[dinodino]

The most expensive component in an EV is the battery, and the most expensive component in an ICE vehicle is the engine—hence, the comparison. An ICE also needs to be rebuilt after some interval, as does an EV’s battery. Tesla warrants the batteries in the S to 125k miles, which is more than the powertrain warranty on any ICE that I am aware of.

I have driven other EVs, including the 500e, i3, i8, and Model 3, and none of them have anything like the level of luxury of the S. Which EV do you own? By the way, my car is a 2013 and the battery holds exactly the same charge as it did when it was new, and it has 65k miles on the clock.

I’m not sure where you have seen ads describing the Tesla as “affordable.” The Model 3 is still currently a $50k car, although the price is supposed to drop to $35k for a base model late this year. The Model 3, though, is definitely an economy car.

[adorno]

The most expensive component in an EV is the battery, and the most expensive component in an ICE vehicle is the engine—hence, the comparison.

Cost-wise, yeah, they might be the most expensive components in the different vehicles. But then, APPLES and ORANGES.

The only reason to bring up the expensive battery is because it is what brings their prices to such sky-high levels. An ICE vehicle is still a lot less price-wise. The component-to-component comparison should always be with the corresponding function in mind: which means that, battery+charge should be compared to gas-tank+fuel. Apples to apples; oranges to oranges.