Copyright Los Angeles Times
To the editor: I want to raise an issue with one thing the author wrote: “A new [electric vehicle] costs about $8,000 more on average than a gas car, according to Kelley Blue Book” (“The great EV retreat of 2025,” Oct. 30). This is a completely irrelevant metric. Not only does it leave out massive external costs, it ignores the fast-growing used EV market. Keep in mind that when external costs are not considered in making calculations about cost comparisons, that means human life is valued at $0. Attribution science is a thing now. It puts numbers to these costs. Journalists talking about climate need to start using it. Nobody buys the “average” car. They get a vehicle that satisfies certain desires and needs. You can buy a used Tesla Model 3 for $20,000 that is light-years better than any new $40,000 gas car you can name. I challenge anyone to find one you think is better. I hope this criticism will be taken constructively and that the Los Angeles Times will stop perpetuating the myth that electric cars are expensive. They aren’t and haven’t been for many years.
