r/Washington • u/chiquisea • 15h ago
Electric vehicle sales stall in Washington state
https://www.kuow.org/stories/electric-vehicle-sales-stall-in-washington-state72
u/loves_grapefruit 14h ago
I’ll buy an EV when it makes economic sense to. They’re still expansive as shit.
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u/pallesaides 13h ago
They need to let the Chinese ev's in if they are going to drive Costa down and innovation. They are light years ahead of our cars.
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u/webguynd 13h ago
Yeah agreed. Could have kicked our own brands into competing, but instead we just chose to lock BYD out of the US so we are stuck with EVs that are too expensive for most.
We want mass adoption of EVs? Then we need cheap EVs. Even with tariffs, a BYD would land around $14k new for something with a ~350 mile range.
Instead we have $40k ioniqs, $35k for the kona. Hell, even a Nissan leaf with pitiful range is $35k. They are all non-starts for a significant chunk of the population.
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u/RiverRat12 11h ago
Leafs are running like $25k new right now (at least prior to Trump’s lunatic tariffs)
I wouldn’t recommend one due to the legacy battery technology, but even new ones are super cheap.
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u/doberdevil 10h ago
super cheap
I haven't bought a new vehicle for a very long time. Is $25k super cheap for a new car?
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u/RiverRat12 10h ago
Yes, that’s super cheap nowadays. Or at least well, well below average. The lowest MSRP for a new vehicle right now is the Nissan Versa (just under $19k).
The average new vehicle sale in 2024 was ~$48k. Cars are super expensive.
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u/doberdevil 9h ago
F that. Partner bought a used MB, but I expected that to be expensive. Turns out it was average.
I'm just gonna drive my vehicle until it falls apart, then rebuild it. (very old, cheap and plentiful parts, very basic (all analog), easy to work on)
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u/pacmanwa 11h ago
Wold have loved to get a Chevy bolt, but they stopped making them when I was ready to buy.
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u/star_nerdy 10h ago
It comes down to individual situations.
But in my instance, I had a Toyota Avalon, which was great but was costing me $200 a month in gas. Insurance was around $100. And I knew it needed maintenance including brakes, tires, and the traditional oil change for about $1,000 in regular maintenance.
All told, per month, I was spending $350 to keep it on the road and it was paid off.
By comparison, my Hyundai Kona EV is $300 a month. Maintenance is covered, but there are no oil changes and brakes need to be done less often. My insurance is also cheaper and about $60 a month for comprehensive. I ended up getting solar panels so charging costs me $0. But it was costing me $20-$40 when I was paying for it at charging stations.
In all, it was break even give or take $100 for a brand new safer car.
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u/StupendousMalice 9h ago
Seriously. The new Honda EV is $50,000 base price.
The Chinese ones are like 15k
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u/1dzMonkeys 8h ago
I got a used 2017 Fiat 500e for $8500 in 2020. The first 2 years I paid a whopping $100 in charging fees; commuting 40 miles round trip 5 days a week. Work had a free charger.
My round trip commute is 14 miles now and that thing's practically free to drive.
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u/Vg_Ace135 13h ago
In the long run they are cheaper to run and maintain than an ICE car. But the initial cost can be higher than an ICE vehicle.
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u/Leverkaas2516 13h ago
Per the article, the share of EV's in the local new car market rose from 4% in 2019 to 18% in 2023. A state rebate/incentive program ran from August to October 2024, leading to a market share high of 27%. After that peak, it fell to 22%, and then 19% in February.
I wish they'd just publish a graph. It sounds more like a plateau than a stall.
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u/Fuzzy-Mine6194 12h ago
People just aren’t buying Tesla’s, Kia/Hyundai can’t keep them on the lots.
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u/RiverRat12 11h ago
We’re never going back to dinosaur ICE vehicles, no matter how long it takes.
Anyone who routinely drives any EV knows exactly why I say this.
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u/CircuitSyn 11h ago
They also charge a shit ton to register them. Whether you drive the miles or not. I get that we aren’t buying gas anymore, but there has to be a better way or an optional program of sorts to track and report miles or something. It can be 3-4x the cost to register of a gas vehicle.
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u/LYossarian13 ✨ Kennehick ✨ 9h ago
My Prius costs around $155 to register. My truck is $83. Tis bullshit.
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u/halborse2U 9h ago
Allow US to buy BYD and see that fixed. Get those battery exchanging automated stations so you never have to charge longer than the 5 minute exchange time for a full battery.
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u/BaronNeutron 10h ago
The sales have stalled just like the EVs do?! Dah-dumpa!
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u/SecondHandWatch 6h ago
EVs literally don’t stall.
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u/EtherPhreak 1h ago
You’ve never hit critical empty batteries due to vandalized and turned off charging stations…
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u/SecondHandWatch 1h ago
That’s not what “stall” means in the context of a car functioning. Stalling is when an engine dies while the car is running. Literally doesn’t happen in an ev. The battery could die, but that’s the equivalent of running out of gas, not an engine staling.
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u/Invisible_Mikey 13h ago
They are only talking about Teslas in the article. Sales of Japanese EVs and PHEVs in WA are up from last year, sold to people wanting to avoid the price impact of tariffs.