Teslas charging in a parking garage.
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Tesla’s price war rocked the EV market this year.A new crop of customers is baffling car companies and their dealers.More options than ever make EV shopping more interesting.
The electric vehicle segment is experiencing a watershed year as long-held aspirations for the automotive industry meet with reality.
Electric car prices have taken a nosedive this year, led by Tesla’s price cuts and deepened further by economic changes that have made shoppers more frugal. A change in the average EV shopper and buyer is also rocking the market, as the well of wealthy early adopters dries up and dealers are left to try to pitch EVs over hybrids and gas-powered vehicles. At the same time, a proliferation of new EVs has given shoppers more choices than ever before.
All of this has culminated in what can feel like contradicting outcomes: the electric vehicle market is going to notch another record year of growth, and at the same time, demand for these cars is showing early signs of slowing down.
The EV price war
At the start of the year, in response to bloated inventory and slowing sales, Tesla CEO Elon Musk slashed prices on his most popular models. This kicked off a price war in the segment that dragged down the value of new EVs from Ford and GM.
Overall, the price war has brought down the average price paid for an EV by more than 17% this year. But even with this drop, the average price paid for an electric car still hovered above $50,000 this fall, well out of reach for many car shoppers.
Read more about the EV price war:
Tesla just started an electric car price war, and it’s bad news for Ford and GM
It’s becoming increasingly clear Tesla is just another car company
Ford and Tesla are locked in a nasty EV price war. That’s great news for car shoppers.
Electric cars are seeing their highest discounts yet
The EV plateau
Electric car sales have been on the rise for the last few years as technology improved and more options became available. But dealers are starting to warn about a change in the average EV shopper that could bring a plateau to the segment.
With wealthy early adopters largely sated some 10 years after Tesla started selling the Model S, it’s now up to companies and their dealers to pitch EVs to a more average shopper – a difficult task so far.
Read more about the changing EV customer:
The EV plateau is coming. It’s bad news for companies like Ford and Tesla.
The auto industry overestimated EV demand this year. Now companies are scrambling.
The EV revolution has never felt farther away
It’s getting harder for dealers to sell EVs. That’s a bad sign for the industry.
Americans are so anxious about going electric that they’re willing to pay up for hybrids
Auto execs are coming clean: EVs aren’t working
EV options are getting better
Shoppers interested in going electric have many more options than they did a few years ago when Tesla was really the only electric car with enough range and access to public charging to meet the average customer’s needs.
In the last few years, some of the biggest car companies have introduced new electric models, while a slew of new startups have also entered the race. This stable of options is only expected to grow in the next five years as the auto industry looks to wean itself off of fossil fuels.
Read more about EV options:
50 new EVs are hitting the US soon. It’s not clear if there are buyers for them.
One of Tesla’s top Chinese competitors eyes the US market
Electric cars don’t have a demand problem. They have an affordability problem.
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