$25,000 Electric Car Coming To USA? It’s Already Here!

April 18, 20232 years ago Zachary Shahan 0 Comments

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For a couple of days, I saw a CNBC headline being featured on Google News about a coming $25,000 electric car, a potential industry disruptor. Of course, there’s been hype for a few years now about a potential $25,000 electric car from Tesla, but it was in the news more so recently, so this is what CNBC was bouncing off of. After seeing that headline too many times on Google News, though, something struck me from the article I just wrote about 10 competitive non-Tesla electric cars on the market today in the USA. Two of those electric cars retail for just barely more than $25,000!

In fact, I finally opened the CNBC article, and despite hyping a “coming” electric car, the news outlet does actually note that the base MSRP of the Chevy Bolt EV is $26,500 (just barely more than $25,000) and that it’s only $27,800 for the somewhat larger Chevy Bolt EUV. This is the secret that is often ignored when talking or writing about potential low-cost EVs that could come to the US market in the future. (Electric cars well below $25,000 are already available in other markets.)

You don’t have to wait for the lower-cost Tesla Model C (or whatever it’ll be named) or the Volkswagen ID.2all (just a concept car at this point). You can go out there and buy a $26,500 electric car today and then save oodles of money not buying gas.

$25000 Electric Car from Chevrolet — Chevrolet Bolt EV

$25000 Electric Car in US — Chevrolet Bolt EV

Chevy Bolt EV, a 2022 CleanTechnica Car of the Year nominee.

Adding even more spice to the story, the Chevy Bolt EV and Chevy Bolt EUV are two of the only 6 electric vehicles still eligible for the full $7,500 federal EV tax credit after recent changes from the US Treasury Department. (The other 4 are the Tesla Model 3 Performance, Tesla Model Y, Ford F-150 Lightning, and Cadillac LYRIQ.) So, if you have the tax liability or can get a dealer to take the credit and provide you with a cheaper lease, in theory, you can get a brand new electric car for less than $20,000! (Or just barely more than $20,000 in the case of the Bolt EUV crossover.)

This is one reason why the Chevy Bolt became the 3rd best selling electric vehicle in the USA in the 4th quarter of 2022. (Another notable reason is that GM started producing more of them.)

The Chevy Bolt rose to become the 3rd best selling electric car in the United States in the 4th quarter of 2022.

Yes, there are electric cars with more range, faster charging, and more advanced tech. No one should ever expect lower cost models to lead in those arenas. The point is that you can indeed get a super cheap new electric car even today. And the 259 miles or 247 miles of range the Bolt EV and Bolt EUV offer is not shabby! That’s far more than any normal person needs. It’s also more than my Tesla Model 3 SR+ ever had.

If you’re set on a Tesla and you don’t want to dish out the $42,000+ for a new Model 3 or buy one used, you can of course wait for the eventual “Tesla Model C” (actual name yet to be announced). If you want a new electric car for ~$25,000 and you just don’t want a Chevy or a Nissan LEAF (current base MSRP is $28,040), it surely won’t be too long before another option is on the market. Though, note that won’t be the VW ID.2all, since the US normally doesn’t get European cars like that.

Hello! Great questions. There's no plan to release an ID.2 model in the US at this time, but all future concepts/updates are posted on our https://t.co/TUZ713DXRo site. You're correct that the cell technology in the lithium ion battery used for the ID.4 is prismatic. (1/2) -KO

— Volkswagen (@VW) March 20, 2023

Everyone has a right to not want a certain model — in this case a Chevy Bolt. Just don’t go saying that the US doesn’t have a $25,000 electric car on the market yet. For anyone who isn’t too pedantic, the $26,500 Chevy Bolt EV counts, and even more so if you deduct the $7,500 US tax credit. Frankly, I’m surprised GM doesn’t blast all over the airwaves that it’s effectively selling a $19,000 electric car. Then again, GM still only has so much production capacity for the Bolt, so an aggressive advertising campaign wouldn’t increase sales in the coming year or more anyway. Priority #1 needs to be scaling up production capacity.