A lot of the regulations are also about emissions, so conveniently that goes away with electric cars. But then your problem is that the battery is expensive. For now.
The cost of distinct models is mostly in crash survivability and related regulated safety systems.
This whole argument is bunk. Just settle on a design (perhaps borne out of your higher end model) let it trickle down your product line (unchanged) other than stripping useless gadgets, etc.
Why do people assume those in the market for a $3k car care that it have a brand new body style?