They run on lies.

Half-truths. What the liars routinely style “misinformation”  . . . about the truth.

For example, the following lying headline: Tesla Model 3 is Now Cheaper Than the Average New Car. The story goes on to state – as if it were true – “that the Tesla Model 3 is now “$5,000 cheaper than the average new car.”

No, it isn’t.

The Tesla 3’s price has indeed come down. But that is not the same thing as saying it is now  “cheaper than the average new car.”

The misinformation is as follows: Last year, new car transaction prices – the average price paid for a car – approached $50,000. A record high. Last year, a Tesla Model 3 stickered for about the same. As of right now, a Tesla 3 stickers for about $5,000 less, for $44,380.

See the trick? Did you watch the hands?

The headline – and the story – attempt to persuade you that a Tesla 3 costs less than the average car because it now stickers for about the same as the average transaction price of a new car. It leaves out the critical piece of information that “average cars” can still be bought for about half what a Tesla 3 costs.

A 2023 Honda Civic hatchback sedan is a very average sedan. It stickers for $24,450. Other than it not being electric, it is very similar to the Model 3. Both are compact-sized, five door hatchbacks and nearly identical in length (184 inches long for the Civic, 184.8 for the Tesla 3). The Civic actually has more cargo capacity (24.5 cubic feet vs. 22.9 for the Tesla) and significantly more back seat legroom (37.4 inches) than the Tesla does (35.2 inches). The Civic also comes standard with more than 300 miles of range vs. the standard Tesla’s 272 miles of range. Another nugget of truth left out of the lie.

With EVs you pay extra to get range that comes standard in non-EVs.

Anyhow, the point here is that the lowest-priced Tesla still costs 40-plus percent more than an “average” and very similar-to-it small car like the Civic. And that’s without taking into account the not-mentioned-cost of the extra-cost longer range battery that adds about – wait for it! – Ten thousand dollars to the price. That’s the cost – $53,990 – of the “Performance” version of the 2023 Model 3, which can go just about as far on a charge as a $24k Civic can on a tank.

Assuming it’s not too cold – or hot. If it is the Tesla won’t go as far as advertised, which is something else these misinformationists almost never mention. It is an omission akin to not conveying to people that a given make/model of gas-engined car comes standard with a hole in the gas tank just above the three-quarters full level, that results in about a quarter of what you fill-up with dripping out as you drive.

The Tesla 3 is also – like the Civic – a small car and so not comparable to the average family-sized car. You can buy the best-selling example of that – a 2023 Toyota Camry – for $26,220 or (once again) about $20,000 less than the base price of the least-expensive Tesla Model 3, the one that has a best-case advertised range of 272 miles. The $26k Camry comes standard with more than 440 miles of range – in “city” driving. On the highway, it can go more than 600 miles. It also has about three inches more rearseat legroom than the Civic-sized Model 3, which is why it’s more suitable for family car duties.

You could also buy any of several compact-sized crossovers for less than half the cost of a compact-sized Model 3 sedan. Examples include the $22,950 Mazda CX3, the $22,140 Hyundai Kona and the $23,650 Honda HR-V. These are not low-volume sellers, either. Probably because they don’t cost $40,000-plus (or charge $10k more for about the same – or less – range that comes standard for half as much in other stuff).

There’s more not coming from the misinformationists, who seem almost as if they’re being paid to not tell people the truth about EVs.

For example, the cost you’ll pay to rig up your home to be capable of “Level 2” charging. The term refers to having a dedicated 240V place to plug in that’s close enough to wherever you park the EV to be able to plug it in. Most homes do not have a 240V outlet in the garage and the cost to have one wired up by an electrician – which you’ll want to do if you don’t want to risk your homeowner’s insurance not covering it in the event there’s a fire – will cost you several hundred if not a thousand bucks or more. Which you’ll have to pay – if your house is not so equipped already – if you want to be able to recharge your EV in less than 12-plus hours, which is the “fastest” you can charge it using a regular 120V household outlet.

The misinformationists also don’t factor into their cost-lies about EVs the more you’ll be  paying for tires, which wear about 20 percent faster because EVs are about 30 percent heavier than non-electric equivalents and because their electric motors apply so much torque so immediately to the tires.

There are so many lies – and half-lies – that it is hard to know what’s true. Other than that you’re being lied to.

The irony is that, in this instance, it’s coming from a place that ought to know better. Car journalist used to know cars – and also bullshit.

It’s a shame that so many of them no longer do.

. . .

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Related posts:

1. Bigger Electricity
2. Where is the Electricity for EeeeeeVeeeees Going to Come From?
3. RIP, Tesla: You Deserved to Die
4. $48,000 . . .
5. Electricity: For The Rich Only?