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by chris5745 2054 days ago
I want a small, economic, non-flashy electric car for daily commuting. I don’t need the self driving feature or any other bells and whistles. Tesla doesn’t exactly fit that bill.
3 comments

Tons of those available today. Nissan Leaf is under $10k used with time left on the battery warranty (or was in January).

Hyundai Kona Electric is another.

Kona is an SUV and even Leaf is quite large by European city standards.

If you are after something really small - Renault Zoe, Kia Niro and VW Up are small, but not super cheap yet.

I’ll look into these. I live in the US suburbs on a bit of a budget, and there’s a sweet spot for pricing that IMO hasn’t quite happened yet with most EV. I think the number for me is $25k for a new base model with average range. I hope my next car will be an EV, but we’ll see.
With tax subsidies, many models are in that range now.

if you don't have the income or the desire to take advantage of the tax subsidies yourself, you can still get them through very generous leasing programs that most manufacturers are offering for electric vehicles.

Heh Model 3 lease starts at $1336 NZD/month and is for businesses only (not Tesla direct tho). Completely out of reach with reality.
Don't forget to consider TCO and charge vs gasoline.
I’m a bit hesitant to buy a used electric vehicle, but if there’s a good battery warranty I’d definitely consider it.

A new EV Kona is $37k, not exactly economical to me, but they’re getting there. I’m excited for the future of EV. Thanks for this.

The battery costs $6000 if you need a replacement. Just factor that into the TCO.
Chevrolet Bolt. 250 miles of range, can be had for <20k with a Costco membership.
You are describing low margin mass market product. Tesla wont be able to make those for many years.