Electric Vehicles - Round 3?

A good read on the potential for disruption in the auto industry

Tesla finally get the $35,000 Model 3 on the market

The revolution continues. Models 3, Model X and Model S Teslas are now everywhere around these parts.

1 Like

The new Polestar 2 revealed this week is a serious Tesla 3 alternative at similar spec (and allegedly base model about 40k euros). Rather more striking inside and out than the bland Tesla from pictures at least. Whatever Tesla say I have friends on their wait list who have heard nothing and have no expectation of deliveries until 2020 despite early deposits. I expect Polestar (Geely money, Volvo tech etc) might be more reliable over delivery times but we will see I guess.

We have had our all electric BMW i3 since December and are completely converted. It has not required any significant adaptation by us to live with it, and range anxiety no issue because we were clear beforehand of the use it would have We get 160miles+ from a single home charge. It is not perfect but it is fun, relaxing and a pleasure to own even without considering energy cost/sourcing issues. The replacement for my Volvo diesel estate may well be electric if I hang on a couple more years.

I’m sure folk will weigh in shortly about dirty electricity generation, infrastructure issues, battery life and sustainability etc etc but on the subject of costs I did note a recent study that compared 4 year whole ownership costs of electric, hybrid, diesel and petrol VW Golf models and found that the electric version was already cheapest in several European countries, albeit Govt subsidy dependent.

Bruce

Reading the Tesla press release and coverage it sounds like a company desperate for cash flow and not at all clear it will make a profit on the $35k car.

They may be ‘everywhere’ where you are but I can honestly say I have never seen a Model X on a UK road and a Model S is a very rare sight. Might be more of them in a less rural area?

Bruce

This exactly what the article is about. We’re unlikely to ever buy another ICE vehicle, but the electric replacement for out minivan doesn’t yet exist. ICE sales may fall off a cliff, even before the electric sales pick up more pace.

Companies growing at the rate Tesla is growing are always desperate for cashflow. It’s been a company on the knife edge since its inception.

1 Like

Winky, I did read the article and found it interesting

My simplistic thought is that the car market is actually a lot of markets, and the product ranges have to be diverse for different needs. I think the manufacturers will be very aware they still need to fill various parts of the market where an electric option is unsuitable or unavailable, and they will have to make those offers tempting.

I think that potentially a bigger change will be a move to more flexible ownership; like Volvo and others are doing with subscription packages. This will allow people to have access to a suite of cars according to what they need for their commute, at weekends, on holidays etc. This may alleviate the ‘Osborne effect’ as buyers are not always going to be choosing (or delaying choosing) a single vehicle but will buy a package from a supplier which will be flexible and evolving. Maybe.

My brother is a senior Ford exec in the UK. They are miles behind the curve on electric vehicles and will be for a while, if indeed they ever catch up. They’d rather you bought a truck.

Bruce

It was Warren Buffet who said that the smart move in the early 1900s would not have been to invest in Ford, but rather to short-sell horses. That circle may be turning, with a smart move today being not to invest in Tesla, but rather to short-sell Ford. (I think Ford stands out as being the big manufacturer most behind the curve)

Excellent point. With EVs being a higher Capex but lower Opex proposition, shared ownership makes a lot of sense to get utilization up.

We are all EV household. My wife has a Zoe ZE40 with the 40kWh battery and I have a Model X 100D. I will never go back. The Tesla is absolutely fantastic and the Zoe absolutely flawless. Both are so easy to live with. As regards the Tesla, I have never had such a good user/ownership experience as with that car. From the purchasing experience, the predelivery, ownership, the supercharger network, support… fab.

For a young company in many respects they really show how it should be done. They are so far ahead of the game on the tech front compared to all the dinosaur car manufacturers now bringing EVs to market in the next few years…

1 Like

As an early adopter of EVs (we have a Tesla Model S and we used to have a BMW i3 at work) I am definitely NOT going EV for myself nor Mrs D.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and the BMW wasn’t in my eye at all. And those rear doors that gave access to the back seats were a joke and a death trap. (IMHO of course !). Sure it accelerated better than an FI in the hands of Lewis Hamilton (well, sort of, we have a race track around the perimeter of the airfield) but it wouldn’t go very far between charges and the ladies in admin wouldn’t use it to pop into town (Salisbury is about 10 miles each way) just in case the partially charged battery wouldn’t make it on a cold winter’s day with the lights and heaters full blast. That hard acceleration didn’t half eat up the battery energy.

The Tesla is better. It looks smart but to my eyes it’s not a classic. Comfortable ? yes. 220 miles according to the book, but again, hard acceleration in the winter or with the a/c in the summer and that 220 dropped like a brick. Salisbury to Newcastle (c. 300+ miles) needed two stops to “refuel” each way. OK, best to give it 20 mins on each refuel charge and accept 80% full because to get 100% would take “all day” (or all night). Fortunately I never missed a refuel because rather than the AA delivering a gallon of diesel, they have to deliver a car-transporter (although to be fair Tesla guarantee the first time this happens it will be free).

So we got rid of the BMW a month or so ago, but the Boss likes the Tesla so it’s still with us. He’s the only one who really drives it these days. The rest of us use our own cars or the aircraft !

YMMV (literally :sunglasses:)

Don

Horses for courses. I would not use a large 4x4 as a town car or a little Smart for regular motorway commuting. We would not have an i3 if we needed to do long trips every day or used all 4 seats often. The i3 from 2019 has a bigger range than yours incidentally and yes if you stomp the pedal on any EV the range drops. So does the fuel in your tank.

I think driving an EV actually makes you a smoother driver and maybe more energy conscious. Maybe some of the compromises are also worth it for environmental reasons too?

Not going to meet your needs or preferences now clearly. I could not replace my Volvo with an EV of similar utility. Yet, anyway.

What does YMMV mean incidentally!

Bruce

Hi Bruce,

YMMV = Your Milage Might Vary. It used to be a common acronym on forums a few years ago meaning you might have different priorities to me. I used it here in the form of a pun/joke.

My post was outlining my experiences with EVs. I appreciate they are at variance with others posting in this thread. However, if somebody is reading this thread with a view to buying an EV, the broader the range of experiences they have available, the more informed their choice will be.

So, for sure, drive any car “enthusiastically” and it’s fuel economy will drop. Both EV and oil burners etc etc. EVs don’t suit my needs. They might, or might not, suit the needs of others.

Hi Bruce,

I’ve just re-read my post about the BMW i3 and the Tesla Model S. For the avoidance of doubt, these cars are/were owned by the Flight training school, not myself and Mrs D. I use them occasionally, but in reality I nearly always use my own cars now, even on company business. We’ve had them for about 3 years now so most of us are familiar with their limitations.

I appreciate that yourself and quite a few others find they suit your requirements. as I said above YMMV :sunglasses:

This topic was automatically closed 60 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.