Is Price Still a Barrier for Electric Vehicle Usage?
Whilst electric vehicle usage has been seeing a huge uptick in recent years, largely in part due to the successes found from the likes of Tesla and a push for more stylistic electric vehicles with all the bells and whistles, big changes will certainly be seen towards the end of the decade when countries like the UK push for the ban on sales of all ICE vehicles, leaving just electric vehicles to take their place. There has been news and updates over time that could be a big game changer in the space, but one factor still remains a point of concern – price.
(Image from arup.com)
With so many ways for individuals to get a little extra money toward something whether it be the growing retail trading market as it seems everyone and their mother has been trading stocks this year, through to alternative options with players securing big wins from gaming options here, it can still often be difficult to justify the higher price of the more premium options – that isn’t to say there aren’t budget friendly choices, but that does often mean also making compromises on certain features including perhaps the most important of battery capacity which directly translates to a more negative experience too.
It’ll be a difficult balancing act for electric vehicle manufacturers to make – if a cheaper traditional vehicle can be bought with everything available, or an electric vehicle can be bought missing some of the more important features for a same price, it’s no surprise that the electric vehicle will be the second choice, and if you’re paying a premium in some cases for something like seat warmers which are already installed but just come through as a software update, it leaves some buyers feeling jaded.
A way to combat this would be the second-hand market, great vehicles for a lower price and the ability to find a deal – but this software based approach has caused issues in the past, Teslas bought with self-driving capabilities which are removed once the original owner sells the car, for example, and when the difference is thousands of dollars, it can be tough to swallow.
Whilst the choice will be taken away in a decade when the sale of ICE vehicles becomes restricted, it may still be hard to get people to move across to electric vehicle usage if the price remains high for these many reasons, and as incentives to make the change start to dry up too there’s less savings to be found – recent announcements would suggest that more entry level options will become available and the price of existing vehicles may drop too, but a balance certainly needs to be found, otherwise it may be difficult to encourage the most reluctant to make a change.