DETROIT – Pricey add-ons could start ruffling EV-buyer feathers — but automakers might struggle to survive without them, a new study said.
There’s a simple reason why: EVs aren’t very profitable for automakers — and certainly nowhere near how profitable gas-powered cars. A Ford executive recently told the Detroit Free Press its EVs won’t be profitable until 2026. GM has said it won’t make money on them until 2025. And Tesla didn’t bring in a full year of profits until it had been running for over a decade.
But automakers say they are all-in on electric, so they’ll have to make that up elsewhere. That could mean selling their customers on all sorts of things after-sale, like subscriptions and additional features or upgrades.
