Paying The 'Stupid Tax': A True Tale Of EV Woe

What's a Florida woman to do when her husband goes out to buy a $32,000 SUV but comes home with an electric vehicle for twice that much — that they can't afford to keep but that they can't afford to get rid of, either? I mean, after she decides whether or not to consult a divorce lawyer. Appearing on "The Ramsey Show," a woman calling herself Ashley told a true tale of woe about her husband, the new car he didn't need but could afford, and the KIA EV6 he seriously didn't need and couldn't afford. According to Ashley, her husband earns about $90K a year, and she doesn't work. Their rent is only $1,500, so an inexpensive KIA was well within their reach — even though he'd just finished paying off his current car, which ran just fine. One slick salesman later, Florida Man came home with a $72,000 KIA EV6. I can't top Dave Ramsey who said, “$72,000 for a KIA?!?”

I did a little shopping at the KIA website, and the most expensive trim level EV6 starts at $63K. Adding every single option only brought the price up to $65,440, including destination. There were no options for leather seating in a car that starts at $63K, but there are several "Vegan SynTex" seats in various colors. We are being so had. Anyway, whatever tax credits might have been available for this model were far exceeded by whatever dealer options — "Yeah, but I'm saying that TruCoat — you don't get it, you get oxidation problems. It'll cost you a heck of a lot more than $500." — or markups were tacked on. It gets worse. According to Yahoo Finance, "electric vehicles have lost value faster than traditional used cars." - Used EVs lost 33.7% of their value on average between October 2022 and October 2023."

For comparison, when I bought the Jeep my wife had leased for three years, it had depreciated less than 10% from when it was new in 2019 to when the lease expired in 2022. Granted, that was near the top of the used car price boom, but no EV has ever held so much value. The upshot of Florida Man's spending spree is that they can't afford the $1,200 monthly payment, they still have $62K left on the loan, but the dealer will only pay $40K to take the car back. Florida Couple might be able to get $50K from a private buyer, but that would still leave them $12K in the hole. That's what Ramsey calls "the stupid tax," and sometimes you've got to pay it.

PJ Media: Paying the 'Stupid Tax': A True Tale of EV Woe
https://pjmedia.com/vodkapundit/2024/02/20/paying-the-stupid-tax-a-true-tale-of-ev-woe-n4926578