thomas

One under-appreciated aspect of the EV market growth is the commoditization of personal cars, as economies of scale and platform simplification bring manufacturing costs down to unprecedented levels.

When so many other industries, and even some auto OEMs, are experiencing price inflation, BYD was able to release its latest crossover for 12% cheaper than the model it replaced. You can now get a brand new, full-featured, mid-range crossover EV for $16K in China.

The consequence of further bringing down that cost in the future is that cars will stop being depreciating assets, and will become quasi-consumables instead, driving a radical shift in consumer behavior and preferences.

This will absolutely destroy the budget and mid-range car manufacturers who can’t keep up

One under-appreciated aspect of the EV market growth is the commoditization of personal cars, as economies of scale and platform simplification bring manufacturing costs down to unprecedented levels.

When so many other industries, and even some auto OEMs, are experiencing price inflation, BYD was able to release its latest crossover for 12% cheaper than the model it replaced. You can now get a brand new, full-featured, mid-range crossover EV for $16K in China.

The consequence of further bringing down that cost in the future is that cars will stop being depreciating assets, and will become quasi-consumables instead, driving a radical shift in consumer behavior and preferences.

This will absolutely destroy the budget and mid-range car manufacturers who can’t keep up

https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/chinas-byd-prices-new-version-best-selling-ev-lower-than-predecessor-2024-03-04/

Aviator, diver, Etherean, nexialist, PhD in aviation ∩ climate science | Host of /diving /ethfinance /eth-staker /geopolitics /science /singapore /thomas

How I see it is: economies of scale drive buying and replacement behaviors, whereas self-driving determines usage behaviors — e.g. the ability to monetize your vehicle and run ride-hailing for you while you’re not using it (which is 99% of the time); alternatively, not buying at all if cheap self-driving taxis are ubiquitous enough (likely in cities, less so in peripheral areas)

>The consequence of further bringing down that cost in the future is that cars will stop being depreciating assets, and will become quasi-consumables instead, driving a radical shift in consumer behavior and preferences.

this seems true but much more likely to be driven by self-driving cars than EV economies of scale?