. These vehicles aren’t the greatest EVs, but they occupy a pivotal space in the EV market. With liquid cooling, enough range to get to the next Electrify America station on most interstates, and a highly useful hatchback or small SUV form factor, the Bolt Brothers are basically the cheapest EVs that check all of the boxes for usability. Sure, you could find cheaper EVs and there are other EVs in that price range, but they tend to lack key features for a roundly usable general purpose vehicle .
Perhaps more importantly, this is an industry-wide issue. It could be argued that EVs, being powered by relatively new battery technologies, are harder to deliver at prices everyone can afford, but cheaper ICE vehiclesLet’s Talk About The Alternatives First Almost everybody starts their adult driving career with a used car, sometimes a heavily used “beater” or “shitbox” that barely runs. Those of us who can launch a decent career eventually move on to better used cars and maybe a new car. Even among people with higher incomes, many people just stay with used cars to save money and spend it on other things. So, it could be either low income or frugality that drives the decision to buy used.
For people who don’t like transit, there’s also micromobility. Regular bikes, electric bikes, electric scooters, neighborhood EVs, and mini-EVs are all great options, even if they aren’t as fast or versatile as regular EVs. Some of them are quite cheap, and prices for them range from just a couple hundred bucks to the price of a new car, so people at all income levels can have at least some of their transportation needs served by these options.