Cheaper EV Sales are Increasing (electrek.co) 22
Sales have increased for Hyundai's under-$35,000 IONIQ 5, totalling 18,395 for the first five months of 2026, reports Electrek, "up 16% from the same period last year."
But meanwhile BYD's overseas sales surpassed 160,000 for the first time last month, "up 80% from May 2025 and 19% from the previous record of 135,098 set in April." Through the first five months of 2026, BYD sold 616,263 vehicles overseas. In May, overseas sales accounted for over 41% of BYD's total sales. In several major markets, including the UK, BYD surpassed Tesla and Kia to become the best-selling EV brand through April. "With fuel prices remaining high, more drivers are turning to electric vehicles as a smarter and more economical choice," Bono Ge, BYD UK's Country Manager, said last month.
Elsewhere Electrek notes that Toyota's bZ (starting at under $35,000) was the third-best-selling EV in the U.S. in the first three months of 2026, behind only the Tesla Model 3 and Model Y. "Last month, bZ sales doubled from May 2025, with 2,646 units sold."
And meanwhile the first Volkswagen ID. Polo and Cupra Raval models "rolled off the production line at the Group's Martorell plant in Spain, the first of several new affordable, mass-market EVs." Starting at €24,995 ($29,000) and €26,000 ($30,100), the ID. Polo and Cupra Raval are the first models from the Group's Electric Urban Car Family...
[T]he first customer deliveries are scheduled to begin later this summer and into the fall. Following the ID. Polo and Cupra Raval, Volkswagen will introduce new members to the Electric Urban Car Family, including the ID. Cross, an electric version of the T-Cross, later this year. According to Volkswagen, the ID. Cross will start at around €28,000 ($32,500).
But meanwhile BYD's overseas sales surpassed 160,000 for the first time last month, "up 80% from May 2025 and 19% from the previous record of 135,098 set in April." Through the first five months of 2026, BYD sold 616,263 vehicles overseas. In May, overseas sales accounted for over 41% of BYD's total sales. In several major markets, including the UK, BYD surpassed Tesla and Kia to become the best-selling EV brand through April. "With fuel prices remaining high, more drivers are turning to electric vehicles as a smarter and more economical choice," Bono Ge, BYD UK's Country Manager, said last month.
Elsewhere Electrek notes that Toyota's bZ (starting at under $35,000) was the third-best-selling EV in the U.S. in the first three months of 2026, behind only the Tesla Model 3 and Model Y. "Last month, bZ sales doubled from May 2025, with 2,646 units sold."
And meanwhile the first Volkswagen ID. Polo and Cupra Raval models "rolled off the production line at the Group's Martorell plant in Spain, the first of several new affordable, mass-market EVs." Starting at €24,995 ($29,000) and €26,000 ($30,100), the ID. Polo and Cupra Raval are the first models from the Group's Electric Urban Car Family...
[T]he first customer deliveries are scheduled to begin later this summer and into the fall. Following the ID. Polo and Cupra Raval, Volkswagen will introduce new members to the Electric Urban Car Family, including the ID. Cross, an electric version of the T-Cross, later this year. According to Volkswagen, the ID. Cross will start at around €28,000 ($32,500).
water is wet (Score:5, Insightful)
yeah if you make things affordable more people buy them.
Re: (Score:2)
>>They make pollution much much much worse than zero emission cars we have since a quarter of a century. I did say this before but no people are unable of any critical thinking and this forum is full of old right wing boomer farts they all are
No. Slashdot is full of people, who read the garbage sentence you puked out above, and said, "FUCK THIS LOSER AC"...
Beyond that the case you make is dependent on the falsehood that "smog" and "particulate pollution" are the same thing, when smog is a combination
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Complete BS.
When looking strictly at tire particulates in isolation, the 20% to 26% emission increase from EVs has a negligible, almost imperceptible impact on clear skies and visual haze.
While the environmental protection agency identifies microscopic particulate matter ($PM_{2.5}$) as the primary driver of regional haze and reduced atmospheric visibility, tire dust behaves in a way that prevents it from creating smog or muddying the horizon. [1, 2]
The physical mechanics of tire dust limit its impact on cl
Re: (Score:2)
https://gemini.google.com/share/713f77ee87bd
The definition of "visible smog" matters here, because modern environmental regulation has drastically changed the math. Historically, smog is a mix of two distinct beasts: ground-level ozone ($\text{O}_3$, formed via chemical reactions in the sun) and physical particulate matter ($\text{PM}$, which scatters light and creates the literal haze).
Tire wear sheds physical micro-particles, whereas burning fossil fuels emits both particles *and* the volatile gases that
No people are not buying EVs (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
And probably bitching the entire time when they see a tank of gas costs over $150.
Re: (Score:2)
That's because the first owner took the depreciation hit and there's not much market for used EVs. The only people I've known who drove EVs did so because they got them pretty much free so they figured they'd run it until it died and then get another one pretty much free to replace it.
Saying that a car is cheap to buy used is not the win you think it is, because it means it loses value rapidly.
Re: (Score:2)
Plenty of high end cars depreciate at incredible rates. You can buy a Mercedes S63 and it loses like $12k a year in value.
Range of economics (Score:3)
TCO is kind of an individual calculation that involves unknown variables though.
Logically speaking, while it may be true in the average case that TCO for EVs remains higher than not, decreasing EV prices and increasing fuel costs, not to mention increasing prices for ICE vehicles themselves, means that as the gap narrows in the average case, more and more unusual cases pass that line.
IE people with access to cheaper than normal electricity, people who have unusual distances to gas stations or rate visiting
Re: No people are not buying EVs (Score:2)
I paid $24,000 for my 2023 model y performance, and my gas costs exactly zero. As in, I charge for free at work, which isn't at all unheard of.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3)
As an EV owner for just over 5 years now, I have the receipts that it's about $60/mo cheaper ($80 with current gas prices) than my previous car that got 30MPG just in "fuel" alone. Insurance is about the same. Maintenance is functionally zero vs. nearly $3K I spent on the previous car's final 5 years... and it was overdue for a timing belt so that was another ~$1200+ I managed to avoid.
The only way an EV wouldn't be cheaper is if you absolutely had to rely on public DCFC, and even then I'm not sure it would
Re: (Score:2)
Conversely people are thinking gasoline isn't ever coming back down in price. I always figured it would be more patriotic to NOT send more money to hostile middle eastern countries.
Re: (Score:2)
Maybe somebody needs to let trump know that if he nationalizes the oil companies, then he can force them to sell cheap gas to Americans and keep himself in office
The Mass Market (Score:2)
EVs are already better for most non-commercial use (Score:3)
But EVs are already better in almost every way compared to ICE vehicles. The only thing ICE vehicles have over EVs is better refueling times and towing. (And it’s probably easier to hike in a gallon or three of gas than the equivalent electricity. But having back up solar panels could solve that in some situations with an EV too.)
A PHEV solves refueling issue for road trips until the interstate and destination charging situation improves. But most of the time anyone with a garage or driveway are likely to just charge overnight. So charging isn’t really an issue. Anything with 300+ mile range would easily get me to NYC or DC and back home without worrying about charging too. Even if I got caught in traffic. But for longer trips, charging on the road is not ideal.
Re: (Score:1)
The only thing ICE vehicles have over EVs is better refueling times and towing.
I just finished a 1200 mile roundtrip in an ioniq 6 and the longest time I spent charging was 15 minutes. Just enough time for me to pee and stretch my legs. I've made that same trip several times before in a Camry and this was the easiest one of all. Not even close.