This will change as EV and battery production scales up, but this simply isn’t happening fast enough. Fast-forward five years, and many rich people may have made the shift to solar, heat pumps, and EVs. Meanwhile ‘normal people’ may still be driving vehicles that are dirty, expensive to refuel, and increasingly stigmatized. This is not acceptable, not socially, and not politically.
Many European governments think handing out purchase grants for EVs will make them more affordable. They’re wrong. Only people with high incomes buy new cars. Only rich people spend north of €30,000 on a new car, which is exactly the point at which prices for most EVs start. As a result, lower income people are excluded from EV support schemes. They don’t buy expensive new cars. They don’t have the capital for that.
This is exactly what we need now. A monthly leasing fee of around €200 would be within reach for virtually all car drivers. That’s what drivers spend on fuel and maintenance alone these days.plans to subsidize electric vehicle leasing, which would make electric cars available for low-income households for as little as €100 per month.