Electric cars: from high prices to widespread discounts

The €40,000 electric car that is now discounted

An electric motor utilizes about 90% of the energy it receives, according to a participant's calculation. A combustion engine does not reach 40%. With such an advantage on the table, it would be logical for electric cars to have dominated decades ago. They haven't, and the reason repeated in the debate is not technical: it is price, plugs, and who is willing to pay for them.

Why electric car prices are falling now

The script was already written, summarizes a forum user. The European Union set the end date for the internal combustion engine, and manufacturers rushed to schedule their conversion: massive bets in 2019, the same investment conditioned on Brussels providing funding in 2024, and the narrative flipped in 2025. Plans announced with great fanfare have unraveled in record time, and, according to the same account, many executives who signed off on them are no longer in the industry.

Meanwhile, the market did what it always does. First, it squeezes the buyer willing to pay whatever is asked, which, according to one participant, is the classic mechanic for any newly launched product. Enthusiasts and those with money to spare have already bought. What remains ahead is a huge mass of drivers who only need a functional car in all usual scenarios, and an EV still doesn't meet that. When the segment paying €40,000 is exhausted, there is only one way out. Full-on discounting.

Website prices vs. dealership quotes

There are two realities that do not match. On MG's website, the basic MG4 appears at €16,000. In the brand's lot, electric cars in the front row show prices up to €40,000. A Fiat 600e is listed online at €34,000; its 100 hp hybrid version has been offered at €26,000 when that trim level was around €22,000, financing aside.

The conclusion drawn in the thread, with just the right amount of irony, is that brands publish prices and dealers ignore them if they don't suit them. As another participant notes, zero-kilometer cars, quarterly targets, and disguised discount aids complicate everything: when a buyer sees a €7,000 reduction, it is worth remembering where that money comes from.

• Fiat 600e: €34,000
• 100 hp Hybrid: €26,000
• Basic MG4: €16,000
• MG Electric in lot: €40,000

Charging infrastructure: the problem no brand solves

One can debate range, reliability, or planned obsolescence. What is fruta, as raised by a forum user, is that the electric car remains unviable without a charging point in every parking space, public or private. And here enters the uncomfortable part: what happens to those sleeping rough, with the vast number of old blocks without garages, in cities where parking was already a lottery?

The comparison made from critics is uncomfortable. Years ago, entire streets were dug up to install natural gas in buildings. An equivalent national rollout of charging points never arrived. The lack of similar policy for electricity, when there had been for gas, fuels the suspicion that battery cars were designed for a minority with private garages.

Is the electric car really more efficient?

Electric motor efficiency is around 90%, while combustion engine efficiency does not reach 40%. Losses from generating and transporting electricity do not eat up 50%, so the advantage exists. This is the calculation repeated by proponents.

Opponents ask about the turbine. Because the full journey is rarely counted entirely: burning diesel to move a turbine, generate electricity, distribute it hundreds of kilometers, transform it again, charge the battery, and finally discharge it into a motor. Two liters of the same diesel, two different paths to the wheel. Depending on where you draw the line, one wins over the other, and in the best case, the gap narrows significantly.

Weight, lithium, and fine print

The battery pack of an EV weighs between 300 and 400 kilos, according to arguments in the thread. That weight is cited as the reason why best performance appears in small vehicles: scooters, bicycles, and mopeds.

Alternatives are on the table. One participant notes that Chinese firm NIO operates stations where the discharged pack is swapped for a full one and has signed agreements for other brands to use its network. Another, more radical approach proposes selling the car without a battery, making the pack property of utility companies, which could be changed in minutes and serve, incidentally, to regulate renewable surpluses. No one has done this at scale.

Nothing to do until prices drop to €15,000

With all this, the recurring question is not technical. How much must an EV cost to stop being seen as an eccentricity? The threshold indicated by a participant is small cars at €12,000 to €15,000. Until then, battery cars will remain a thing for enthusiasts and those who can afford them.

The doubt no one resolves is another: if the problem were only price, waiting would suffice. If it is the plug, half of Spain needs to be rebuilt first.