[IloveHN84]

But all the small electric cars are just starting at the shamed price of 35/40k € ( Peugeot 208, VW ID.3 and so on).

That is a huge barrier of entrance. At the same price, one can buy a BMW or Audi. We need an economic model to let the EV industry boom

[lnsru]

One probably needs to develop and produce EVs in cheaper country than Germany. BMW and VW engineers earn ~100k € early, they are unionized and can’t be fired. As a result one gets ID.3 for 40k€. That’s already very expensive car for most Germans despite some pre-orders: https://electrek.co/2019/07/22/vw-zwickau-factory-electric-c...

Last but not least: electricity. If you don’t have a garage, EV does not make sense. No easy overnight charging, I don’t want to park mile or tho away my car for few hours just for charging. And taxes! Most of petrol/diesel price in Germany are taxes, electricity is taxed much lower. Can government loose this stream of income that easy? Or electricity will be taxed same way in the future?

[Thlom]

With range now at 500km+ for many cars that's not a huge issue for most people. If you can't charge at home, maybe you can charge at work, at least sometimes? Or the grocery store has a fast charger so you can charge when you shop? Or the shopping mall or whatever. Unless you have an extreme commute you don't have to charge every day.

[imtringued]

ICEs are affordable. Engineer wages don't seem to be the limiting factor. The problem is that the car companies don't want to invest into battery factories because they hope someone else pays the bill first.

[lnsru]

You are right, Sono Motors in Munich did their development on shoestring budget. I was asked to join electric camper startup, they estimated their development budget under 2M€ using off shelf parts.

[adrianN]

Or you just tax fuel appropriately and suddenly the BMW or Audi isn't attractive anymore.

[fyfy18]

Fuel prices need to go up a lot for that. Over 100,000km an EV costs around €3000 - €6000 less to run than an efficient ICE. Increasing fuel prices will also mean people scrap perfectly good but inefficient older cars.

Governments need to make EV ownership more appealing (in my country you can drive in bus lanes, so avoid rush hour traffic), increase incentive payments, or charge higher taxes on new ICE vehicles.

[tonyedgecombe]

Supply is constrained for nearly all electric vehicles right now, I wanted to buy a Golf GTE but VW haven't be accepting orders for a long time.

As supply increases I expect those prices will fall.

[WorldMaker]

VW seems to think the efficiencies of scale for EV production will catch up real fast to ICE vehicles. They think as soon as next year (and almost definitely by 2021) their EV cars will be cheaper than their equivalent ICE models.

There is going to be a really interesting tipping point in the very near future where the simplicity of electric drive trains is going to outcompete the very complicated supply chains of ICE engine parts. I've got a feeling VW is correct.

[woodandsteel]

The price problem is because the batteries are so expensive, but they are rapidly getting cheaper. They dropped 35& in 2018. The experts say around 2023 ev's will be sticker-price comparable with ice autos at the high end, and in succeeding years move down the line to smaller ones.

The auto industry realizes this is going to happen, and much of it is scrambling like crazy to be ready when it happens.