European auto giants launch a flurry of cheaper electric vehicles — taking the fight to China
European auto giants launch a flurry of cheaper electric vehicles — taking the fight to China
Europe's top carmakers unveiled low-cost EVs at the Paris Motor Show this week, seeking to recapture some of the market share held by Chinese brands.
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Ooh, Musky ain't gonna like this.
Hasn't musk been losing traction in this game for a while now anyway? My understanding is that Tesla's whole initial selling point was that they disrupted the market and made electric vehicles something that people would want to buy, whilst the other automakers were 'technically' making EVs but making them look awful to keep the fuel industry alive.
Other automakers have woken up to the demand now and are making nice EVs. Unless Tesla can do something innovative that actually works consistently they're probably going to phase out.
made electric vehicles something that people would want to buy
*people who were considering whether they wanted a Porsche or a Landrover. Selling Teslas to people who had $80,000 dollars to blow in 2015 is orthogonal wide adoption of EVs.
the other automakers were ‘technically’ making EVs
It's worse than that. California passed a law requiring the big automakers offer a non-fossil fuel vehicle. Most companies stuck electric or hydrogen motors in existing cars to make cheap garbage that technically met the requirements. GM spent half a billion developing the EV1. They released for lease-only in 1996 with a 160 mile range. They estimated a starting MSRP of $34,000 by 1999.
The customers loved them. Then California got rid of the law. And GM canceled the program. Thousands of customers sent checks trying to buy the cars. GM proceeded to revoke all leases, crush the cars, and sell the battery technology to Chevron.
It doesn't appear that Musk is interested in cheap electric cars. My guess is that the M3 is the smallest Tesla for a while.