Hacker News Reader

Comment by seanmcdirmid | Hacker News Reader

Nissan Leaf now starts at $28k. Chevy Bolt is now $26.5k (was, now discontinued). Given that the dolphin goes for $21k in Mexico, it isn't a huge price diff, definitely not 2-3x. Not sure where you see Model 3 for just $30k, it starts at $40k in the USA. Only in China does a model 3 cost $32k.

View on HN

> Not sure where you see Model 3 for just $30k, it starts at $40k in the USA

Probably from Tesla.com. It lists the long range RWD cash price as $29920 (in my state) unless you notice the checked checkbox that says "Include est. incentives of $7,500 and 5-year gas savings of $<whatever> for <your_state>" and uncheck it.

$whatever is $5000 for my state.

Still expensive for a swastika.

This will be interesting to unpack, seeing what happens to Tesla in a marketing theory sense.

I predict that Chinese and us manufacturers will partner or rebadge Mexican or Canadian made Chinese EVs within a decade

Also, I believe the sodium ion battery has yet to impact the EV market. In theory a 200-300 mile car of sodium ion batteries should be 1/2 that of NCM drivetrain or less. That should enable a sub 10k car even in the us

> Nissan Leaf now starts at $28k.

Kinda missing the point that you get 50% more range in the Dolphin, plus a lot of additional niceties / tech stuff that is just not available in the Leaf.

> Kinda missing the point that you get 50% more range in the Dolphin,

Nissan leaf: 240 km (149 miles) for the 40 kWh version and 341 km (212 miles) for the 62 kWh version.

BYD Dolphin: 340 km (211 mi) for the 45 Kwh version, 427 km (265 mi) for the 60kWh version. The cheapest 30 KwH version doesn't have a WLTP range that I can find (I don't think it is being exported outside of China anyways according to wiki).

Leaf is less, but it isn't 50% of the range.

Not 50% but 240km to 340km is still more than 40%. Not too bad.

There are more competitive cars at the price point in Europe (the Leaf is kinda long in the tooth now; second-gen is 8 years old), but the US is likely not a priority market for cheap EVs; it's a smaller market for EVs _in general_ than either Europe or China, and it's also not a good market for small cars.

I assume that the 25k EUR id.2 (replacement for the VW eUp, out early next year) will launch in the US, tho, and should be competitive with the Dolphin.

The Chevy Bolt was discontinued.

Oops, I missed that. The Leaf is still for sale.

The Leaf has just been discontinued and Nissan is running out the remaining stock at about 30% discount, making it one of the cheapest EVs in the market where I live. If it's the car you want, now's a good time to buy a Leaf.

There'll be another one along next year, though it may or may not be called a Leaf.

Still sad about this. The Bolt is an incredible EV that's perfect for its price point.

Doesn't that have very bad battery degradation due to lack of cooling system for it? That's what my friend said who is really into EVs. Personally I don't have any type of car.

Nissan Leaf has 2nd generation that is supposed to have fixed the battery degradation.

Well… I mean that was the case 8 years ago, though it was somewhat exaggerated (it was a first-gen Leaf thing; the first gen was only made 2010-2017).

Not exactly. There is a 2025/26 model coming out. They just stopped selling it while they moved it to a new platform and battery.

https://electrek.co/2025/02/06/first-look-new-chevy-bolt-ev-...

https://www.tesla.com/model3 says "From $29,9901"

Isn’t that including tax breaks? Yes after checking the cheapest is $42k the advertised price includes 7500 tax break and 5000 in gas savings.

Yes; Elon receives welfare.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com