Study: EVs Will Be Cheaper Than Gas Models
CARS.COM — A study has determined that electric cars will eventually be more affordable than their gasoline-powered equivalents. The report, conducted by Bloomberg New Energy Finance, projects lowering battery costs will be instrumental in bringing down the purchase price of electric vehicles. With this cheaper battery technology, the study reports that EVs will be cheaper than gas models by 2025.
Related: 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV Review: First Drive
The least expensive EV presently sold in the U.S. is the Mitsubishi i-MiEV, which starts at approximately $24,000. This jellybean-shaped hatchback is notoriously skittish on the highway, however, and boasts a puny operating range of only 59 miles per charge. Far nicer EV options, such as the Nissan Leaf and Chevrolet Bolt, cost approximately $5,000 to $10,000 more than the i-MiEV, but are vastly better in terms of range, comfort and road manners.
Why Should I Care? Electric cars have two main things working against them: limited range and higher prices. Today’s best EVs boast better driving range than before — the brand-new Chevy Bolt manages more than 200 miles per charge — but they still trail models running on gas or diesel in terms of range. Yes, certain Tesla models can travel more than 300 miles between recharges, but when you consider the cheapest Tesla Model S starts around $70,000, you’d never call it a bargain.
Yet as battery tech improves, it will also become much less expensive. If you’re old enough to remember, you’ll recall that only 15 years ago, some of the first flat-screen TVs carried prices more aligned to what you’d pay at a car dealership. Not only did these hugely expensive TVs eventually get better, the prices started to tumble, too. That same pattern is inevitable in the car world as more people opt for EVs.
Uber Fires Former Google Engineer
After months of messy legal battles, Uber is making a clean break with the former Google self-drive vehicle engineer accused of bringing stolen tech secrets to his job at the ride-hail giant. According to the New York Times, Uber has fired Anthony Levandowski, effective immediately.
Before leaving Google to set up his own autonomous drive research firm, Levandowski is accused of taking thousands of sensitive documents from his former employer Google, where he helped lead the tech firm’s research into autonomous drive. A judge recently forced Uber to hand over any documents or information that might have been part of this cache, though the ruling stopped short of putting a complete hold on Uber’s development of self-driving cars and trucks.
Why Should I Care? As we previously noted, Uber dodged a major bullet by not having to suspend its development of self-driving vehicles. Any significant delay could have set the company back months, if not years, behind rivals in the automotive and tech world looking to cash in on human-free means of transportation.
