Price parity with ICE vehicles is still a long way off.
Mercedes-Benz thinks we are still a few years away from reaching this goal.
With petrol and diesel prices soaring, many car owners are looking into replacing their internal combustion engine vehicles with an electric vehicle. Beyond the fact that most are on backorder for a year or more, pricing remains a huge obstacle. According to Mercedes-Benz, this isn’t about to change.
Mercedes-Benz opened a Battery Factory in Alabama to Supply American Production of electric SUVs
The hope for a $30,000 (US or CDN) EV has all but completely disappeared. The market being what it is, even almighty Tesla, possibly the only car company in a position to build and sell one, won’t. Demand is so strong and given that automakers are in the business of making money, we’re not about to see one anytime soon.
There are also the increasing costs of materials needed for the currently commercially available battery technology. The costs may prevent EV prices from dropping for years.
“It’s a crystal ball thing to answer. And it will very much depend on mining capacity [for raw materials] and the global ramp-up of EVs. So these are the two main factors,” Mercedes CTO Markus Schäfer told Road & Track. “But I would say, for quite a while we will see headwinds on the raw material side.”
Affordable high-density batteries are not yet available and even when they are ready for mass consumption, adapting them to cars and the industry may take years.
