Even assuming those numbers are accurate it's irrelevant. If I don't have $60,000 then I can't buy a $60,000 car even if it would be a sound investment over the long run.

That extra $20k is for the EV’s battery.

People need to stop quoting Elon Musk. That was true in 2012. Buzz battery is 90kwhr, the cost of batteries is now $120/kWh. So the whole pack costs $11k. Funny how with ICE now one quotes the cost of a catalytic system or how much mining goes on for the platinum and rhodium in cats. ID Buzz is overpriced, plus it's not even good. It's a small van.

You have a rough point, but a $20k delta is too much. Thankfully, the comparison is between a "special" car and a boring workhorse, so the price delta isn't reflective of the practical choices. 7-passenger PV5 looks to be about $50k, so less than $10k delta between a Sienna and a comparable EV van. Still a pretty big gap, especially to take up front, but closer to reasonable given your reasons. We are seeing the gap close more aggressively in the 5-passenger segment, but 3-row still has been focused on EV only for 'premium' experience.

I'd like to preface all of the following with something: a vehicle should account for no more than 10% of a household user's budget, some say up to 15% but most of the literature I've seen puts it at or under 10% to maintain fiscal responsibility. That's monthly ofc, and puts the total budget somewhere around $1,200-1,400 on most of these cars

So how many people do you know who make between $120,000-140,000 per driver?

Some of us do, most of us don't

I know plenty of people who cannot and or will not for various reasons ever make that much in their lifetimes

Let's say a 19 year old getting their first car without support. You think they can afford a 60k car? Hell even a 40k? At +6% apr? They still need a car and not all of us have or had parents to help us foot that bill

How about even a used one ran into the dirt at 20-25k to "establish credit"? Think that's a good idea either for someone like that? Its a terrible one

Further, if literally anything goes wrong with the battery before it's paid off but out of warranty... Then what? File bankruptcy at 20-25? Take the credit hit and be unable to buy another vehicle or, or get student loans, or be able to get a mortgage because your credit is shot?

No matter if the payback even makes sense we have prime examples that the economy is down right hostile to EV owners with the EV tax road hike increases forcing EV users to pay up to 10x road "gas" tax equivalents of what petrol does in the US regardless if they drive 1,000 miles in a year or 40,000

Plain and simple, all commuter/work vehicles are not worth $40,000-60,000. They are grossly overpriced and have been since at least 2020

The $70,000 GMC EV work truck trim with 450 miles of range? That's worth $45,000 max. The Tesla model 3 dual motor (which I paid $60,000 for new in 2023 btw) are worth $35,000 max brand new top trim model and has never been worth more than that despite the insane market gauntlet we've been run through

The person you are responding to is not even slightly wrong

Vehicles are grossly overpriced.

Front loading potential savings is not an acceptable practice in an economy where people do not have the option to go without a vehicle to function. Prices needs to crater. Companies need to be making any profits they do make off the back of quantity sold, and off government subsidies and cutting out middle men not massive margins per lesser quantities of vehicles at our expense, because as things stand they're making their margins off of government bailouts anyways and consumers are perpetually the ones getting bent since taxes are our money and these incompetents are increasingly demanding more and more of it

I think that's entirely possible depending on where they live and how much they drive. I have a spreadsheet with my gas spending, and I've spent around $12k on gas since 2016. That includes some cross-country road trips, and taking my car to the race track, where it can burn 3 tanks in a day...

For the last 6 years or so, I've only spent $3k in gas on my daily, since I don't have to go far and work remotely now. Gas prices in the PNW aren't exactly the cheapest either.

My wife's plug-in hybrid charging (at home) costs the same as fuel for an ICE vehicle that gets 60mpg running 87 octane. Electricity is cheaper, but it's also not free.