Affordability has remained a nagging problem area in the electric vehicle market for years. But that’s changing as car companies look to capture mainstream buyers and fend off the threat of cheap, high-tech EVs from China.
And yet, there’s still a lot of work to be done. Electric offerings in the U.S. skew heavily toward the premium end of the spectrum, with the average price paid for a new EV in June landing at a whopping $56,000, give or take. That’s a price that most regular people simply can’t afford. Although some more affordable options exist, many, many more will be needed for EVs to truly go mainstream.
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The race for a $25,000 EV
Carmakers including Ford, GM, Stellantis and Tesla are working to bring modern, inexpensive electric cars to the masses. They need to scale up manufacturing and bring down costs for that to happen.
Fortunately, car companies are working on it. A handful of future EVs costing $35,000 or less are on the way over the next few years from the likes of Ford, Tesla and Jeep. Here’s a rundown of what we know about them so far, starting with those we have the most concrete details on.
Kia EV3
Gallery: Kia EV3 2024
The Kia EV3 is a funkily styled, small crossover that’s slated to cost around $35,000. It’s headed for the U.S. “after 2025,” Kia says, so that the company can take some time to figure out whether the SUV can qualify for a federal EV tax credit. If that works out, the EV3 could effectively start around $27,500.
It will come with two battery options, the larger of which should deliver at least 300 miles of range, according to Kia.
Volvo EX30
Gallery: 2025 Volvo EX30 First Drive
The Volvo EX30 was supposed to arrive in the U.S. this summer, but the Biden Administration’s new tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles threw Volvo for a loop. Now Americans can expect the small crossover in 2025, once production gets underway in Belgium. Volvo's parent company is the Chinese Geely Group, and it had planned to produce the EX30 initially in China before moving more of it to Europe.
When the EX30 does finally make it here, it should be a highly competitive option. Upon its unveiling last year, the baby Volvo got immediate attention for its Scandinavian styling, healthy range of up to 275 miles and relatively modest starting price of $35,000.
Chevrolet Bolt EUV
From 2017 through 2023, the Chevy Bolt was an unlikely icon in the EV space—an affordable, practical hatchback (joined later in its run by a compact-SUV version) that was one of the only volume-selling EVs not made by Tesla. Despite healthy sales, General Motors decided to discontinue the model last year to make way for its more modern, next-generation products. Sure enough, the Bolt was getting pretty outdated in terms of charging speed, for example.
But after pushback, the automaker announced it would launch a third-generation Bolt using the Ultium technology that underpins its other new EVs, like the Chevy Blazer EV and Cadillac Lyriq.
That’s expected to launch in 2025 as a 2026 model. As InsideEVs exclusively learned last year, it will take the form of a compact crossover. GM has said that the new Bolt will cost about as much as the outgoing version, so expect pricing to start under $30,000 before any tax credits. Here's another hint for you: GM said the new Bolt will be the cheapest EV in the U.S. when it hits the market.
Tesla “Model 2”/Unnamed Affordable EV
For years, Tesla touted plans for a lower-cost car that would slot below the Model 3 in its lineup. (Hence the very unofficial “Model 2” moniker that’s taken off among Tesla fans and analysts.) However, its plans on that front are now murkier than ever.
In April, Reuters reported that Tesla had scrapped plans for a cheaper model. Later that month, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said what sounded like the opposite. He said that new Teslas, including more affordable models, would enter production as soon as the end of 2024. So it sounds like a cheaper Tesla is on the way after all in some form.
Various reports have detailed a compact Tesla crossover in the works, but it’s unknown where those plans stand. In 2020, Musk said that a $25,000 Tesla would arrive within three years. But the Model 2 wouldn’t need to be priced quite that low to stand out from the rest of the Tesla lineup.
Whether that will be something like a de-contented and perhaps smaller version of the Model Y or Model 3, or something entirely new that will use the proposed Robotaxi platform, remains to be seen.
Jeep Renegade
Jeep and parent group Stellantis have been rather slow to the EV party, here in the U.S. at least. However, Jeep has big plans for several new EVs.
Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares teased an upcoming cheap model in May, telling a conference that the U.S. “will have a $25,000 Jeep very soon.” Then in June, we learned from a Stellantis investor presentation that the model in question is the new Renegade, arriving in 2027.
The first U.S.-market electric Jeep is the Wagoneer S, which arrives this fall for a launch price of $71,995. The Renegade should bring in many new Jeep buyers, and many new EV buyers, with its much more attainable price.
Ford $25,000 EV
Ford sees cheaper EVs as so critical to its future that it assembled a small team in California—far from the mothership—to develop a low-cost platform for future models. When he announced the project earlier this year, Ford CEO Jim Farley said the express purpose was to do battle with emerging Chinese EV brands and whatever cheaper car is coming from Tesla.
Ford hasn’t said much officially beyond that about what’s to come. Since then, Bloomberg reported that the first model stemming from the project will arrive in 2026 with a starting price as low as $25,000. The new platform will be used for both a compact SUV and a small pickup truck, the outlet reported. At first, according to Bloomberg, the new cars will use a lithium iron phosphate battery, which is a cheaper chemistry.
So, which of these are you most excited for? Let us know in the comments below.
Contact the author: tim.levin@insideevs.com
