Electric vehicles (EVs) are poised for a significant price drop over the next decade, according to Zhu Jiangming, founder and CEO of Leapmotor. Speaking at the China EV 100 Forum on Saturday, Zhu stated that the price of the company’s mid-sized electric SUV, the C11, which is currently priced from 155,800 yuan ($22,606), is expected to plummet to approximately 50,000 yuan within the next ten years.
Zhu attributed this drop to the decline in the cost of electronic components, such as batteries and smart cabin features, which account for over 60 percent of a smart EV’s cost. “The prices of such products usually fall quickly because of the Moore’s law,” said Zhu, referring to the 1965 observation by former Intel executive Gordon Moore that the number of transistors in an integrated circuit doubles roughly every two years.
In support of his argument, Zhu cited the example of a 55-inch color TV from TCL that was sold for 7,000 yuan in 2013 and now costs just 1,300 yuan, with even more features. “This applies to EVs as well,” he said. “They will have a new generation every two years, and their prices will fall below 50,000 yuan in 10 years.”
Leapmotor has experienced rapid growth in recent years, with 111,000 vehicles sold in 2022, a year-on-year increase of 154 percent. The company anticipates sales of 200,000 units in 2023.
As Zhu’s predictions indicate, the drop in EV prices is a clear indication that EVs are becoming increasingly accessible to the masses, and more people are likely to opt for electric vehicles as their primary mode of transportation.
