More than four years after its initial debut, the Tesla Cybertruck is a big influence on the electric vehicle industry, whether you like it or not.
Even though only about 3,000 were sold in May, according to data from Cox Automotive, the angular pickup played a big enough part to increase the average transaction price for all EVs in the United States by 3.1% last month compared to April.
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EV prices went up in May because of Tesla
The average price of new EVs in the United States went up slightly in May compared to the month before, according to Kelley Blue Book. That's because the average price for Tesla EVs went up, which was caused in part by the roughly 3,000 Cybertrucks that were sold at nearly $110,000 each.
There are a couple of reasons why such a low volume of cars had such a big influence on a segment that sees sales of roughly 100,000 cars per month. First, Tesla is still the biggest player, with nearly 50% of EV sales in the U.S. coming from the Elon Musk-led automaker. Second, while cars like the Model 3 and Model Y are selling for roughly $40,000, the average price of a new Cybertruck last month was a whopping $108,667, according to Kelley Blue Book.
This, in part, led Tesla’s average transaction price to jump 3.1% month-over-month to $57,369. Since January, when the average price for Tesla EVs was $51,892, it has gone up more than 10%, while the year-over-year increase is 1.5%.
All of this resulted in an ATP increase for the whole industry by 2.6% in May compared to April. Last month, the average price for a new EV in the U.S. was $56,648. Without Tesla in the mix, though, EV prices actually went down, with a year-over-year decrease of 4.1%.
Gallery: 2024 Tesla Cybertruck Review
That said, battery-powered cars are still more expensive on average than their gas-powered counterparts by about 17%, according to Kelley Blue Book. But that’s just part of the story because as you saw, a few thousand very expensive cars can tip the scales in the wrong direction. Furthermore, used EV prices are now lower than gas-powered cars.
The reality is that more and more EVs with over 300 miles of range on a full charge are taking to the streets in the U.S. for lower prices than the industry average, which was $48,389 in May. When factoring in the $7,500 tax credit that can be applied at the point of sale, cars like the Chevrolet Equinox EV, Tesla Model 3 and Tesla Model Y retail for less than the average, making them great value choices. And that’s just the beginning, as more are on their way, from carmakers like Kia, Chevrolet and Ford, just to name a few.
