Economy of scale, profitability, demographic of buyers. EV is just becoming mainstream, thus the technology to develop it is largely either on-going R&D sunk cost, or the R&D completed (Tesla) and but value needs extracted in order to maintain profitability. It’s why you don’t really find any of the latest and greatest technology in cheaper cars, and it works far more akin to “trickle down” that actually seems to work. The more mature and adopted the technology becomes, the more affordable it is to implement it in cheaper vehicles.
You can’t buy a base model mid-size/full-size SUV EV under 30k because it’s not economically viable to provide those options yet. However if you look to the horizon, this is what you have coming…
Mustang Mach-E (already available, cheaper than the Tesla Model Y with energy rebate I believe)
VW Buzz (new EV “van” inspired by the old bus)
Apparently a Chevy Blazer/Equinox upcoming
Ford Explorer
There’s a handful of options, but mostly premium brands on mid-level to premium trims only. Selling the highest value feature on the cheapest trim decreases margin on sale, and would likely take longer for those features to trickle down into base level trims due to delayed ROI. In 5 years when every manufacturer has options on the table for EV, it will become a race to the bottom which is where you’ll find your base level trims with EV.
