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Does anyone else think traditional manufacturers will initially sell their EV's at a loss or low profit margin to get a bigger foothold in the market, being propped up by their sales of diesel/petrol cars.
Also, what will happen to the price of ICE cars if EV's start catching up?
I wish. I'd pay a lot if someone would make a good e-version of a "boring" car like a Golf. No huge center-mounted display, no app store, no forced remote updates, no DRM locking me out of reparing my own car. If they keep the sensors for partially automated driving as a better cruise control, I'm fine with that. Unfortunately, the current e-Golf is just a regular Golf poorly converted to electric, way too expensive…
I'm sure Tesla will also have EVs as good as Tesla for half the price by 2020. They'll also have a vastly improved super charger network, a mature software ecosystem, a mature direct sales/servicing model, and whatever else they dream up like Powerwall and other systems that can potentially add value to the whole. VW will just be scratching the surface by 2020 while Tesla will likely continue sprinting ahead.
When EV gets popular enough won't all petrol station install chargers too? When this happens the super charger network will not be a large advantage. The only issue I see is if each company creates it's own "super/fast" charging system and DRMs it for "security" reasons.
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Plot double twist: VW won't actually produce more or cheaper EVs but Tesla goes under and stops making cars so technically this statement is still correct.
Triple plot twist: VAG buys Tesla
(Being German VAG not succeeding is quite a frightening perspective. But being human I appreciate Musk jumpstarting the EV business, whoever will be the big players in the end.)
If VWs electric vehicles really are as good as Tesla's by 2020, it will be more a condemnation of Tesla than praise for VW.
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When EV gets popular enough won't all petrol station install chargers too? When this happens the super charger network will not be a large advantage. The only issue I see is if each company creates it's own "super/fast" charging system and DRMs it for "security" reasons.
The best place to charge an EV is wherever the car spends the majority of its daylight hours (which for many workers will be the company parking lot). That way they can be charged directly from solar PV during the peak hours, avoiding the necessity for storing that energy anywhere else.
I'm very interested to see if this actually happens in the near future.
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Sure but VW produces 10 Million a year. Tesla 100k. VW hast way more: experience, capacity, people, money. They can probably do that.
VW produces 10 million regular ICE cars a year. It will take time to shift an entire entrenched organizational culture to focus on EVs...and not just making them, but to make ones that are truly without compromise ("as good as Tesla"). These things aren't easy at all, though it might be tempting to think that it's just a matter of resources. Microsoft had all the resources in the world and still couldn't pull off Bin…
If VW can launch a quality product with way more supply than Tesla, they'll sell more. Tesla is doing most of the marketing for EVs, VW and other auto makers just need to meet demand. There's far less customer loyalty on things like cars than computers or online services, so it'll come down to value.
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Tesla is a battery company.
And there’s the rub. From where are VW going to source their batteries? Having vertical integration rather than having to buy from third parties is a fairly substantial advantage.
But will they sneak a diesel engine in the trunk?
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Triple plot twist: VAG buys Tesla
Quadruple plot twist: Tesla buys VAG (Being German VAG not succeeding is quite a frightening perspective. But being human I appreciate Musk jumpstarting the EV business, whoever will be the big players in the end.)