Elon Musk's leading electric vehicle company Tesla (TSLA) has been the most dominant EV maker in the world in recent years, delivering the most EVs in 2021 with 936,222 with no other EV maker coming close. The company should easily deliver over 1 million vehicles in 2022.
Chinese EV manufacturer BYD Motor delivered more vehicles globally in the first half of 2022 with 641,350, compared to Tesla's 564,743. However, factory closures as a result of the covid pandemic slowed down Tesla's deliveries and it could recover to overtake BYD if its factories can remain open and continue producing vehicles.
Competitors to the Austin, Texas based EV maker are far behind with General Motors (GM) delivering fewer than 25,000 EVs in 2021 and just over 7,600 in the first half of 2022. Ford (F) delivered almost 23,000 EVs in the first half of 2022. Rivian (RIVN) says it targets producing 25,000 EVs in 2022. Volkswagen showed some of the best results in the first half of 2022, delivering 217,100 EVs.
The low delivery numbers are not too surprising as only about 5% of the American automobile industry is electric. The major automakers are looking to ramp up production and deliveries over the next few years, to offer more variety of models to the market to attract more buyers.
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EV Prices, Charger Availability Hold Back Buyers
The top criticisms of the EV industry have been the lack of availability of charging stations and the high cost of vehicles. Automakers, such as GM, with its partnership with Pilot Travel Centers, and Volkswagen, with its Electrify America subsidiary, are adding thousands of charging stations across the nation to address charger concerns.
Lowering prices, however, has been a major challenge for the EV industry. A whole array of circumstances have increased the cost of vehicles. Many are the result of the covid-19 pandemic, such as the disruption of supply chains, shortages of spare parts and semiconductors used in vehicles, soaring prices for raw materials to build EVs like nickel, cobalt and palladium and the rising cost of labor. In recent months, the highest rate of inflation in 40 years has also forced increases in prices.
Musk on July 15 tweeted: "If inflation calms down, we can lower prices for cars."
Today, lower- and middle-income earners are not likely able to afford most EVs on the market.
The base model of Tesla's least expensive EV, the Model 3, is $46,990. Ford Mustang's Mach E base model sells for $43,895.
General Motors CEO Mary Barra said in a July 18 Associated Press report that the company is looking to build and manufacture more affordable cars in the $30,000 to $35,000 range and later this year will sell the Chevy Bolt for $26,000. She said that the Chevy Equinox small SUV will sell for $30,000 later this year.
Lower-Priced EVs are Coming Soon
Now, Hyundai is entering the fray with a new lower priced vehicle. The company plans to roll out a full-electric, entry-level car in Europe selling for €20,000 ($20,372)by the end of the year or early 2023, according to Automotive News Europe.
The Korean automaker is working on a battery-powered minicar, according to Andreas-Christoph Hofman, Hyundai Motor Europe's chief marketing executive.
“Everybody in the industry knows the target of this kind of vehicle is 20,000 euros,” Hofman told the Automotive News Europe Congress in Prague.
Volkswagen is also working on lower-priced small EVs for its VW, Skoda and Cupra brands that would also have a starting price of €20,000.
