The Average EV Costs $66,000. Here's How One Company Is Making Electric Vehicles Accessible to Everyone.

Electric vehicles represent the future of transportation. That claim is made often, and it is broadly correct. But there is a problem hiding inside that optimistic statement: futures have a tendency to arrive unevenly.

At the time of this episode, the average price of an electric vehicle in the US was $66,000. Less than 15% of American drivers could afford a battery-powered vehicle. The Biden administration's target of EV sales comprising half of all auto sales by 2030 was a bold goal. But against the backdrop of those affordability numbers, it was also a goal with a significant gap between ambition and reality.

John Possumato, founder and CEO of DriveItAway, joined the Driving Mobility podcast's very first episode to talk about how his company is working to close that gap, through a subscription-based model that makes EVs accessible to lower-income consumers who have been largely left out of the electrification conversation.

The Affordability Problem Is Not Incidental

It is tempting to treat EV affordability as a temporary problem. Prices will come down. Technology will scale. Eventually, EVs will be affordable across the income spectrum, just as smartphones became affordable after their initial high-price introduction.

That framing is partially correct but misses an important dynamic. The window in which EVs are primarily accessible only to higher-income buyers is a window in which the environmental benefits of electrification flow disproportionately to people who already have more resources and more options. Lower-income communities, which often bear a disproportionate burden of vehicle emissions given where they live relative to major roadways and industrial areas, are not sharing in the benefits of the transition they are also paying for through those emissions.

Getting EVs into the hands of lower-income drivers is not just an equity concern. It is a climate concern. Broad EV adoption across the income spectrum is how electrification actually delivers on its environmental promise at scale.

How DriveItAway Works

Possumato's solution is a subscription-based vehicle access model. Rather than purchasing or leasing an EV, consumers pay a subscription that covers the vehicle and associated costs on a flexible basis.

The subscription model removes several of the specific barriers that make EV ownership inaccessible for lower-income consumers:

No large down payment. Traditional vehicle purchases or leases typically require significant upfront costs that are a real barrier for consumers with limited savings. A subscription model eliminates that barrier.

Flexibility. Subscription models allow consumers to access an EV without a long-term financial commitment. For a consumer who is uncertain about whether an EV fits their lifestyle, particularly given range and charging concerns, that flexibility reduces the risk of trying one.

No credit barrier. Traditional auto financing depends heavily on credit scores that can exclude consumers who are lower-income, younger, or new to the credit system. Alternative access models can use different criteria to assess a consumer's ability to participate.

Bundled simplicity. When insurance, maintenance, and other ownership costs are included in a single payment, the total cost of EV access becomes more predictable and manageable.

The Dealer Angle

DriveItAway works through automotive dealers rather than around them, which is a significant aspect of the model. The platform enables dealers to offer subscription access to their EV inventory, providing a new tool to reach consumers who wouldn't otherwise be in the market for a new vehicle purchase.

That dealer partnership matters because it means DriveItAway is working with, rather than disrupting, the existing automotive distribution infrastructure. Dealers gain access to a new customer segment. Consumers gain access to vehicles through a channel that is already established and regulated. The model is designed for compatibility with how the industry actually works.

The Bigger Vision

Possumato's work sits at the intersection of two transitions: the shift from ownership to access-based vehicle use, and the shift from internal combustion to electric power.

Neither of those transitions is fully underway. But both are coming, and their intersection creates an opportunity to design access models for EVs that work for the full range of American consumers, not just the affluent early adopters who have driven EV sales to date.

Getting that design right matters beyond the commercial opportunity. It matters for the credibility of the EV transition itself. A future of mobility that is electric but inaccessible to most Americans is not the future the industry should be building toward.

Listen to the first-ever episode of the Driving Mobility podcast to hear John Possumato and Michele Pierog's conversation about the affordability gap in EV adoption, how DriveItAway's subscription model addresses it, and what a more equitable EV future could look like.

Driving Mobility is ParkMyFleet's podcast covering the trends, technologies, and leaders shaping the future of mobility.