EVs are cheaper than ever. Can car buyers be won over?

livemint.com:

Electric vehicles were a splurge purchase not long ago. Now they are among the biggest bargains on the dealership lot. Many electric models have never been cheaper, as automakers splurge on financing deals and cash incentives to sway consumers who might be hesitant to give up their gas guzzlers.

The steeper discounts will serve as a test of Americans’ appetite for going electric after months of slowing demand. Four of the five vehicle models with the biggest drop in list price over the first half of this year were electric, including the Chevrolet Blazer and Volkswagen ID.4 SUVs, according to shopping site CarGurus. On average, buyers paid about $1,500 more for nonluxury EVs than internal combustion engine vehicles, according to a July J.D.

Power report. Just over a year ago, the average EV fetched $8,400 more. In some cases, electric models that once came with a hefty premium are actually cheaper than their combustion-engine equivalents.

Ford Motor’s F-150 Lightning—the centerpiece of the company’s EV strategy when it was unveiled in 2022—is selling for about $5,000 less than its gas-engine alternatives, according to J.D. Power data. Still, it won’t come cheap for the car industry: Discounts and deals make EVs that have already drained billions from legacy automakers’ bottom lines even less profitable.

Several major automakers are scheduled to report quarterly earnings this week, including Tesla, General Motors and Ford. Tesla kicked off the trend last year when it began to slash the starting prices for its basic models. Competitors followed suit, leading to an EV price war that has heated up this year.