Jeep Wants to Beat Chevrolet at the Inexpensive EV Game

There’s something of a Holy Grail that plenty of automakers selling electric vehicles to the U.S. market are chasing, and it’s this: an EV that retails for $25,000 or less. Tesla has long been rumored to be readying a car at this price point, though Reuters reported earlier this year that the automaker had abandoned those plans. Elon Musk has challenged this assertion — but as of now, Tesla has yet to provide any details on its plans in this space.

Tesla isn’t the only marque looking to make its mark in this space. While plenty of automakers have gone bigger with their EV offerings, one in particular has doubled down on making EVs of a wider range of styles and prices. That would be Chevrolet, whose Equinox EV 1LT has an enticing price that could attract car owners looking to make the leap to an EV. Soon, the Equinox will be joined by a new version of the Bolt EV, which Chevrolet anticipates will be the most affordable EV in the U.S. market.

Chevrolet is not alone in seeing the appeal of making a more affordable EV. Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares announced that Jeep was working on a $25,000 EV — something that, according to Andrew J. Hawkins at The Verge, surprised Jeep CEO Antonio Filosa, who called Tavares’s remarks “unexpected.”

Filosa later clarified that a $25K Jeep EV was coming “soon.” “We have good ideas, we already had our calculation, and we strongly believe that we can get there,” he told The Verge. “Strongly believe.”

Currently, Chevrolet has something of an advantage here, in that their next-gen Bolt EV has an actual target date to begin production — specifically, late next year. Still, competition should make for a more appealing corner of the automotive market, and will give potential EV buyers more options to have on hand.

Chinese EVs Are Becoming a Political Issue in the US

One senator is calling for an outright ban

If recent surveys of prospective EV owners are any indication, there are areas of demand where automakers aren’t necessarily keeping up. (Sedans, specifically.) It’s one of the reasons why plenty of politicans and domestic automakers are concerned about Chinese EV manufacturers — who have been producing a much wider range of styles — making headway in the U.S. market. And if there’s an untapped market for inexpensive EVs in the U.S., Chevrolet and Jeep stand to benefit from it in a big way.