Renault, Citroën, Tesla… these electric cars with exploding prices

Renault has sharply increased the prices of electric and plug-in hybrid models. But he is not alone. Far from it. Inflation is general. Luxury electric car specialist Tesla is now offering the Model 3 from €53,490. Against 49,990 euros at the end of last spring. Electric Citroën ë-C4 is more powerful. It now points to €39,700 (base version) versus €36,300 in June. Gasoline version, only received… At the same time an increase of 1,310 euros. Therefore, it is sold 15,490 euros cheaper than it Citroën ë-C4 basic electric. It’s a lot.

Peugeot e-2008 electric compact SUV has increased by 2,900 euros for its part compared to June. The base price now reaches 40,950 euros, while the gasoline equivalent has increased by 2,420. At stake: a €14,380 difference between the two. Volkswagen’s ë-C4 competitor, the zero-emission ID.3, starts at €46,100. In six months it has risen by €1,420, while the comparable petrol Golf has risen by just €375. So the ID.3 is 15,400 euros more expensive than the base Golf. The small Renault Zoe, electric advanced, rising to 35,100 euros in the basic version. Or 2300 euros more than at the beginning of last summer. Zoé costs twice as much as the entry-level thermal Clio (17,800 euros).

Plug-in hybrids too

Same inflation in plug-in hybrids. Hybrid Peugeot 308 was sold for 40,870 euros for 2,820 euros, Citroën C5 Aircross SUV for 3,000 44,750 euros. Again, it’s only a 180bhp version, whereas in June the C5 Aircross range launched with a 225bhp plug-in hybrid engine. With the gasoline version, the differential reaches a modest price of 14,100 euros. Renault Captur plug-in hybrid small SUV increased by 1,000 euros to 37,950. The thermal version has increased by only 500 units. The cheapest version is 14,050 more expensive than the plug-in hybrid gasoline model.

According to the magazine Auto More, since last January, the price of the Tesla Model 3 has increased by 11,700 euros (including discounts and bonuses). The Peugeot 308 plug-in hybrid cost almost 4,100 euros a year, and the Volkswagen Tiguan 3,700 plug-in hybrids. Therefore, the market is not moving towards the democratization of electrified cars. On the contrary. Dacia Spring, the cheapest electric motor on the market, has now crossed the 20,000 euro threshold (20,800 euro, 16,990 euro when it goes on sale in spring 2021).

Raw materials: 1 to 3 ratio

True, the raw materials used in the electric model are about three times more expensive than gasoline. That explains it. The raw material basket for an electric car is now just over $5,076 per car, compared to just $1,851 for a conventional thermal car. According to a recent study published by Alix Partners last October, this makes a difference of more than €3,200 per vehicle. Great. Admittedly, these costs are down from last summer’s peak – 37% for gasoline cars and just 25% for electric cars. However, special raw materials for electric vehicles (lithium, cobalt, nickel) have been increasing since last summer. As a result, overall raw material costs remain 75% higher for electric vehicles and 27% higher for thermal vehicles, according to the consultant’s latest score, compared to the low point of spring 2020.

Therefore, it is not surprising that the prices of cars, especially electric cars, are increasing. Alix Partners points out that today you have to pay… 215,000 km of mileage with an electric model compared to a thermal car (135,000 km with super bonuses offered by States for buying a zero-emission model) … And this includes the addition of raw materials cost, but also the comparative price of electricity and fuel. The most profitable is still the rechargeable hybrid. You have to drive 270,000 kilometers there to write off the extra costs compared to a regular gasoline car.