To many eyes it looked as if 2024 would finally be the year electric cars go mainstream, following a 12-month period in which sales increased by a whopping 47%.A spate of bad press regarding public charging, reports of dramatically reduced range in extreme temperatures and a dearth of EVs that still qualify for the $7,500 federal tax credit conspired to squelch demand. EV sales advanced by just 2.
Recent trends in EV pricing, combined with suddenly sluggish demand warranting discounts and incentives and other factors now enable 20 out of 49 battery-electric models sold in the U.S. to be cheaper to own over a five-year period than comparable internal combustion engine rides., based on a comparison of more than 5,300 vehicle configurations from the 2023 and 2024 model years. The company considered each model’s depreciation, financing, fuel, insurance, maintenance, repairs and other factors.
The report found that 19 of 41 EVs are able to recover their added up-front cost within seven years, with eight of them beating similar ICE vehicles immediately after driving off of a dealer’s lot, due to their lower starting prices. At the other end of the ledger, the remaining 22 EVs are predicted to take 84 months or longer to recoup the up-front excess.