EV's lose charge; price wars begin

[DainBramaged]

Disappointing sales of electric vehicles have plunged the segment into an old-fashioned price war -- one that some EV proponents fear could erode acceptance of the technology in the long term.

With the first wave of early adopters all but exhausted, carmakers are chasing a wider EV audience -- and not without some success. Sales of the Nissan Leaf more than tripled those of the previous months in March and April after Nissan slashed the price 18 percent.

Honda joined in last week, cutting the monthly payment on its zero-down, 36-month lease from $389 to $259. And by month's end Honda will increase the number of dealerships that will carry the Fit EV from 36 to more than 200.

That comes after discounting from Ford, Toyota and Mitsubishi, as well as low-ball pricing from Fiat and Chevrolet as they launched EVs this year.



Read more: http://www.autonews.com/article/20130603/OEM05/306039954#ixzz2VA1Y2hUs

Price will not increase demand, range will.

[Fumesucker]

1. Price is already making a difference, it was right in your OP

Sales of the Nissan Leaf more than tripled those of the previous months in March and April after Nissan slashed the price 18 percent.

A great many people who could make the most of an EV are very price sensitive.

[Schema Thing]

7. yep. A friend is a used car dealer and could sell me a Leaf with low miles

for about 19k.


On pure economics, the numbers would have worked out slightly better-than-break-even if I'd purchased the Leaf and kept two cars (which I would have had to do, in my business and geographic situation).


In my case, I went with less hassle and got a Prius and only have to have one car (I can rent a truck by the hour or day on the rare occasion I need to). I save a ton of money on gas and have a nice newish vehicle with a long warranty period as compared to the Honda Van I was driving.

[SoCalDem]

2. Not entirely.

Lowering prices will sell more vehicles for that second, in-town car. Not everyone commutes long distances, or would take that EV on a long roadtrip.

[supernova]

4. That would be our situation

I really would consider an EV for in town driving, even commuting to work or school. But would reserve the gas car for long road trips. It's roomier and I don't arrive beat up.

[rightsideout]

5. Get a Chevy Volt or Ford C-Max

With the Volt you can have your all-around town electric car but if you want to go on extended trips the gas engine turns on to charge the batteries.

In our EV Club we have lots of Volt owners. One guy owns a Volt and a Tesla Model S.

One guy said today he hasn't put gas in his Volt since January. He doesn't do alot of extended trips since he has a short commute but is planning to take his Volt to the Beach.

In our situation we have an electric Ford Escort we converted to electric which gets 40 to 65 miles range which is as much as the Volt gets in all-electric mode. For long trips we use the Prius.

My neighbor just bought a Ford C-Max Plug-in Hybrid and they love the car.

[hobbit709]

3. I drive a 21 year old truck because I can't afford anything new.

Most of the people I know can't afford the payments on a $30K+ vehicle.
I get under $1000/mo on SS, tax credits do me no good and I refuse to lease a car. If I shell out that kind of money per month, I expect to own it.

[Schema Thing]

6. per your quote, price will increase demand

Range is an issue, but you'd be a fool to leave money on the table because your 35 mile per day commuter car wouldn't also take you to see grandma twice a year. Unless of course you had no other option to go see grandma. But that isn't everyone, or even most everyone.


The numbers work out good, great even, for some people. Some of those people are fools and won't buy, but some are smart and will buy. A subset of a subset of the population is still plenty of people to sell cars to.

[DainBramaged]

8. Price is a temporary inventory adjustment consequence

when it's all done, range is still the issue, convenient charging is a bigger issue. If I live 35 miles from work and can't change the car at work, why bother?