Myers Motors

INTERESTING 4 WHEELER, 2 SEATER EV CONCEPT FROM MYER MOTORS:
http://myersev.com/

I fully support this concept. Inexpensive, simple transportation. $18k for base model.

Now if only it got better mileage per charge. 75 miles doesn't even cover a single daily commute for me. The optional 100 mile battery is cutting it way too close for comfort. Double that to 200 mile range, and I'd have to seriously consider it.

Edit: That $18 k price factors in the $7,500 tax credit for electric vehicles. Your out-the-door price is actually $25.5k. I wonder how many low-income families, the kind of people that really need inexpensive, reliable transportation, would actually qualify for that entire tax credit.

Kia Soul is $16,100... a poor family shouldn't be spending $18K on an electric with limited range. Typically, your most poor won't be living in a house and apartments have never been a place where you can just plug in a vehicle to charge it. Sure, the price difference in this example only gets you 26,000 miles of gas before the cars become equals (2 year payoff for electric isn't that bad. Not bad at all). However, the hidden cost here is that buying electric will take $158 in gas tax out of the government funds as well as the $7,500 in costs. Those are both things that us tax payers will have to pay for. So, every person driving an electric car that got a rebate from the government is basically taking money away from everybody. Boy, that's a cynical view, huh?

Buy a used Leaf instead. There are plenty of sub-$10k Leafs out there that will get the same range, but seats 4 people and are available now.

Any new EV developed now must be able to beat a used Leaf, which are currently flooding the market at greatly depreciated cost. If a new EV manufacturer can't beat either the price or the range on a used Leaf, then they're not going to make it off the ground.

Sethodine said:

Buy a used Leaf instead. There are plenty of sub-$10k Leafs out there that will get the same range, but seats 4 people and are available now.

Any new EV developed now must be able to beat a used Leaf, which are currently flooding the market at greatly depreciated cost. If a new EV manufacturer can't beat either the price or the range on a used Leaf, then they're not going to make it off the ground.

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True. Good point there. There are those who want to buy electric for their personal environmental or political reasons and who am I to tell someone they are wrong for either of those reasons.

From a cost-to-own perspective, a car like the Ford Fiesta will cost the owner approximately $1,000 per year to go 15,000 miles while an electric car will cost approximately 1/3 that in electricity.

https://energy.gov/articles/egallon-how-much-cheaper-it-drive-electricity

You'll save $864 a year by purchasing the electric vehicle assuming you could actually drive 15,000 a year in your electric. Basically, any time a person is considering an electric car for economic reasons, they should bear in mind that the electric saves $864 per year of ownership. Paying $8,640 more because a car is electric means it'll take 10 years to see savings. (Okay, 9 years if you pretend 6 oil changes will cost $864)
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To be slightly back on topic. The car in the OP is a cute little thing.

It is still expensive compared to the less expensive ICE cars, but $16k is a lot less than the $30k that many electrics start at. It's a big step in right direction if you want wider adoption of EVs.

Rob Croson said:

It is still expensive compared to the less expensive ICE cars, but $16k is a lot less than the $30k that many electrics start at. It's a big step in right direction if you want wider adoption of EVs.

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I agree. It opens the EV market to people who may fit the commute/family size that they service well but who may not be able to afford a $30K car. I'd be willing to bet that newer apartment complexes/parking garages in cities will have electrical for charging.

Rob Croson said:

I fully support this concept. Inexpensive, simple transportation. $18k for base model.

Now if only it got better mileage per charge. 75 miles doesn't even cover a single daily commute for me. The optional 100 mile battery is cutting it way too close for comfort. Double that to 200 mile range, and I'd have to seriously consider it.

Edit: That $18 k price factors in the $7,500 tax credit for electric vehicles. Your out-the-door price is actually $25.5k. I wonder how many low-income families, the kind of people that really need inexpensive, reliable transportation, would actually qualify for that entire tax credit.

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Tax credits don't help many people since they do not make enough taxable income to take advantage of them. That makes the out-the-door price $33k and that is way too expensive for that car.

I heard a great story about something related to the environmental issue. Some guy was at a car show spouting off about his car he had modified to run on used cooking oil. He was bragging about how cheap it was to operate and how much he laughed at people who still drove gas vehicles. There was one fellow who seemed really interested in what he had to say. The guy evened asked for his name and thanked him for the info. About a week later, he received a huge tax bill from the state for the road taxes he had not paid through the tax on gas. I don't know if it is true but I hope it is.

Johnny Cyclone said:

I heard a great story about something related to the environmental issue. Some guy was at a car show spouting off about his car he had modified to run on used cooking oil. He was bragging about how cheap it was to operate and how much he laughed at people who still drove gas vehicles. There was one fellow who seemed really interested in what he had to say. The guy evened asked for his name and thanked him for the info. About a week later, he received a huge tax bill from the state for the road taxes he had not paid through the tax on gas. I don't know if it is true but I hope it is.

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Meh, who knows if it's true. I have to pay an extra $100 on my yearly tabs for the Leaf, because I don't pay the gas tax at the pump like everyone else. It's still cheaper to drive though.