Several major automakers are making big bets on the electric vehicle
market. But so far, the U.S.
E.V. market seems to belong to one automaker, Tesla, of the 246,000
new electric vehicles sold in the United States in 2019 .
Nearly 194,000 were Tesla's of one kind or another.
That is more than three times the amount sold by all other
manufacturers combined.
The Tesla Model Three sold nearly 160,000 units alone.
No other vehicle from any other manufacturer came close.
The next biggest seller was the Chevrolet Bolt, which sold roughly
16,400 units a fraction of the Model Three's volume.
Investing in Tesla is said to not be for the faint of heart.
But as the automaker has managed to get a handle on production of its
model, three introduce other models and expand its presence in China.
Its stock has climbed, hitting new highs above $900 in February 2020.
For years s keptics have warned of a tsunami of competitors coming
for the pioneering electric car brand and starting in just a few
months and really accelerating next year and into 2018.
It's just going to be swarmed with long range electric car
competition. Still, Tesla.
A Few vehicles have been released so far, but sales indicate that any
one of them has failed to make a significant dent in Tesla's share of
the E.V. market. So far, the Tesla killers haven't really killed
Tesla at all, but more rivals are coming and they are being launched
by massive automakers who have been making cars for a long time.
So who are they and how much of a chance do they have?
First, it helps to look at what they're up against.
Analysts and industry watchers debate the reasons why Tesla is so
dominant in EVs.
There are a few clear ones on paper.
First of all, Tesla's have some of the best ranges available of all
electric cars on the market.
And Tesla's biggest seller, the Model 3, starts at about $39,000 ,
not far from the average price of a new vehicle in the US.
Tesla's have also garnered praise for their innovative design, both
on the outside and the inside.
But there are criticisms of Tesla, as well as a relatively small and
young automaker. Tesla has been plagued by manufacturing
difficulties, which has left hopeful buyers waiting a long time for
reserved vehicles.
Veteran competitors have even used their manufacturing experience as
a selling point when marketing their own electric models, telling
customers they won't have to wait for a newly unveiled vehicle.
Tesla customers have also complained about troubles, obtaining parts
and service. Tesla's success seems to defy the odds in other ways.
Out of the three models it currently sells to are traditional sedans
in a market that has been increasingly favoring sport utility
vehicles since the U.S.
economy emerged from the Great Recession.
Its only SUV available so far.
The Model X carries a very high end price tag.
But Tesla fans, loyalists and would be buyers are so far undeterred.
The company seems to attract a lot of hype and attention.
Many industry watchers say that much of what sells Tesla cars is
Tesla itself, as well as its charismatic, if often controversial
leader Elon Musk.
Despite gripes about long waits for service, serial production,
setbacks and criticisms of the company's build, quality buyers still
seem to want to be part of the Tesla vision.
The renowned industry reviewer Consumer Reports, has both praised and
criticized Tesla vehicles, but it says the brand seems to have
something special, no one else has been able to capture.
Well, I think that's exactly it.
I mean, think a lot of interest in Tesla more so the fact that
they're looking for an electric car.
So the fact that Tesla is the innovator is the latest thing is the
latest technology.
That is what is so attractive to so many people.
So the question is, which brands can compete with Tesla?
Which ones are meant to?
What are potential Tesla buyers shopping?
On the higher end where Tesla tends to play?
There are cars such as the Audi E Tron, the Jaguar I-Pace and the BMW
i3. Porsche began delivering its long awaited Taycan to U.S.
customers in December.
It's expected to follow that up with at least one other model, an
electric version of its Macan crossover.
Mainstream electric vehicles include the Chevrolet Bolt, the Honda
Clarity Electric, a couple cars from Hyundai the Kia Niro the long
selling Nissan Leaf and Leaf Plus and the Volkswagen E-Golf.
There are several others scheduled for release starting in 2020 from
major brands, especially in the premium segments and near the higher
end of the mainstream market where Tesla currently competes.
Ford unveiled its Mustang Mach E.
in November, 2019.
The company expects to begin deliveries in late 2020 and said it has
already reached its order limit for a first edition version of the
vehicle. Despite what some have called a muted response to its
E-Tron, Audi is planning more E-Tron variants, including a midsize
SUV called the Q4 E-Tron, a high performance GT and a sport back
version. BMW is expected to launch the i4 a more sport focused car
for its electric i brand, whereas the i3 was more of a small city car
that even elicited some derision from BMW purists.
The i4 comes with 523 horsepower.
BMW's Mini Cooper brand will supply the city car the Mini Cooper s e
expected in early 2020.
Mercedes Benz parent Daimler said in December it would delay the U.S.
launch of its EQC electric crossover until 2021.
About a year after its originally intended launch time in early 2020,
a more sedan like car called the EQS is also expected.
Smaller luxury brands are pushing into electric vehicles in the near
future as well.
Jaguar is planning an electric version of its XJ sedan and Volvo is
working on an electric XC40 Compact SUV as well as a high performance
crossover through its sister brand Polestar.
Automotive colossus Volkswagen is throwing its weight behind electric
vehicles apart from its higher end products.
Under Porsche, Audi and other brands, the German giant is planning
several Volkswagen branded EVs, including a crossover called the ID
Crozz and a revival of the legendary VW bus called the ID Buzz.
Then there are the smaller brands and startups such as Bollinger,
Lordstown, Lucid and the troubled Faraday Future.
Many, many such vehicles are planned, including several in a very
American segment electric vehicle manufacturers so far have barely
touched pickup trucks.
Tesla introduced perhaps its most ambitious and polarizing design yet
in 2019.
The cyber truck this puts the company at least technically, squarely
in competition with pickups segment heavyweights such as Ford, Fiat
Chrysler, and General Motors.
Truck sales in the U.S.
are dominated by Detroit.
Ford has said it plans to release a fully electric version of its
best selling F-Series full-size pickup.
General Motors plans to revive its once potent Hummer brand name as
an all electric vehicle.
GM said at the end of January 2020, it will spend $2.2
billion at its Detroit Hamtramck assembly plant to produce several
all electric trucks and SUVs
to build a new generation of electric pickup trucks, SUVs, and other
EVs, beginning late just this next year,.
Buzzed about startup revision is working on its own electric pickup
truck. The R1 T is slated for release along with a similar sized
sport utility vehicle in 2020.
Rivian is promising 400 miles of range on a single charge, a wading
depth of more than three feet and zero to 60 acceleration in three
seconds. Ford invested $500 million in the startup in 2019 and plans
to release an SUV bearing its luxury Lincoln badge that is based on
technology developed by Rivian.
Meanwhile, Tesla's cyber truck design seems to baffle some industry
watchers. Some investors have called it weird, really weird.
Musk defended the truck's polarizing design on a conference call
after the automaker released earnings for the fourth quarter of 2019.
For the cyber track.
A few months ago, we revealed th e cyber truck that went viral and we
tried to build a product that is superior in every way without any
preconceptions of how such a product should look.
So it really just from a standpoint of what's the most bad ass
futuristic armored personnel carrier that, you know, kicks the ass of
any pickup truck? Basically, that's the goal.
And we wanted to look like something that just came out of a sci-fi
movie set from the future.
On the same call, Musk said Tesla's demand exceeds what the company
can produce over three or four years.
We've never seen actually such a level of demand at this.
We've never seen anything like it. Basically.
I think we will make us about as many as we can sell for many years.
So sell as many as we can make.
It's going to be pretty nuts.
So and I think actually that the product is better than people
realize, even though they don't even have enough information to
realize, just the awesomeness of it.
It's just great.
Industry watchers say that the move into trucks is another way for
automakers to try to make the best of a difficult situation.
Both investor excitement over Tesla and increasing regulatory
pressure are forcing legacy automakers to come up with some kind of
electric vehicle plan.
But it is commonly thought that electric vehicles are so far still a
tough sell for many buyers.
EVs remain a tiny slice of the U.S.
auto market and are heavily concentrated in states such as
California, where high fuel prices, government policies and
incentives and perhaps a dash of culture all contribute to higher
electric vehicle sales.
EV demand in the U.S.
market has been pretty modest through the years.
Consider that it took an entire human generation for 44 alternative
energy models combined to achieve one half of the market share of the
Ford F-Series pickup.
The best selling pickup in the United States.
Around the world, it seems the healthiest electric vehicle markets
are supported heavily by government intervention.
The largest car market in the world, China is also the largest market
for electric vehicles.
Tesla surprised The automotive world, by being the first foreign car
company to gain permission to manufacture in the country without
partnering with a Chinese firm, electric vehicle sales were growing
in China until the government cut subsidies for battery electric
vehicles. In June of 2019, sales began falling that next July.
Just weeks later, while early electric and hybrid vehicles were
sedans and compact cars, newer models are increasingly sport utility
vehicles and pickups, areas of the auto market that have grown
tremendously in demand over the last decade.
There are also vehicles customers are willing to pay more for
compared with similarly sized passenger cars.
That combination suggests automakers will have an easier time moving
them off the lot and absorbing the high costs of electric vehicle
technology. But they will still have to find a way to challenge the
awesome brand power and cult like following Tesla has achieved.