Marko Hanželic
Electric vehicles are too expensive in the West. We know this, the dealers know this and the car manufacturers know this too. Even the most affordable models are still less affordable from the equivalent internal combustion car, even though Western car brands are talking enthusiastically about how their next-generation electric vehicle platforms will bring electric technology to the road for thousands of dollars less than it costs now. But according to the recent news of the Chinese of the car manufacturer BYD it seems that all this is just empty nonsense.
BYD has made another bold move in China's price war, slashing the price of its cheapest electric vehicle, of the Seagull model, by 5 percent, dropping its retail price to just 8.870 euros. No, at this price we haven't overlooked the front end, because BYD will really sell Chinese buyers completely a new electric car for less than 9 thousand euros, Reuters reports. Meanwhile, Stellantis revels in the prospect of being his own Citroen e-C3 and sent its future Fiat equivalent to the market for 21 thousand euros, and VW is preparing ID.2 for 25.000 euros.
Things look just as bleak when we look at the price of the car Seagull, which is $9.700, in the context of US car prices. The cheapest electric vehicle in America, Nissan Leaf with 40 kWh, costs $28.140, even the cheapest car of any kind, old Mitsubishi Mirage, which is similar in dimensions to the BYD, costs $16.695.
Granted, most Americans probably wouldn't want to buy Seagulla with 75 hp, just like most don't want the Mirage, but plenty of drivers in Europe and other parts of the world will, and they won't care that the battery is small (30 kWh) or that it uses less exotic sodium-ion technology. They will be more interested in the actual useful reach that will be greater than 240 km.
If you are BYD can afford to sell an electric vehicle for less than $10k, can afford to greatly undercuts the price Western competitors in the sale of cars, which will not be rejected because they are too small, slow, underpowered or poorly equipped. Can Western car manufacturers really compete or are they the modern equivalent of the British motorcycle industry from 1968, which is currently on the rise, but will be soon fell in spectacular style?
