Let’s face it – the sticker price of an electric vehicle is an important barrier to adoption (as well as poor awareness of the total cost of ownership and range issue perceptions). Innovations in storage and general technology have resulted in prices drifting down but the upfront cost is a significant barrier for many consumers.
The contrast in pricing between similarly sized cars offers consumers a reminder of the cost premium. To illustrate – the Nissan Versa sticker is roughly half that of a Nissan LEAF. (Of course, this does not account for the total ownership costs and the differences in the overall experience.)
With collaboration such as the one described in this article, economies of scale will realized and this might translate into pricing that make the electric vehicle compelling for everyone.
These companies are tied together under Nissan and collaboration should be expected. It’s harder to expect this from companies that compete with each other or those that strive to create the next ‘Tesla killer”.