VW CEO says they’ll have ‘EVs as good as Tesla’s 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.

Re: VW CEO says they’ll have ‘EVs as good as Tesla’s for half the price by 2020’

#6

Post by sigi45 » Sat, Oct 27, 2018, 7:44 AM UTC

askafriend wrote: post #5

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.

Sure but VW produces 10 Million a year. Tesla 100k.

VW hast way more: experience, capacity, people, money.

They can probably do that.

Re: VW CEO says they’ll have ‘EVs as good as Tesla’s for half the price by 2020’

#7

Post by TekMol » Sat, Oct 27, 2018, 7:45 AM UTC

At first I thought this is an unusually short news article.

Took me a while to figure out that scrolling on this page is broken unless you enable javascript.

Looks like the reason is that it needs Googles amp code to function.

It's hillarious that Google gets away bloating the web with crap and selling us that as a way to make it more lightweight.

Flagging it for this reason. I think we should not support AMP here on HN.

Re: VW CEO says they’ll have ‘EVs as good as Tesla’s for half the price by 2020’

#8

Post by captainmuon » Sat, Oct 27, 2018, 7:45 AM UTC

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 and with not enough range.

Re: VW CEO says they’ll have ‘EVs as good as Tesla’s for half the price by 2020’

#9

Post by LeoPanthera » Sat, Oct 27, 2018, 7:52 AM UTC

captainmuon wrote: post #8

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…

Sounds like the Nissan Leaf?

Re: VW CEO says they’ll have ‘EVs as good as Tesla’s for half the price by 2020’

#10

Post by askafriend » Sat, Oct 27, 2018, 7:53 AM UTC

sigi45 wrote: post #6

askafriend wrote: post #5

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.

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 Bing or Windows Phone.

To challenge your thinking a bit, consider this: part of the reason you can buy a Tesla in California or Texas today and not worry about range at all is the supercharger network that can take your Model 3 from 0 to 80% in 20mins. That's a multi decade infrastructure investment that VW hasn't even begun. And no, regular 3rd party chargers you see plopped in random malls and centers aren't even close. Not by a long shot.