Re:BYD Overtakes Tesla as Most Popular EV Maker
by qwerpy on Saturday December 30, 2023 @02:36PM
(#38818270)
Ah yeah if you live in a big city served by public transportation, having a car becomes a luxury. I’m a suburb/rural guy so having a car is more of a necessity, but housing is cheaper and parking is free so the costs cancel out somewhat.
Re:BYD Overtakes Tesla as Most Popular EV Maker
by alephnerd on Saturday December 30, 2023 @02:43PM
(#38818326)
Yep.
Most of those high earning jobs are in the city and suburban areas, which makes car ownership a luxury.
Though, even in rural areas car ownership costs have become heavily unaffordable, now that average rent prices nationally are around $1400/mo compared to $700/mo a decade ago [0], while median salary in 2023 is at $4,000/mo (pre-tax)
[0] - https://www.census.gov/housing/hvs/data/histtab11.xlsx
The monthly cost reaches $1k a month in 2023 (parking+interest+insurance).
We all can afford it, but the question is why spend $12k a year on transportation when Caltrain+BART+Muni+VTA and Uber come out for less.
> buying a 25K
The average new car in 2023 is $48k, and the average used is $26k. With used you end up paying more in insurance and get worse financing.