Earlier quoted context omitted.
While I understand and agree with your point, you are missing the tiny fact that all EVs today are very expensive cars. Even the cheapest ones can't be compared to the value of used ICE cars, by a huge margin. One example - fiancee bought a used toyota corolla some 7 years ago for cca 4000$. Some 70000 km afterwards, the car needed few oil changes, once rear brake discs swap and tire changes. That's it, for 70000 km…
You reach the scale to sell cheap cars by first selling expensive cars to people who can afford to buy expensive cars. Someone has to eat the margin that Tesla uses to expand its manufacturing capacity for batteries and vehicles, and for the deployment of the Supercharger network. Where else would the money come from?
Re: Changes to Models S and X allow them to travel longer without larger batteries
#521If you want to bring more people in to EV, you don't make cheap cars, you make durable cars and let the second market handle the rest. Tesla's aren't durable cars because price for maintenance and repair factors into the equation, and tesla has ensured those costs are high.