“The average sticker price for a new car in the US is more than $50,000, up from about $40,000 in 2020,…with S&P Global Mobility predicting the proportion of $1,000-a-month loans will double over the course of the year to 40 per cent.”

Meanwhile, Chinese carmakers like BYD are selling decent salons & SUVs for $25,000 or less. With home charging costing ~0.25–0.30 kWh/mile, electricity ≈ $0.17/kWh, that means $0.04–$0.06 per mile. Gas at $3.10/gal costs twice that per mile.

The fossil fuel industry and legacy gas-car makers think they can string this out for years to come, but I wonder if it’s the opposite. Affordability is the political buzzword of the mid-2020s, and gasoline is on the wrong side of it. Most people would have several thousand extra dollars in their pocket every year if they chose Chinese EVs.

Rising prices push US car ownership costs to breaking point: Automobile affordability strains household finances in a country where the vast majority rely on vehicles for transportation