What are people actually paying for a Kona these days?

https://www.edmunds.com/new-hyundai-kona-electric-for-sale-delaware/

 

Here in Hawaii they only recently started selling Kona Electric and they're in pretty short supply, so the dealers are adding a markup -- whether they're actually getting it, I can't say.

 

East Coast, here. Around $43,000

Less if you can qualify for "lease cash" and buy it out.
Beware the lease terms - you're looking for the "subvented" National promotion rate.

If you immediately buy out the lease, there's no penalty.

If shopping secondhand, avoid the 2019 for drivetrain noise.

 

Searching with this "smallish" qualification returns just one result, the most fun BEV you can buy (I know from experience): the MINI Cooper SE. If your wife doesn't drive more than 100 miles a day, the 114-mile EV range isn't a problem. The SE doesn't have any of the dire problems Hyundai/Kia or VW BEVs exhibit and it topped the JD Power survey with the highest percentage of satisfied BEV owners.

Evidently, MINI will make a few 2024 MINI Cooper SEs before ceasing production in the UK. The upcoming 2025 Chinese-built replacement will have more range, but the 27% import tariff on Chinese cars sold in the US may rule it out for the whole continent.

 

Not really relevant to the EV discussion, but does anyone else find the idea of a Mini Cooper built in China depressing?

 

On InsideEVs' MINI Cooper SE forum, there are MINI fans on both sides. I'm a traditionalist who believes MINI Coopers should be made in the UK. However, even though they're now made in the UK, they're made by a German company. Those on the more practical side say that if MINI is going to offer a quicker, faster, longer-range car that matches the wonderful handling of the current MINI Electric, it doesn't matter where it's made.

It appears that MINI ignored the 27% import tariff the US imposes on vehicles made in China when they decided to partner with Great Wall Motor to build an electric car factory in Zhangjiagang, China. Great Wall Motor already makes a similar-sized car with the quirky name, "Ora Funky Cat." It's unclear how much of that car will find its way into the 2025 MINI Cooper SE.

There are rumors that MINI will side-step the import tariff in a couple of years by importing Chinese parts to Plant Oxford in the UK (where MINIs have been made even before BMW bought the brand in 2000), and then assembling them there to qualify for a much lower tariff. Of course, MINI would have to build the cars in the US to qualify for the $7,500 federal EV tax credit, but that's not going to happen until the US breaks its SUV/pickup habit.

How much the Chinese MINI Cooper SE will cost is a big question. If it costs as much as a Tesla Model 3 and doesn't match the Model 3's EV range and acceleration, this car will be a tough sell. No problem for me because I wouldn't trade my Oxford SE for a Zhangjiagang SE even if I got Aaron Judge as part of the deal.

 

I've driven an original Mini.
I don't think a Chinese built Mini- shaped object will be worse.

 

All Tesla Model 3 and Y examples delivered here in NZ are made in Shanghai. The BYD Atto 3 has been a huge seller as well and has earned awards.