(Bloomberg) -- From Tesla chargers in the ancient alleys that surround the Forbidden City in Beijing to lonely highway rest stops with charging posts in the western deserts, signs of the electrification of China’s transport fleet — and the demise of gasoline — are everywhere.Most Read from BloombergIn Traffic-Weary Toronto, a Battle Breaks Out Over Bike LanesIn Italy’s Motor City, Car-Free Options Are GrowingNew York City’s ‘Living Breakwaters’ Brace for Stormier SeasNow, according to official s
  • FrederikNJS@lemm.eeEnglish
    1·
    23 days ago
    • Renault Megane E-tech Electric
    • VW ID.3
    • Volvo EX30

    And there’s quite a lot more brands with EVs in that size bracket coming out in the near future

    • hovercat@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
      0·
      23 days ago

      Sadly none of those are available in the US except the EX30, and the starting MSRP is literally double that of something like the Mazda3 the OP mentioned.

      • FrederikNJS@lemm.eeEnglish
        0·
        23 days ago

        I wasn’t aware that both the VW and Renault wasn’t available in the US… That sucks. But yeah, the MSRP for EVs are generally quite a bit higher, but that goes for pretty much every size of car, but that is only a tiny bit of the whole picture. I also didn’t know the price disparity was that big in the US for the Mazda and Volvo… But when you are looking at EVs you really need to look at the service and fuel/electricity costs too.

        I live in Denmark, so obviously my experience will be very different. I recently switched from a Ford Fiesta 2016 (5-door hatchback, gasoline, medium-high trim) to a Hyundai Ioniq 5 (fully electric, crossover SUV, top trim), and I drive about 30,000 km per year (~ 18600 miles). And when you factor in the cost of the car loan, the service subscription, the insurance, and fuel costs, then the much larger, and much more luxurious Hyundai Ioniq 5 comes out to costing me about the same per month.

        I did all the math before we bought the Ioniq 5, but unfortunately don’t have all the numbers handy anymore. But the main factors are the MSRP cost and the fuel costs

        Ford Fiesta 1.0 100 hp Titanium Fun (2016):

        • Price 160,000 DKK (~ $22,690), Loan came out to 1790 DKK per month (~ $254)
        • Gas costs per month ~ 2,200 DKK (~ $312)
        • Sum per month 3,990 DKK (~ $565)

        Hyundai Ioniq 5 Long Range Ultimate (2023):

        • Price 405,000 DKK (~ $57,434), Loan comes out to 3559 DKK per month (~ $505)
        • Electricity costs per month ~ 400 DKK (~ $57)
        • Sum per month 3,959 DKK (~ $562)

        So even though the cost was 2.5 times higher, it was about the same to own and drive. I have no idea how that math works out with gas and electricity prices in the US.

        • daddy32@lemmy.worldEnglish
          0·
          23 days ago

          What about battery degradation? How much does that cost? Who will pay for it? Also, if you plan to sell the car in the future, you should factor in its value deprecation (general, besides the battery), which for a car of 2.5 times the price will roughly 2.5 times more in absolute numbers. Or is this that type of leasing where you basically rent the car and don’t care about this?

          • FrederikNJS@lemm.eeEnglish
            2·
            7 days ago

            As a small follow up, new research seems to suggest that current EV batteries might last 40% longer than any predictions have expected, due to the real-world use of them causing very different wear on them than the heavy duty testing in labiratories:

            https://lemm.ee/post/49902192

            • daddy32@lemmy.worldEnglish
              1·
              6 days ago

              Seen that, very good news indeed.

              Edit: my last remaining worry is in regards of the effects of the cold weather (common in my country) on the batteries. Other than that, I’m sold :)