Saying that the car should be free is perhaps asking a bit much. But it's obvious since they can build this machine that our dependance on petrochemicals needs not be absolute.
Henri Ford once offered to give every family in America a car free if he could have the monopoly on spare parts. Congress said no.
I'm sure american oil companies are already trying to get their hands on it so they can "lose" the project. Unless there is some money to be made on not just selling the car but providing the fuel and sub-par parts that break down all the time so you have to replace them.