The price of electric cars can be discouraging for some people. Some EV models can be even twice the price compared to gasoline cars in the same category. Change from ICE cars to EVs is rather pricey, so we dug into the topic of price.
How much does it cost to make an EV? Depending on the model, it goes between 17,000 and 25,000 dollars. Making EVs requires fewer materials, but the price of those materials is pushing the production price up.
What are all the prices for the production of EV cars? Will the price go down or up? We will answer these and many more important questions about car pricing that everyone wants to know.
How Much Does It Cost To Build A Car From Scratch?
Data from last year shows that building an electric vehicle is around 45% more expensive than building a classic ICE car. The figures are for cars from the C segment. Expenses for an EV are around $20,200, while an old-school internal combustion engine car costs around $13,900.
There are several plans for making EV production more economical. The highest cost is making the battery, and many research projects are already in motion. Several cheaper materials can be used as a substitute for now-used expensive materials. Replacing them will result in lower battery prices.
By 2030. there are plans to reduce the production cost of an average C-segment car to $16,000. The gap in production prices between EV and ICE cars will melt to just 9%.
Electric Car Manufacturing Cost Breakdown
The most prominent figure in vehicle production costs is the price of the battery. In the example we used above, out of $20,200, we will cover all the production costs:
| Component | Cost |
| Battery production cost | $8,000 |
| Cost of the interior | $2,700 |
| The exterior is painted white | $2,100 |
| Electronic and electrical systems | $2,000 |
| E-drive | $2,000 |
| Cost of the assembly | $1,500 |
| Manufacturing of the chassis | $1,300 |
| Powertrain/drivetrain systems | $700 |
EVs don’t have an engine and all their auxiliary systems, so that is one minus on the EV side. But, the high battery price keeps the overall price of electric cars high.
Why Electric Vehicles Will Be Cheaper To Produce?
There are a lot of talks about modifying the process of production of batteries. Automakers pay a high price because of all the expensive materials used in battery production. Several manufacturers have plans to cut down those costs.
Several materials have usable and cheaper alternatives. Researching the best ways to implement them is underway. That will end up with cheaper batteries in the future. Cheaper batteries will result in lower prices for cars.
Check Out Why Electric Vehicles Could Soon Get Cheaper:
Is It More Expensive To Manufacture An Electric Car?
Yes, it is. All the technologies used have enough room to improve, so the cost will eventually decrease. But, while the process of the production of EVs is still new, the prices are high.
One of the most dynamic industries in the world is the EV production industry. Billions of dollars are invested in making all the processes and materials less expensive.
What Are The Environmental Issues When Manufacturing An Electric Car?
Materials used for producing batteries are not only expensive but also toxic. Lithium, manganese, cobalt, and graphite are all heavy mining polluters. Is Not only their mining toxic but also their processing into valuable materials.
That is one of the reasons why those materials are so expensive. Finding markets willing to allow mining operations for those elements is hard.
Implementing cheaper, less toxic substitutes will be a good thing for the prices of the cars and the ecosystem.
Why Is Mining Lithium Bad For The Environment?
Lithium mining and processing produces a lot of negative influences on the environment:
- It pollutes water sources – in South America, several freshwater sources were impacted by the salinization process. Lithium is often mined from salty brines. Mining in those conditions results in polluting freshwater sources.
- Mining increases Carbon Dioxide emissions – the whole mining process increases the levels of all greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. When mining lithium, all trees are cut down to remove any obstacles. That results in destroyed ecosystems.
- It leads to destroying fertile land – lithium mining reduces rich ecosystems with forests and fertile land into barren and dead land.
- Massive water use – Extracting one ton of lithium demands 500,000 gallons of water. That reduces all farming activities near the mine because there is not enough water. Miners pump up water to the surface pools. There they add sodium carbonate and calcium carbonate. Those elements help precipitate lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide. The extraction process of lithium demands that the majority of used water evaporate.
- Rise of respiratory problems in the area – Chemical elements in lithium cause respiratory problems in humans and animals.
FAQs
Is it cheaper to build an electric car?
The average cost of producing an EV car is around 45% higher than a regular ICE car. The cost to produce a C-segment EV is around $20,000 compared to $14,000 for an ICE car.
To be more profitable, the automaker needs to improve the production process and find a way to use cheaper materials.
How much does it cost Tesla to make one car?
Today, each Tesla costs around $36,000 to manufacture. That is a significant cost drop, coming from $84,000 in 2017.
Can you convert a diesel engine to electric?
Yes, it is possible. It is necessary to remove the engine, fuel tank, cooler tank, radiator, exhaust, and all fuel injection components to do it. They are replaced with an electric motor and batteries for storing power.
Even when you finish all the vehicle modifications, there is a ton of paperwork to fill out when reregistering the car.
Final Considerations
To understand the current high price of new vehicles, we need to know the cost of producing them. Currently, production is still expensive, but we can expect many affordable EV cars in the future.
All journeys start with one step, and this revolutionary vehicle journey just started. Stay with us, and follow the trail of this journey!
