 2026, with sales beginning shortly thereafter.
While we don't know exactly all the prices of the upcoming cars, the brands that have announced them hover in the 45,000 and 48,000 range, which is close to the average price today, but of course cheaper than the more premium models currently on the market. The companies are unlikely to stop there, as Chinese manufacturers, supported by government incentives, sell their electric cars for 30-40 thousand dollars, and in some cases even for 25,000 dollars. American or European brands simply cannot compete with them.
Only time will tell if this bid to enter the cheaper market will pay off for these automakers and if their plans will work at all, but one thing is for sure: EV manufacturers need to do something to encourage more people to buy an electric car. And this will only happen with a price reduction.