U.S. President Joe Biden's administration intends to relax limits on tailpipe emissions that are designed to get Americans to move from gas-powered cars to EVs.
The Bolt is no longer being manufactured. Which means one of the cheapest options for a car most people would be interested in is a Model 3; which after the federal rebate starts at $32,500. For comparison, a similarly sized car, a Corolla, starts at $22k. A Corolla Hybrid starts at $23k (and I think that even qualifies for some rebates too!). Which is really what will be easiest to suggest people buy.
It bugs me a little that the Model 3 is as expensive as it is. How much cheaper would it be if it wasn’t designed and preloaded with all the self driving hardware? Without the fancy vent system? With a simple in dash audio deck instead of a touchscreen infotainment PC? $5k? $10k? Maybe more, I don’t know really.
The “Budget” Tesla is still loaded with a huge amount of advanced and expensive tech it doesn’t actually need. It could have been much cheaper if they wanted it to be.
It’s more complicated than that nowadays, and the lack of certain things actually saves them money and some people see it as luxury, while others don’t.
Those cameras for example help Tesla get their 5 star safety ratings which include things like AEB brakes and pedestrian safety scores. Nowadays you need that hardware to get top scores.
On cars that don’t have cameras, it’s probably from radar, but radar also has its costs vs cameras, and Tesla dropped radar altogether saving costs as the cameras are likely much cheaper than the radar itself (not going to debate if you think dropping radar was stupid, just making the point that SOMETHING is required here for these safety scores)
That dash that you want, has multiple things that can break and need to be repaired. Pieces sourced from multiple places which add logistics costs etc. A single screen that controls it all is actually quite cost effective once you consider all of the other costs associated with bringing in these dashes/center units with all the nobs and buttons, which in many cases are still controlled by a main computer.
Their computer admittedly could be cheaper if it wasn’t for the driver assistant features. You could get the safety features mentioned above with a less powerful computer no doubt.
Those vents unless they somehow saved money probably could be cheaper too but I don’t know enough about them.
Things like the glass roof allow for manufacturing efficiencies as they have robots taking advantage of the hole before the glass is placed in it, and the glass is exceptionally strong which increases saftey.
And they’re doing all this WHILE being profitable now. People keep talking about the Bolt EV being so cheap and great, and for the price they were selling it for at the end, was quite appealing, but GM was never profitable on that vehicle. I don’t even think they’re profitable on the EUV right now either (but I’m not fully up to date on what they’ve said most recently).
I’m not saying they couldn’t have gotten it cheaper, but it’s probably not as much as you’re thinking.
We really need these next gen vehicles, which for Tesla will be a leap forward in cost savings going from making a profitable vehicle to making a profitable smaller vehicle, and for much of the legacy manufacturers will be going from unprofitable EVs or very low profit EVs to their first profitable ones which will help them keep moving forward.
Edit: that new second rear screen definitely wasn’t needed though, that’s pure cost!
I’m hoping that the timeline on their next generation of vehicles doesn’t slip too much. If they can stick to the 25k$ price point, that could help boost EV adoption in the cheaper section of the market.
The Bolt is no longer being manufactured. Which means one of the cheapest options for a car most people would be interested in is a Model 3; which after the federal rebate starts at $32,500. For comparison, a similarly sized car, a Corolla, starts at $22k. A Corolla Hybrid starts at $23k (and I think that even qualifies for some rebates too!). Which is really what will be easiest to suggest people buy.
It bugs me a little that the Model 3 is as expensive as it is. How much cheaper would it be if it wasn’t designed and preloaded with all the self driving hardware? Without the fancy vent system? With a simple in dash audio deck instead of a touchscreen infotainment PC? $5k? $10k? Maybe more, I don’t know really.
The “Budget” Tesla is still loaded with a huge amount of advanced and expensive tech it doesn’t actually need. It could have been much cheaper if they wanted it to be.
It’s more complicated than that nowadays, and the lack of certain things actually saves them money and some people see it as luxury, while others don’t.
Those cameras for example help Tesla get their 5 star safety ratings which include things like AEB brakes and pedestrian safety scores. Nowadays you need that hardware to get top scores.
On cars that don’t have cameras, it’s probably from radar, but radar also has its costs vs cameras, and Tesla dropped radar altogether saving costs as the cameras are likely much cheaper than the radar itself (not going to debate if you think dropping radar was stupid, just making the point that SOMETHING is required here for these safety scores)
That dash that you want, has multiple things that can break and need to be repaired. Pieces sourced from multiple places which add logistics costs etc. A single screen that controls it all is actually quite cost effective once you consider all of the other costs associated with bringing in these dashes/center units with all the nobs and buttons, which in many cases are still controlled by a main computer.
Their computer admittedly could be cheaper if it wasn’t for the driver assistant features. You could get the safety features mentioned above with a less powerful computer no doubt.
Those vents unless they somehow saved money probably could be cheaper too but I don’t know enough about them.
Things like the glass roof allow for manufacturing efficiencies as they have robots taking advantage of the hole before the glass is placed in it, and the glass is exceptionally strong which increases saftey.
And they’re doing all this WHILE being profitable now. People keep talking about the Bolt EV being so cheap and great, and for the price they were selling it for at the end, was quite appealing, but GM was never profitable on that vehicle. I don’t even think they’re profitable on the EUV right now either (but I’m not fully up to date on what they’ve said most recently).
I’m not saying they couldn’t have gotten it cheaper, but it’s probably not as much as you’re thinking.
We really need these next gen vehicles, which for Tesla will be a leap forward in cost savings going from making a profitable vehicle to making a profitable smaller vehicle, and for much of the legacy manufacturers will be going from unprofitable EVs or very low profit EVs to their first profitable ones which will help them keep moving forward.
Edit: that new second rear screen definitely wasn’t needed though, that’s pure cost!
I’m hoping that the timeline on their next generation of vehicles doesn’t slip too much. If they can stick to the 25k$ price point, that could help boost EV adoption in the cheaper section of the market.
>The Bolt is no longer being manufactured.That’s old news. The Bolt will continue…
Chevrolet Bolt EV Isn’t Dead: It Will Return with GM’s Ultium Batteries
https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a44639082/chevrolet-bolt-ev-second-generation-details/>
O, neat!
Edit: GM needs to get better at their messaging. Damn!