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Comment by majormajor | Hacker News Reader

"Smaller and cheaper" isn't the best comparison point, "same size but cleaner" would be a more interesting one. And AFAICT larger electric cars cost considerably more than most of the gas options in the US.

An internal combustion F-150 costs less than an electric one, I believe the same is true for the Maverick though to a lesser degree. The hybrid Maverick does gangbusters with similar prices; if the electric F-150 cost the same as the gas one and there was a hybrid one at the same price I'd wager that you'd see a lot more uptake than you do of the current Lightning.

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Contrast this with the global market, where EVs are cheaper than ICE vehicles.

Cheaper where and in what way?

Electricity cost is on par or exceeds cost of ICE fuel (gas or diesel) in most of the western world and beyond. Also EVs have much lower resale value.

Where I live in the us I save $200 per month with ev vs gas. This is replacing a minivan with essentially the same but 10 years newer. Of course my power all tmes fron wind which is cheap

We’re saving way more than that. Probably the equivalent of $70-90 per “gas tank”. Old car was a late model truck of the same form factor.

The resale values on used EVs are poor because things are improving so fast. The new ones are better and cheaper, which isn’t really the case for ICE models.

The only exceptions are the first few years of Leaf’s, since they ate batteries, and teslas because of the non-removable MAGA bumper stickers.

Unfortunately the older EVs don't really have enough range for some of the things I want an older car for (going to camp - I expect to scratch the car so rentals are out)

We had an ICE truck for this purpose for a while. The used long range replacement had a lower MSRP (and we paid less for it), and it’s a better pickup / more capable pickup truck).

I live in Australia. Electricity here costs around USD$0.20/kWh, unless you are prepared to charge when the wind is blowing, or the sun is shining, in which case it costs USD$0.05/kWh. $0.05/kWh equates to around USD$1.20 per 100 miles for a car that gets 50 miles to the gallon.

That's assuming you have to pay for it. I charge my car from my roof top solar, so it costs nothing.

The resale value for EV's isn't good, but the reason is battery prices are dropping, and batteries are the primary cost of an EV. They dropped 30% in the last year. If that continues, it's all over for US car makers once the tariffs go away.

I pay roughly €1 for every 100km I drive here in Ireland. My annual car road tax is €120 in stead of 200+. My annual service involves kicking the tires and having a peek under the car.

I bought my ev used for 16k, with a basically brand new battery (mandatory recall) still under warranty. I'm not gonna resell it, I'm probably gonna keep it till the wheels fall off.

> Electricity cost is on par or exceeds cost of ICE fuel (gas or diesel) in most of the western world and beyond

Doubt.

This will be true soon in the US too. Ford’s already announced an MSRP of $30K for the EV version of this $33K ICE pickup:

https://www.ford.com/trucks/ranger/

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