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Comment by rpmisms | Hacker News Reader

Standard Range+ Model 3: $39k. 2021 Nissan Leaf: $32.6k. These are reasonable numbers.

If you're buying a new sedan, electric is the way to go.

Reasonable numbers...if you can afford it. Saying $40k is "reasonable" depends on how much you earn. That is 20-25% more than US median annual gross income...it is a lot of money.

Also, most people who are unable to buy this kind of car aren't polluting a great deal anyway. A huge share of pollution is caused by wealthy people jetting around every few days on planes.

I have an ICE car, it cost something like $4k, it does 50+ mpg, I haven't taken a plane or boat in something like two decades, I do at most 5k miles in my car per year...sorry, I don't really think I should be forced to buy a car that costs 10x, probably pollutes about the same amount, and is only being suggested because some rich person had a "come to Jesus" moment (after polluting as much in a year as much as I do in a decade). It is the worst kind of puritanical grandstanding.

It's also very close to the average price paid for a new car in the US: $39k.

> A huge share of pollution is caused by wealthy people jetting around every few days on planes.

This is true, I'm not really into Tesla for the environmental aspect, I like them because they're fun appliances that break less.

Average for a new car. A lot of people can't drive at all. A lot of people buy used cars. It is funny because I find it hard to imagine a wealthy person in my own country not being aware of this...in the US, the wealthy seem to live on another planet.

Okay, maybe. But lots of ICE manufacturers have 10-year warranties...they don't break down a lot. I also think that whilst a car is a "fun appliance" for some people, for most people it is how they earn money. They can't live closer to their work because property is too expensive. It is practical, it is how they feed their kids, not fun. Making everyone pay the luxury price because people without your "fun appliance" are morally inferior is...questionable.

I'm not in support of a mandate on EVs. I'm strictly talking about pricing and accessibility. Should have clarified that in my original response.

Edit: I also said "If you're buying a new sedan". That is a qualifier on my recommendation, which is Tesla.

It doesn't pollute the same amount: https://sustain.ubc.ca/sites/default/files/2018-63%20Lifecyc...

And if you're only doing 5k miles a year, you're not part of the problem.

> 40k is "reasonable" depends on how much you earn. That is 20-25% more than US median annual gross income.

The median household income is somewhere north of $60k.

[1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Household_income_in_the_Unit...

> The median household income is somewhere north of $60k.

The median personal income is about $36K [0], so $40K is about 10% more. The median full-time worker is about $50K. [1] Households frequently have more than one earner.

[0] https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MEPAINUSA672N

[1] https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/demo/tables/industr... [XLSX]

Apparently buying a Standard Range+ Model 3 for $39k is next to impossible.

Not sure where you get that. Just buy an SR+ without any options and it's 39.9k on the nose. Tax and fees not withstanding, so it'll be closer to 45k all said and done... but that's the same with any car price, it's pre-TTL pricing that people compare.

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