Renault has sharply increased the price of its electric and plug-in hybrid models. But he is not the only one. Far from there. Inflation is general. Tesla, the luxury electric car specialist, now offers its Model 3 from 53,490 euros. Against 49,990 euros at the end of last spring. The electric Citroën ë-C4 is even stronger. It now points to 39,700 euros (basic version)… against 36,300 in June. The gasoline version, it only took… 1,310 euros increase at the same time. It is therefore sold for 15,490 euros less than the Citroën ë-C4 basic electric. It’s a lot.
The Peugeot e-2008 electric compact SUV has become more expensive for its part by 2,900 euros compared to June. The base price now reaches 40,950 euros, while the gasoline equivalent has increased by 2,420. At stake: 14,380 euros difference between the two. At Volkswagen, the so-called zero-emission ID.3, a competitor of the ë-C4, starts squarely at 46,100 euros. It has increased in six months by 1,420 euros, while the comparable Golf gasoline only grew by 375 euros. An ID.3 therefore costs 15,400 euros more than the basic Golf. The small Renault Zoe, pioneer of the electric, climbs for its part to 35,100 euros in the basic version. Or 2,300 euros more than at the beginning of last summer. The Zoé costs twice that of an entry-level thermal Clio (17,800 euros).
Plug-in hybrids too
Same inflation in plug-in hybrids. The hybrid Peugeot 308 took 2,820 euros at 40,870, the Citroën C5 Aircross SUV 3,000 euros at 44,750. And again, this is only a 180 horsepower version, whereas in June, the C5 Aircross range started with a 225 horsepower plug-in hybrid engine. The differential with the gasoline version reaches a trifle of 14,100 euros. The Renault Captur plug-in hybrid small SUV rose by 1,000 euros to 37,950. The thermal version only grew by 500. The plug-in hybrid in its least expensive version costs 14,050 more than the petrol model.
According to the magazine Auto+, the price of a Tesla Model 3 has increased by 11,700 euros since last January (discounts and bonuses included). A Peugeot 308 plug-in hybrid took 4,100 euros in almost a year, a Volkswagen Tiguan also plug-in hybrid 3,700. The market is therefore not moving towards the democratization of electrified vehicles. On the contrary. The cheapest electric on the market, the Dacia Spring, now crosses the 20,000 euro mark (20,800 euros, against 16,990 when it was launched in the spring of 2021).
Raw materials: ratio of 1 to 3
It is true that the raw materials used in an electric model are almost three times more expensive than on a gasoline one. This explains that. The basket of raw materials for an electric car now amounts to just over 5,076 dollars per vehicle, compared to just 1,851 for a conventional thermal car. This makes more than 3,200 euros difference per vehicle, according to the latest study by Alix Partners published last October. Huge. Admittedly, these costs have come down since last spring’s peak – by 37% for petrol vehicles, by only 25% for electric ones. But the raw materials specific to electric vehicles (lithium, cobalt, nickel) have been on the rise since last summer. As a result, compared to the low point of spring 2020, the total costs of raw materials are still 75% higher for electric cars, 27% for thermal cars, according to the consultant’s latest score.
It is therefore not surprising that the prices of vehicles are increasing, especially the prices of electric vehicles. Alix Partners stresses that you have to travel today… 215,000 km with an electric model to catch up with the additional cost compared to a thermal car (135,000 with the super-bonuses offered by the States for the purchase of a zero emission model) … And this, including the additional cost of raw materials but also the comparative price of electricity and fuel. The most difficult to make profitable is still the rechargeable hybrid. You have to drive 270,000 kilometers there to erase the additional cost compared to a simple gasoline vehicle.
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