As auto costs rise, will the US miss the golden age of electric vehicles?

A Detroit startup backed by Jeff Bezos has launched a $24,950 electric pickup, but the U.S. still trails China, where EVs can sell for as little as $10,000 and more than 200 models are priced under $25,000, according to industry data. Slate Auto began taking preorders last week for its two-seat truck, which at 14.5 feet is shorter than a Toyota Corolla and offers an estimated 205 miles of range [1]. The base model includes hand-crank windows, no stereo, and a smartphone mount in place of a navigation system [1]. The $24,950 starting price makes it one of eight new U.S. models available below $25,000, but fewer than 5% of new vehicles sold in the United States last year fell into that bracket, down from nearly 21% in 2019, according to Edmunds [1]. The average new-vehicle transaction price rose roughly $11,000 over that period to $48,402 [1]. In China, the landscape is starkly different. More than 200 EVs and hybrids are available for under $25,000, according to industry analyst DCar [1]. BYD, the Shenzhen-based conglomerate that began as a battery manufacturer in 1995, has become the world's largest maker of plug-in electric vehicles and already produces more EVs than Tesla [1][6]. Its premium models list below $15,000 and deliver a range of 314 miles [1]. BYD is aiming to become the world's biggest automaker within five years [1]. Chinese-made cars accounted for about 20% of new cars sold in the United Kingdom in December and 6.4% of European Union sales, despite new EU tariffs [1]. The vehicles remain barred from the U.S. market, a restriction that has persisted amid the broader economic conflict between Washington and Beijing that began with tariffs in 2018 and escalated sharply in 2025, when the U.S. imposed a 145% tariff on Chinese goods and China retaliated with a 125% levy on American products [5]. Dan Krassner, executive director of the American EVs Jobs Alliance, said the U.S. cannot afford to cede the sector. "We can't hand the whole auto industry to Beijing," Krassner said. "EVs are the big manufacturing prize of the century, and America has to get back in the race" [1]. Jessica Caldwell, executive director of Insights at Edmunds, cautioned that American buyers have historically favored larger, feature-laden vehicles and compared the Slate's stripped-down approach to a budget airline, where add-ons quickly raise the final price [1]. "I don't think they're going for the stripped-down version because the features, amenities, and technologies — those are part of why prices in the U.S. are so inflated, because Americans wanted all the additions," Caldwell said [1]. The Slate's backers hope the price point proves otherwise. "The price point is really attractive, and we hope Americans see that it matches their budgets and also shows automakers that there is hunger for cheaper electric vehicles," Krassner said [1].