Old North News

The Biden administration has promoted the transition to electric automobiles since August 2021 as part of President Joe Biden's campaign for green energy, with the objective of making at least 50% of all vehicles emission-free by 2030, according to a White House press release.

However, Chris Teague, a contributing automotive journalist for Autoblog, recently reported that the price of EVs has risen over 20% since last year. 

According to Teague, the average price of an electric car sold in May was $54,000, a 22% increase from last year.

"In May, buyers paid an average of 22% more for a new EV than they did the year before, as the average sale amount climbed to $54,000," Teague stated.

Increased raw material costs, R&D expenses, rapid demand growth and inflation are believed to be important contributors to EVs becoming increasingly expensive. 

Teague noted that costs for gasoline-powered automobiles have also increased, albeit to a lower scale, with consumers paying an average of $44,400 for a gas-powered car in the last year, marking a 14% increase. 

According to CNBC, a recent report by AlixPartners found that raw material prices for electric cars had doubled during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Due to this increased cost of materials, manufacturers such as General Motors, Tesla, Lucid, and Rivian have had to substantially increase the cost of their EVs. 

As of May, average EV raw material prices had reached $8,255 per vehicle, with essential battery materials such as cobalt, nickel, and lithium demanding the highest costs. 

According to CNBC, this average cost has increased by 144% from March 2020, when it was $3,381 per vehicle. 

CNBC also reports that EV-specific prices have risen to $4,500 from approximately $2,000 over the previous two years. 

The shift to electric vehicles has been strongly encouraged by the Biden administration since August 2021. 

This year alone, Tesla has raised the costs of its cars several times, to the point that the cost of some Tesla EVs has approximately risen by 10% since the beginning of 2022. 

According to the World Population Review, the typical family income in North Carolina is $54,602, making the purchase of an average electric vehicle impractical. 

Additionally, the average price of gas in North Carolina is $4.25 a gallon as of July 14, according to data provided by the American Automobile Association (AAA).

However, gas prices have recently dropped slightly, which the AAA attributes to a decline in oil prices.