Average electric car price hit $66,000 in the US, but that’s not the whole story

The average electric car price in the United States hit $66,000 last month – a more than 13% increase year over year. That’s a bit disappointing since the promise has been that EV prices would come down, but this price increase isn’t the whole story.

One of the biggest complaints about electric vehicles remains their prices. They are unattainable for most consumers, even with subsidies.

To be fair, most new cars are not a smart purchase for most people, and EVs are going after the new car market. But there’s also the factor that many automakers entering the EV space started with more expensive segments, resulting in electric vehicles being on average more expensive.

Now on top of it all, there’s out-of-control inflation that is increasing the price of everything – including electric cars. Kelley Blue Book is out with a new report tracking average car prices across the United States. Their report confirms that the average EB price has increased 13.7% to $66,000:

The average price paid for a new electric vehicle (EV) increased in June by 3.8% compared to May and 13.7% versus a year ago. The average price for a new electric vehicle – over $66,000, according to Kelley Blue Book estimates, is well above the industry average and more aligned with luxury prices versus mainstream prices.

That’s a significant year-over-year increase, but it is in line with price increases for the broader car market, which was up 12.7% to $48,043 last month.

Obviously, the $18,000 difference in average price is not a great comparison since gas-powered vehicles are offered in a much larger variety of models and in more categories than EVs, which again, tend to be more premium and luxury models.

Nevertheless, the actual cost of ownership is extremely close on average after accounting for gas savings.

KBB released average transaction prices for each brand, and Tesla is up almost 12% over the last year:

But interestingly, Tesla’s average sale price is extremely comparable to other premium automakers like BMW.

Electrek’s Take

We can’t really blame the EV market for these price increases. Inflation is hitting virtually every industry pretty hard. Once things calm down on that front, I think we are going to see improvements in electric vehicle prices through economy of scale and reduction in battery cost.

Of course, if we are looking at the overall average sale price of electric vehicles, models in cheaper segments are going to be the biggest difference maker. I am talking about vehicles like the VW ID Life and the newly announced Hyundai $20,000 electric car.

At the same time, electric pickups are likely going to represent a significant portion of EV sales in the United States in the next few years, and that should push the average higher.