When Will the US Finally Get $15K EVs?
Ford is also creating a battery factory to make prismatic LFP cells for future electric vehicles. The Marshall, Michigan, site has drawn political opposition amid controversy over Ford’s decision to license intellectual property for those cells to CATL, China’s largest battery maker. Ford rejected these criticisms, arguing that America needed LFP batteries to reduce electric vehicle costs and “reshore” a technology originally invented in the United States. GM, for its part, says the intellectual property for its LFP cells belongs entirely to Ultium’s two partners, LG and itself.
So far, Hyundai-Kia has not announced that it will offer LFP cells in any of its U.S. electric vehicles. The release date of its 2026 Kia EV4 compact sedan, expected in 2026, is now “postponed until further notice” due to “changing market conditions.” The price of the EV4 was thought to be around $30,000. No brands from the VW Group, Toyota, Nissan or other electric vehicle manufacturers selling in the United States have announced LFP plans.
Make them smaller
The largest segment in the American market is small crossover SUVs. Future low-cost electric vehicles will be “the same subcompact and compact segments we know today,” says Stephanie Brinley, senior automotive analyst at S&P Global Mobility. “The larger the vehicle, the higher the cost and the larger the battery it requires. »
New low-cost electric vehicles can’t be much smaller than today’s small SUVs, and yet they must remain utility vehicles. The 2026 Nissan Leaf and 2027 Chevrolet Bolt (sort of) fit that mold: They’re large hatchbacks with the “presence” and “stance” of SUVs, without the all-wheel drive.
The new Leaf S+ starts at $31,485, including mandatory destination charges, and offers an EPA-rated range of 303 miles. The most popular mid-range SV+ still costs less than $36,000 for 288 miles, and Nissan promises a simple Leaf S will cost less than $30,000. When the 2027 Chevrolet Bolt LT arrives in dealerships early next year, it will start at $29,990, but a 1LT version with fewer features will follow later in 2026 for $28,995.
Make them simpler
Another approach is to offer a very different vehicle at a very low overall cost. The startup Slate Auto plans to offer a $25,000 compact van that radically simplifies the vehicle: no central touchscreen (drivers mount their phones on the dashboard), one color (the wraps are optional extras), no power accessories (the windows wind up manually!). The base vehicle is a small, two-door, two-seat pickup, about the size of the gas-hybrid Ford Maverick. Slate may be right: Toyota is reportedly planning its own smaller electric pickup models.
The $25,000 “Blank Slate” version will have a rated range of 150 miles. The only factory option is a larger pack, at 84.3 kWh versus the base 52.7 kWh, to increase the range to around 240 miles. Slate did not reveal the price of the larger battery. A $5,000 accessory converts the two-seat pickup into a five-seat SUV, which can be installed by the owner (from a flat-pack) or by a distributor for a fee. The most popular Slate could cost around $35,000 if it ships by the end of 2026 as planned.
