It may be the cheapest model that Tesla offers, but it’s still a luxury car. Just like a 3 Series was the cheapest car BMW sold for decades, but you’d never compare a 3 Series with a Civic. It targets a completely different segment of the market than the Civic.I'm just using that as an example because it is a compact car and that's what the Model 3 is considered. It is also the cheapest model that Tesla offers and no other EV brand really sells that well. Tesla is the best brand out there it seems and if you were forced to get an EV, you probably would get one of those.
There are plenty of good options of ICE cars that you aren't forced to get one that costs $40k+ to have good features and be extremely reliable. My wife has a 22 Toyota Camry XSE that's loaded with luxury features and still was like $10k less (maybe much more less than that depending on the options) than the Model 3 new. I'd take it over a Tesla Model 3 any day. Teslas are butt ugly imo and I don't care about racing around in one.
I’d agree with you that there are some gaps in the market right now for EVs. There are cheaper options out there than a Tesla, like a Chevy Bolt, but those are usually pretty small and I wouldn’t consider those to be a true alternative to something like a Civic or Camry or Accord. If those are the types of ICE vehicles you’re wanting to purchase, then I don’t know that you really have a lot of good EV options at the moment. You’re forced to either buy something pretty small or pay a lot more to buy a luxury car. That’s simply a product portfolio problem at the moment and not necessarily a problem with EVs in general, and it’s also something that eventually will get fixed.
But if you compare an EV to other ICE vehicles from the same segment, then the running costs of an EV become much more attractive. I don’t own an EV either, but there's no denying some of the strengths EVs have, one of which would be cost/ease of ownership if you’re driving something comparable.
If manufacturers can figure out how to make a good performance EV, then it might be hard for me to stick with an ICE at that point.