Tesla, GM, Ford EV Price Hikes Loftier Than For Gas Cars: Here's The Average Price Gap

U.S. customers had to pay 22% more last month to buy electric cars amid growing demand and supply woes for EV makers, The Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday.

What Happened: Average EV prices grew 22% year-on-year in May at about $54,000. In comparison, prices for Gas-powered vehicles rose 14% to about $44,400, according to automotive research consultancy J.D. Power. 

Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA), Ford Motors Co (NYSE: F), General Motors Co (NYSE: GM), Lucid Group Inc (NASDAQ: LCID) and Rivian Automotive Inc (NASDAQ: RIVN) are automakers that have bumped up prices on certain EVs in the recent past, partly to offset surging costs of lithium, nickel, cobalt and other battery-making materials.

See Also: Chevy Bolt EVs To Be $6,000 Cheaper In Aftermath Of Recall Nightmare

Price Hikes Continue: GM bumped up the price of GMC Hummer electric pickup-truck models by $6,250 last week, citing an increase in commodity and logistics costs. The trucks, which have a waiting period of about two years, are now priced between $85,000 to $105,000. 

However, GM also recently lowered the price of its Chevrolet Bolt by $6,000 to about $27,000. 

EV market leader Tesla hiked prices in May multiple times and took another round of increases a week ago. The Elon Musk-led company raised its U.S. car prices by $6,000 across various models. 

Musk had earlier this year warned the company was facing extensive raw material and logistics costs.

See Also: Tesla Raises US Car Prices By Up To $6000: What Its EVs Cost Now

Ford CFO John Lawler said last week that rising commodity costs had erased the profit the automaker initially expected to make on its electric Mustang Mach-E. The company has raised prices to offset higher input costs, but Lawler said they were not enough to maintain margins.