I have spent some time pondering on this topic, mainly because I drive a Surya, and I am wondering if it will actually be worth the money and time spent on HAV's. Well let's think of the pro's and con's currently:

Pro's

• Very good at anti-infantry.
• Moves relatively faster than on foot.
• More damage output.
• Can take more damage than infantry.
• Makes nice team play vehicles.
• Only 300,000 ISK per tank.

Con's

• 2 or 3 nicely fitted heavies can make one run or destroy it.
• Very hard to hide on this map.
• Vertical turret climb limited.
• Very vulnerable from above.
• Drivers need to be on the ball at all times.
• Very ineffective at close quarters.
• No team play means no tank.

Now let's add in the 5x cost increase and you've got one expensive tin can. It hits 1.5 million isk. I know a lot of people think the price change is very needed, but think of it this way. Take your dropsuit cost and multiply it by 5. That's around 350,000 isk for one dropsuit or 2-3 games of ISK. Let's add up the pro's and con's now or after the next build:

Pro's

• Very good at anti-infantry.
• Moves relatively faster than on foot.
• More damage output.
• Can take more damage than infantry.
• Makes nice team play vehicles.

Con's

• 2 or 3 nicely fitted heavies can make one run or destroy it.
• Very hard to hide on this map.
• Vertical turret climb limited.
• Very vulnerable from above.
• Drivers need to be on the ball at all times.
• Very ineffective at close quarters.
• No team play means no tank.
• Cost is around 1.4-1.6 million ISK.
• AV grenades will magnetically track to the tank.*

To me, the price change only needs to be a 2x or maybe 2.5x increase.

* Found here by the third commenter.

NOTE: This is my opinion. This is a biased thread based solely on my hardships when driving an HAV.

Really, this is starting to look like how tanks work in the real world: never deploy them without supporting infantry. Basically, if you're going to be using an HAV, you need to make sure to have some of your team provide cover from people with AV weapons, as your turrets are only so effective at doing so, given their turn speeds and firing angles. Well coordinated infantry will always be able to take down a tank without infantry support of it's own.