The average price of an electric car in the United States hit $66,000 last month — an increase of more than 13% year-over-year. That's a bit disappointing, as the promise was that EV prices would come down, but this price increase isn't the whole story.
One of the biggest complaints about electric vehicles remains their price. They are unaffordable for most consumers, even with subsidies.
To be fair, most new cars aren't a smart purchase for most people, and electric cars are taking over the new car market. But there's also the factor that many automakers entering the EV started with more expensive parts, making electric vehicles more expensive on average.
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Now on top of all that, there’s runaway inflation that’s driving up the price of everything – including electric cars. Kelley Blue Book is out with a new report tracking average car prices in the United States. Their report confirms that the average EV price has increased 13.7% to $66,000:
“The average price paid for a new electric vehicle (EV) increased in June by 3.8% compared to May and 13.7% compared to a year ago. The average price for a new electric vehicle – more than $66,000 , according to Kelley Blue Book estimates – is well above the industry average and more in line with luxury prices than mainstream prices.”
That's a significant year-over-year increase, but it's in line with price increases for the broader car, which rose 12.7% to $48,043 last month.
Obviously, the $18,000 difference in average price isn't a great comparison, as natural gas vehicles are offered in a much wider variety of models and in more categories than electric cars, which again tend to be more premium and luxury models.
However, the actual cost of ownership is very close on average after gas savings.
KBB published the average transaction prices for each brand, and Tesla is up nearly 12% over the past year:
| Manufacturer | Transaction price June 2022 (Average) | Transaction price May 2022 (Average) | Transaction price June 2021 (Average) | Month-to-month percentage change | Year-on-year rate of change |
| BMW | $66,390 | $66,176 | $59,326 | 0.3 % | 11.9 % |
| Daimler | $76,601 | $76,172 | $66,226 | 0.6 % | 15.7 % |
| Ford Motor Company | $54,602 | $52,135 | $50,364 | 4.7 % | 8.4 % |
| Geely Auto Group | $60,512 | $61,322 | $53,165 | -1.3 % | 13.8 % |
| General Motors | $50,357 | $50,636 | $48,707 | -0.6 % | 3.4 % |
| Honda Motor Company | $37,699 | $38,157 | $33,093 | -1.2 % | 13.9 % |
| Hyundai Motor Group | $36,161 | $35,946 | $31,834 | 0.6 % | 13.6 % |
| Mazda Motor Corporation | $29,953 | $30,746 | $31,587 | -2.6 % | -5.2 % |
| Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance | $35,496 | $36,239 | $32,225 | -2.1 % | 10.2 % |
| Rivian | $72,902 | $72,973 | – | -0.1 % | – |
| Stellantis | $53,976 | $53,997 | $49,729 | 0.0 % | 8.5 % |
| Subaru Corporation | $35,194 | $33,814 | $35,212 | 4.1 % | -0.1 % |
| Tata Motors | $84,808 | $88,218 | $80,719 | -3.9 % | 5.1 % |
| Tesla | $68,392 | $64,969 | $61,149 | 5.3 % | 11.8 % |
| Toyota Motor Corporation | $40,111 | $39,127 | $38,544 | 2.5 % | 4.1 % |
| Volkswagen Group | $56,629 | $55,313 | $49,058 | 2.4 % | 15.4 % |
| Industry | $48,043 | $47,275 | $42,633 | 1.6 % | 12.7 % |
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But interestingly, Tesla's average selling price is extremely comparable to other premium automakers like BMW.
We can't really blame the electric car market for these price increases. Inflation hits almost every industry pretty hard. Once things calm down on that front, I think we'll see improvements in electric vehicle prices through economies of scale and battery cost reductions.
Of course, if we look at the overall average selling price of electric vehicles, models in cheaper categories will be the biggest differentiator. I'm talking about vehicles like the VW ID Life and Hyundai's recently announced $20,000 electric car.
At the same time, electric pickups are likely to account for a significant portion of EV sales in the United States in the coming years, and that will push the average higher.
Source: electrek.co
