Originally Posted by qwaalodge

While a car's gearbox is way more difficult to service indeed (as reference), in my 20 years of driving, 100,000 miles at most in one car, I never broke one. The only work ever done was change or top up the oil.

The cost have less to do with development cost and complexity but more to do with the configuration's share of the market and the weight. If the tech can be made mainstream with high volume production and if using inexpensive materials like unforged steel and aluminum, it can be made cheap. It will be heavy but remember, the tech is catered towards utility, commuters who cares a lot less about speed than maintenance.