11 Electric Cars Cost Less Than Average New Car In US

There’s a somewhat odd meme still going around that claims that electric cars are expensive. A little bit of research quickly debunks that.

The average price for a new car in November 2013 (in the US) was $32,769, according to Kelley Blue Book. After the federal tax rebate of $7,500 (yes, it makes complete sense to include this), almost every plug-in electric car on the market is actually cheaper than that (even the BMW i3 almost makes it on the list).

Let’s run down the list. I’ll go down it in order of November sales (more or less). Prices shown are after the federal tax credit, but before any other credits or rebates available in some states and cities (such as the $2,500 rebate in California). Links on the prices go to the manufacturers’ webpages for the cars.

1. Nissan Leaf — $21,300
2. Chevy Volt — $26,685
3. Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid — $27,490
4. Ford C-Max Energi — $28,943
5. smart electric drive — $12,490
6. Ford Focus Electric — $27,700
7. Chevy Spark EV — $19,995
8. Mitsubishi i — $15,495
9. Fiat 500e — $24,300
10. Wheego Whip — $18,995
11. Wheego LiFe — $25,495

Now, you might contend that the gasmobiles on the higher end of the market are bringing the average price of new cars up, but I would then contend:

• electric cars don’t pollute your local environment
• with electric cars, you don’t have to spend countless hours standing at a gas station
• electric cars have unbeatable acceleration/torque
• the smooth and quiet drive of electric cars is worth a lot
• a clean conscience from doing your part to fight global warming and not contribute to oil wars is priceless.
• with an electric car you can never fill it with the wrong fuel!

How is all of that not a huge added value that you simply can’t attain with a gasmobile?

h/t to redditor ViperRT10Matt for a comment that sparked the idea for this post.