Many have criticized American buyers for preferring gargantuan vehicles. But that isn’t really unique to us. In the vast majority of the world’s auto markets, people tend to prefer larger vehicles, opting for big luxury sedans and SUVs as they move up the economic ladder. What is unique, however, is that we are so strongly conditioned towards large and overbuilt vehicles that we have nearly zero options on the other end of the market. The new car market has abandoned young and less-wealthy buyers, focusing instead on catering to an ever-richer sect of the public.
I’m feeling the pain of this pivot today as I look upon the Kia EV2, a stylish little EV that was just priced from €26,600 in Europe, per Automotive News. That’s the equivalent of $30,800 at today’s exchange rates, which would make the EV2 the third-cheapest EV in the U.S., behind the already-doomed Chevy Bolt and the low-volume Nissan Leaf. But of course the EV2 isn’t coming here.
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Source: Kia
Across the Atlantic, the EV2 isn’t landing in a class of two or three. It’s taking on a veritable bounty of charming, cheap EVs on sale in Europe, from the Dacia Spring and the reborn Renault Twingo to the Volkswagen ID.3. There are Chinese options like the BYD Dolphin Surf (aka Seagull) and gorgeous European designs like the Fiat Grande Panda Electric. None of these cars have crazy range or charging figures. The EV2, for instance, offers just 197 miles of range on the more generous WLTP cycle. An EPA figure would likely be close to 150 miles, crossing this off the list of 90% of Americans.
But that is the exact problem here. People tell me all of the time that they want cheap EVs, yet those same people want all-wheel-drive, 300 miles of range, and all of the tech features that they’ve ever seen advertised online. This is normal, in some respects. We all want everything, and have been conditioned to believe that “enough” never is. Yet while most global buyers still follow this impulse and buy more than they need, it seems uniquely American to completely discard every electric option that isn’t a road trip master, luxury car, and sports sedan all in one.
I’ll posit one reason why our cheap EVs don’t do well: None of them look half as good as the new electric Twingo.
Photo by: Renault
Most people could do the vast, vast majority of their miles in a car that has only 150 or so miles of range. But the awareness that they may need a rental car or a another vehicle in the house for longer trips understandably mucks that up. After all, who wants to spend $30,000 on something that feels like it only solves part of their transportation needs? The failure of all of the 100-odd mile EVs in this market proves the answer: not too many people.
I understand that. It’s a quirk both of our massive geography, our lack of transit options, and our individualistic, road-trip-oriented car culture. It’s easy to see how we got here. It’s not like companies did anything wrong. Neither did most buyers.
But I hope that as the fleet goes electric and range anxiety fades, people will open up to 150-mile and 200-mile small EVs. Accepting smaller cars or smaller range figures is the easiest way to get affordable EVs today, without needing some big tech breakthrough or a decade of cost reductions. And if you can get buyers to accept the trade-off at the dealership, they seem to be happy long term. I meet plenty of people who love their Fiat 500es, Chevy Bolts, Volkswagen e-Golfs, and first-generation BMW i3s.
The reality, though, is that all of those cars flopped in this market. Americans have proven that they don’t want these cars. And I’m probably one of them. I love the idea of a small EV, I love that they drive better and are more efficient, and I love their styling. But when presented with the options in 2024, I—like most Americans—went for the biggest and longest-range EV I could afford.
I am part of the problem. So while I look on with envy at the cheap, cool European EVs we can’t get here, I know I have no one else to blame.
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