Why aren't battery power vehicles cheaper?

Quote: terapined

Quote: Tanko

Prices were bid up by idiots who used their stimulus checks to buy cars they couldn't afford.

Stimulus checks are gone, and now car repos are exploding.

'Lucky Lopez, told Barron’s about some doozies he’s seen: people making $2,500 a month saddled with $1,000 car payments.'

'Lopez says he recently bought a Bentley, McLaren and two Aston Martins—all purchased by buyers using PPP money as down payments, and all repossessed after few or no monthly payments.'

'Lopez says banks are in turn leasing more land to handle an expected car-repossession surge.'

'But based on what he says he has seen from banks, subprime repos have nearly doubled since 2020, to around 11% on average.'

This is great
A healthy used car market
Cool

Quote: AZDuffman

When I did auto loans I got to see what they made on the credit application. The percent of income people accepted for a car payment blew my mind. Everyone is saying how the current payment is more or less with inflation, ignoring that we are now at over 6 years for the average loan term.

To me it is just more verification of the serf class being created in the USA. Having a car or house with no equity is little more than paying rent. Being off the car payment merry go round is so nice.

Quote: Gandler

And, its even worse than is sounds, because cars rapidly decrease in value with age (and tend to require more maintenance with age). So if you get a 6-8 year car loan (or even up to 10 years in some cases), with little down, you are going to be upside down the whole way, even as you get close to paying it off. Something like 10-30% loss of value per year (obviously big range depending on make/model, average mileage, use, condition, etc....) , so this can be very unsustainable (and why many roll car debt into new car debt compounding the issue).

The only upside is you will pay less in insurance as your car becomes worth less.

At least with real property, it can (and often does) increase in value, so having less equity is not always the worst thing.

Quote: Tanko

I lease a new SUV, no money down, with all the latest technology, every three years.

I can purchase the one I currently lease for a previously agreed price, which is $9K below the current price of the vehicle. I will most likely purchase it, unless I can use that as leverage to negotiate a very favorable lease in six months.

Electric cars are too small, too unsafe, take forever to charge, lack styling and don't go far enough. On top of that, not enough charging stations, and the re-charge lines are building.

Quote: DRich

I have made nice profits selling my last few leased cars. On one the sale accounted for almost all three years worth of payments that I made.

Quote: Pacomartin

But I never thought that leases could be used for arbitrage.

Quote: DRich

I was pretty shocked also.

Quote: May 21 2021,

When I purchased my Model 3 in 2018, I knew I was paying to be an early adopter of the model and expected steep depreciation going forward due to the novelty of BEVs. I expected competitors to come out with their own BEVs, which they did. But I was flat out wrong about the depreciation part.
I sold my Model 3 since my Model Y on order will be arriving shortly. My 3 had around 35k miles.
Here's the math:
Model 3 LR RWD out the door in 2018 (with taxes, license, etc) - $56,000 approx.
Subtract fed tax credit and SCE rebate - ($8,000)
---
Actual price I paid = $48,000
Price I sold for in 2021 - ($42,000)
---
Cost of Model 3 ownership over 2.5 years = $6,000
divide that by the 30 months I owned it and I'm left with a monthly payment of $200. With gas savings factored in, it comes down to something closer to $100 per month.

Quote: missedhervee

I see that Ilani casino outside Portland has a lot of charging stations: smart move.

Assuming EV's become more common charging stations will be needed, and what better spot for them than businesses with adequate parking?

Wal-Mart in particular should jump in on this.

"Gee, I'll be idle for an hour or two; what can I do to pass the time?"

Gamble or shop, that's what.