The Stripped-Down Tesla Is Exactly What We Need

South of the border, Tesla quietly made its electric vehicles a little simpler.

The independent Tesla-tracking website Not A Tesla App recently shared news of a subtle change to the Tesla Model 3 that’s offered in Mexico compared to those for sale in the U.S. In place of the vegan faux leather that had been the sole option for its seats, Tesla offered ordinary cloth fabric as a choice. Luxury touches such as the heated or cooled seats aren’t available in this version of the Model 3. Nor is the rear touchscreen for backseat passengers to control their own temperature settings, a key addition to the redesigned Model 3 that recently debuted.

These changes don’t knock a lot off the cost of the EV: This rear-wheel drive 3 still costs 749,000 pesos, or about $40,000. But the introduction of a more stripped-down Tesla could be a signal that, just maybe, a more affordable Tesla is around the corner.

There’s no getting around it: Money may be the biggest stumbling block for EVs in the United States — at least as range anxiety dissipates thanks to better battery technology, growing charger networks, and people simply having more exposure to electric vehicles. The gap may be closing, but, in general, new EVs remain pricier than entry-level gas cars. Meanwhile, high interest rates are depressing auto sales of every kind and making comparably expensive EVs seem out of reach.

Electrics are expensive because of the costs to make their enormous batteries, the need to retool assembly lines to build a whole new kind of car, and other reasons mostly related to manufacturing. But on top of all that, they’re expensive because of how they’re positioned as a product. To get people excited about electric cars and see them not just as wimpy golf carts, carmakers led by Tesla sold the EV as the tech-forward ride of tomorrow. The look of EVs became all touchscreens and LEDs, smartphone features that meant to have us equate “electric” with “future.”

That design approach, combined with an emphasis on the zoominess an electric powertrain can deliver, gave EVs a sheen of luxury, even though the spartan conditions inside a Tesla bear little resemblance to the cushy environs of a Mercedes-Benz. It allowed Tesla — and Rivian and Lucid — to keep their startup companies afloat by selling expensive cars at the outset to maximize revenue. (It didn’t hurt that the high sticker price provided some room to hide the cost of the battery.)

That worked for the first phase of the EV revolution, when early tech adopters and climate-focused drivers jumped in. But that era is over. As the next era begins, success or failure will rest with the millions of people who make their car decisions on dollars and cents. The declining cost of batteries as companies get better at building them will help the electric vehicle get cheaper. But the other side of the coin is for companies to start selling the EV as just a car — a better one than your dinosaur gasoline-burner, yes, but not some smartphone on wheels sent back from the future.

This isn’t an entirely foreign notion. Cars have long been sold with various “trim levels” that include different packages of features at different price tiers. They’re usually designated by the alphabet soup you see at the end of a vehicle name, like Toyota Corolla XSE or Ford F-150 STX. In the case of the F-150, the extra technology and performance packages can double the starting price of $37,000.

You might think this is an annoying way to buy a car. The system hooks buyers with the promise of a low starting price, only for many to realize the car they actually want is $15,000 more. At the very least, though, it gives you the option to buy the cheap car if you can live without the fancier wheels, heated seats, and advanced suspension.

Gasoline cars could stand to do better in this regard, but it’s especially important for electric vehicles. Today’s market abounds with crossover EVs that pass themselves off as luxurious to get away with a price that bloats into the low $40,000s. Even with a few vehicles coming in the $30,000s, like the basic trim level of the Chevy Equinox EV and the promised revival of the Chevy Bolt, the useful-but-simple EV is a rare thing.

An EV is still an EV if it’s unremarkable. It’s just as good for reducing greenhouse emissions if it looks like my old Ford Escort on the inside: plain cloth seats, chunky physical buttons, and an analog speedometer on the dash. In many ways, it’d be better.

Perhaps this is the pathway to what Tesla, Ford, and others envision when they promise us the $25,000 EV. You’ll probably give up a little in terms of battery size and range, and lose some of the amenities and creature comforts. But what you get, finally, is a truly affordable EV. As someone who grew up on dead-simple transportation, I’d welcome it.

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