EVs are inherently simpler than ICE vehicles. Of course it will eventually take fewer man hours to build one, and that's where some of the eventual cost savings will come in from.

You can't complain about the high cost of cars today and then turn around and want artificially inflated labor hours for EVs. You can't have it both ways.

EVs have fewer moving parts than gas-powered vehicles, with no engines, transmissions or exhaust systems.

That didn't stop the light bulb industry from baking in planned obsolescence.

Battery cell manufacturing will be increasingly automated as volumes increase. So this idea didn't hold water.