Honda plans to launch a small electric vehicle priced below $30,000 in North America by as early as 2026, Nikkei reported earlier today.
That’s hardly a ‘DeepSeek moment’ for the automotive industry as the Honda Civic starts at $24,250 in the US. A real gamebreaker would be something like the BYD Dolphin, which is selling in some markets for $13,900 with 300 km of range. There are EVs in India selling for just $10K with 200 km of range.
Now there are different standards in the US market that make that highly unlikely but not impossible. Electric vehicles are far-less complex than ICEs and there would be a huge market for a vehicle at that cost.
The BYD dolphin sells for $13,900 in some markets