The Best EV Cars To Buy Right NOW
The Best EV Cars To Buy Right NOW
Why Are EV Prices Crashing So Much?
Why is that market so far? If you want a good
used car cheap and you can deal with the electric thing, those things are wild.
I've been looking at Teslas lately, and the prices that they’re selling for are
crazy. I sold a Tesla Model Y that was almost brand new with the XPEL paint
protection for around $33,000. We’re selling Plaids in the 50s—yes, that’s
1,000 horsepower. We're even selling Lucid Airs for half off when the car is
just a year old. It's wild what has happened to the EV market. It’s almost too
good to pass up. At some price, no matter what you think of EVs politically or
personally, you start to be like, "That’s interesting." The Plaid at
50 seems like such a good deal for a 2022 Plaid. I did not know that was
happening. That breaks my heart.
 |
| Photo Credit by Google |
You know what? Jack has a history of buying at
peaks. It's like that ongoing joke on the channel. I finally decided after
years of waiting—because I delayed gratification, saying no, no, no, I'll buy
it when I'm more financially comfortable and have a cushion—that I would
finally shell out the money to buy a Tesla Model Y. I spent, I think it was
completely the base. I used existing inventory to even get it cheaper. The only
thing I changed was I had white interior and I got the long range on the Tesla.
I didn’t use my referral code, I used my dad's. So yeah, if you want to get
upset about that, go ahead. I paid 58 grand for it, plus tax. When was it? Oh,
no, no, it was 58 all in, all in. This was September of not last year, but the
prior year—2022. Or maybe it was September of last year. It was September of
last year, I think.
 |
| Photo Credit by Google |
It’s still a great car, don’t get me wrong. I love it, and it’s worth the 58 grand, whatever I paid for it. But it’s a little depressing knowing that I could have gotten a Plaid or something like that instead. It’s crazy how those cars have lost value. To be honest, the Teslas, although they’ve lost significant value, there are some other ones out there that are even wilder. I look at the Lucid numbers. I look at Hummer EVs—those giant trucks. I remember when those were selling. We sold one for around $300,000 or close, and now those are $100,000 trucks. If you’re lucky, you might be able to get one for under $85,000 or $95,000, depending on mileage and stuff. That’s a big hit. The heavy hitter guys who wanted the first ones paid $300,000, and those guys lost $200,000 in value in 24 months, probably. I mean, that’s really a lot.
 |
| Photo Credit by Google |
Why Are EVs Crashing More Than Any Other Car?
Why are they crashing more than any other car? The demand for EVs is heavily subsidized by government incentives, and the demand is just not as strong as the government wishes it was. The automakers are heavily subsidized to make EVs because they also get significant incentives, and they can pass those incentives onto the consumer. I mean, they can apply the consumer incentives to the lease payments and get the leases lower. So, there’s real benefit for them. But at the end of the day, the secondary market isn’t as propped up by these incentives as the primary market is. That’s where you see the actual value of these cars, and it is... yikes. But if you’re interested in a used one, it really does start to become kind of appealing. A Rivian at $40,000 or something like that? That’s kind of interesting. Those are cool trucks. The first original ones had 850 horsepower, they’re off-road like crazy, and they’re nice inside.
 |
| Photo Cridet By Google |
What Happens When Government Subsidies
End?
So, what’s going to happen when the government subsidies end on new EVs? Or do you think they’ll end? My thought is that Tesla can’t sell these cars in the 40s or 50s—or even the 60s—anymore if there’s no government incentive. Also, it’s not about getting political, but it’s tough for the automakers to do this slingshotting thing between Trump and Biden. They’re making long-range product decisions, right? I mean, the product decisions they’re making are five to ten years out based on existing incentives. They don’t know. And now, if the incentives go away, I mean, they spent billions of dollars developing cars for incentives that may not exist. That’s a tough situation. I feel bad for them. Almost everybody is in this boat. I keep hearing this from every automaker contact I have.
 |
| Photo Credit By Google |
The Challenges for Automakers and the EV
Market
I was at Porsche the other day dropping off my
car for service, and I was asking about the Macan EV because there’s an
electric Macan now. They were like, "We’ve got inbound cars that aren’t
sold." That’s a brand-new car! I’ve seen three on the road, but it’s
already the case that inbound ones aren’t sold. Can you imagine in Texas and
other places where EVs aren’t as popular? Then, if you take away the
incentives, it’s like the whole structure is going to change. The automakers
are just going to have to do a huge pivot, and who knows, in four years things
might completely change and then they’ll have to figure out how to pivot back.
It’s just gotten out of control. I was very disappointed that the Biden
administration changed the incentives drastically, even from what they were
before. You had an incentive, then you had less incentives, then you had
changed incentives. It was very difficult for the automakers to really keep up
with that.
 |
| Photo Credit By Google |
The Evolution of EV Incentives
So, what were some of those incentives? My
understanding was that it was the $7,500 tax credit. Then they got rid of it,
brought it back, and then there was something about depreciation. What ended up
happening when the Biden administration brought back the significant incentive
was that they had all these means tests. The car had to be built in the United
States, and you couldn’t earn more than a certain amount of money. Yes, like it
was income-tied, and some of that made sense. But the problem was, you had to
jump through all these hoops to get the incentive. In the past, they were like,
“We just want to get EVs out the door, so we’re just going to give everybody
$7,500.” Well, when you start putting seven different things on it, it’s like,
well, that actually now becomes a maze for the consumer to try to figure out
which car qualifies.
 |
| Photo Credit By Google |
What Should Be Done to Spur EV Growth?
And also, it just lowers the likelihood of
accomplishing the stated goal of getting EVs out the door. So, if you had a
magic wand and could do whatever you wanted when it comes to EVs—in terms of
incentives or no incentives or really anything to spur up the auto market—what
would you do?
 |
| Photo Credit By Google |
This is not a popular opinion in the world, but I
would let capitalism sort it out. I hate to say it, but I think ultimately it’s
probably the right answer. The problem is, though, that we do have an
environmental issue that capitalism probably wouldn’t sort out until the very
end, when the polar ice caps have melted, and then we’re all screwed. It’s
like, “Oh, maybe I’ll buy an electric car now.” But like, the current situation
didn’t work all that well, and it’s certainly not working with the
slingshotting between the different administrations. I’d probably let
capitalism sort it out more than they are now. I will say, EVs are pretty cheap
to produce. We had Chinese cars in the studio the other day, and they have some
pretty compelling EVs. I think the populace would actually be compelled into an
EV if they were a little better educated about them. I think a lot of people in
the middle of the country who hate EVs would actually not hate them if they
knew better. I think there are some real benefits—they’re more reliable,
cheaper to own.
The Future of EVs and the Role of China
in the Market
Also, I think they can be made cheaply in a way
that you’re not developing an engine, right? A gasoline combustion engine.
These Chinese companies, we had a car in the studio the other day called
Xiaomi, and they were a company that was building cell phones three years ago.
Now, three years later, they have a car that is tremendously competent. That
wouldn’t have happened 20 years ago when you had to develop an engine and get
it certified by all these governing bodies, etc. So, maybe that will help bring
the prices down, and in that situation, maybe more people would buy them. But
for now, I don’t know. China is adopting EVs without significant credits. The
market there really wants these cars, and I think that would happen to our
market too if they were priced right.
 |
| Photo Credit By Google |
Could Chinese EVs Be the Future?
That’s interesting. If there were no tariffs to
bring in a Chinese car to the United States, they’d be cheap—like $20,000 for a
new car. Yeah, absolutely. Or $40,000 for a car that performs like a Plaid, but
is a Model 3-priced rival. They sell them in Mexico, in Latin America, and in
Europe—Chinese cars, Chinese electric cars.