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VW’s $50B Bet on an Electric Hatchback

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Re: VW’s $50B Bet on an Electric Hatchback

#101

Post by kmonsen »

sremani wrote: post #35
beat wrote: post #26

I'm planning to buy a new car in two years, and I'm really excited about the possibilities of electric cars then. What I really want is a mid-sized hatchback, with interior form similar to my current Subaru Forester (and a zillion other similar light-duty quasi-SUVs). It's such a popular form factor, and Tesla isn't there on it.

The unfortunately truth is many of the Electric Vehicles centered sites in US are Tesla fan sites more or less. If EVs have to truly succeed they have to be coming from more than one brand. - Mitsubishi Outland PHEV - Hyundai Ionic series - Chevy BoltEV Lincoln Aviator PHEV, Prosche Cayenne Hybrid covering luxury SUV segment. There are tons of EVs and PHEVs out there which pretty much cover a large swath of vehicle s…

Don't forget Kia, and for Hyundai I think Kona is more important than Ionic.

I have the Kia EV, and I don't love it, but I really like it. For the price it is great.

Re: VW’s $50B Bet on an Electric Hatchback

#102

Post by lucideer »

blhack wrote: post #59

WHY do these vehicles always have to look so freaking dorky? This is one of the things that Tesla nailed. Their vehicles are beautiful, and look like first-class products. This, the "ID-3" looks like a prius. I'm sure it's a fine car, and I really do love EVs, but man oh man I wish the designers would take a page from Tesla's book. edit: to be clear, my current car (that my wife and I share) is a chrysler pacifica mi…

As others here have mentioned, this is obviously subjective.

I could be wrong but I think beyond that it's also highly regional/cultural.

Teslas look awful to me; they remind me of so many other examples of recent bland US car design: particularly Ford, and with a few hints of the sort of 90s-mazda-esque Corvettes of the past 10-15 years. All very popular aesthetically but to me seem a bit lacking in anything unusual or novel. I would say the same of a fair amount of Japanese car design.

European car design (particularly French, Italian) is often ugly, usually novel, sometimes beautiful. Germans are a bit more conservative (especially VW), but they definitely have their moments.

I am European so I may simply be missing the nuance of non-European design.

Re: VW’s $50B Bet on an Electric Hatchback

#103

Post by r00fus »

izacus wrote: post #67
lnsru wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Porsche isn’t mainstream car. It’s a toy for riches, not for salaried employees. Edit: I was wrong. I could lease Macan for ~700€/month.

Porsche is in the same market segment as Tesla is.

Let's see when deliveries actually happen in the US. That is next year. Also numbers are unclear on how many will be delivered.

Re: VW’s $50B Bet on an Electric Hatchback

#105

Post by AgloeDreams »

blhack wrote: post #59

WHY do these vehicles always have to look so freaking dorky? This is one of the things that Tesla nailed. Their vehicles are beautiful, and look like first-class products. This, the "ID-3" looks like a prius. I'm sure it's a fine car, and I really do love EVs, but man oh man I wish the designers would take a page from Tesla's book. edit: to be clear, my current car (that my wife and I share) is a chrysler pacifica mi…

I mean, on the other hand, it is kinda like the iphone effect, Apple realized that new colors sell because people want others to know their choices and that they have the new thing. People who want an electric car so far have shown that they want that fact to be obvious.

That said, have you seen the new Honda city car? It's beautiful.

Re: VW’s $50B Bet on an Electric Hatchback

#106

Post by r00fus »

Shivetya wrote: post #15

Just a reminder, ID.3 will not be coming to the US. 2022 seems to be the bellwether year of EVs as many manufacturers are predicted to have models by then and more than one in general.

2 years ago everyone was saying 2020 would be the year Tesla gets serious competition. VW sure shared a lot about their designs, but so far no way to purchase them in the US.

Maybe they're waiting for legislative support to promote EVs?

Re: VW’s $50B Bet on an Electric Hatchback

#108

Post by refurb »

bproven wrote: post #68
blhack wrote: post #59

WHY do these vehicles always have to look so freaking dorky? This is one of the things that Tesla nailed. Their vehicles are beautiful, and look like first-class products. This, the "ID-3" looks like a prius. I'm sure it's a fine car, and I really do love EVs, but man oh man I wish the designers would take a page from Tesla's book. edit: to be clear, my current car (that my wife and I share) is a chrysler pacifica mi…

yeah, I don't get it either. Although this one is not that bad. (tinfoil hat) Seems like they want this to fail to keep ICE and all the supporting industries alive for more $$. After all service/parts is where the real money is...

I think Tesla has shown that if the current car makers don't get on the electric bandwagon fast enough, they are going to be left behind.

Re: VW’s $50B Bet on an Electric Hatchback

#109

Post by lnsru »

Invictus0 wrote: post #90
lnsru wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am really sad about Skoda. Their current Superb is a wonderful car with great design. Design of current Passat is ugly as hell. If one cannot afford Audi A6, Skoda Superb is the only choice. After defeat device story VW group is anyway dead to me. I don’t want to finance these criminals. And I don’t believe in their EV initiative. They do it only to make people forget the story with defeat device.

Please try not to be so cynical. A $50B investment in EV is obviously not just a PR whitewash.

Company putting defeat devices in millions of cars can do anything. I just don’t trust them, though I was great fan of this brand decade ago.

Re: VW’s $50B Bet on an Electric Hatchback

#110

Post by steelframe »

geerlingguy wrote: post #39
sremani wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The unfortunately truth is many of the Electric Vehicles centered sites in US are Tesla fan sites more or less. If EVs have to truly succeed they have to be coming from more than one brand. - Mitsubishi Outland PHEV - Hyundai Ionic series - Chevy BoltEV Lincoln Aviator PHEV, Prosche Cayenne Hybrid covering luxury SUV segment. There are tons of EVs and PHEVs out there which pretty much cover a large swath of vehicle s…

Hybrids are ‘meh’ to me. A ton of EV advantages are dismissed or tossed out the window once you mix in a gas engine.

I went from two BEVs to a BEV and a PHEV. One day while I was waiting for the 6th time that day at a glacial refueling rate of "20 miles of range in 5 minutes" with my BEV on a road trip from Seattle to Salt Lake City, I realized that what I value from a plug-in battery is the "full tank" every morning when I pull out of my garage. What I value from gas is the "400 miles of range in 5 minutes" when on a road trip. Suddenly it became abundantly clear that a PHEV was the only thing that made sense for me for a car I use on occasional road trips.
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