Carmakers linked to gasoline "Towards obsolescence", previous Tesla forecasts
3. August 2019 by Matt Pressman
Originally published on EVANNEX.
Elon Musk is consistently accused of being late. Apparently, Tesla usually takes longer to launch its electric cars than Musk's overly timely lines. But no one can argue with their sense of urgency to accelerate EVs to the market. On the other hand, how do old car manufacturers go in their race to become electric?
According to a former Tesla staff, Hamish McKenzie, and author of Insane Mode: How Elon Musks Tesla Sparked a Revolution to End the Age of Oil, " Other car companies, from General Motors to BMW, show not the same sense of urgency ̵[ads1]1; and that may be their downfall. "For example, GM has promised 20 electric models by 2023 and has said it believes" the future is all-electric, "but it has not set a date for how to complete the transition. "
Tesla Supercharger Florida Zach Shahan CleanTechnica
McKenzie writes in Marketwatch that" trends from Tesla alone should be enough to scare the hell out of established car manufacturers. In August, Tesla's Model 3 comfortably sold the multi-year most sold the BMW 3 Series in the US according to sales estimates, which is impressive for Tesla's first attempt at the premium market segment, but just getting started, the cheapest version of the Model 3 is yet to come, and Tesla still has hundreds of thousands of orders to fill. In the previous quarter, Tesla made twice as many cars on it in the previous quarter. And it is now profitable. "
Meanwhile, it seems that other car manufacturers hope that gentle movements and good publicity will get them through .. The problem for traditional carmakers is that they are too deeply devoted to an old technology aimed at obsolescence – together as they have been doing business for decades. "As an example, McKenzie points out" BMW [which] has announced plans for 25 electric models by 2025, but the head of research and development has said that he expects 85% of the company's cars will still have internal combustion engines by 2030. "
McKenzie teamed up with Carsten Breitfeld who previously ran BMW's i3 and i8 electric car programs. According to Breitfeld, "They drive too many cars right now with the old technology, and make a lot of money on it and are very profitable." The directors of these companies are focused on three to five-year outcomes. instead of the long term, says Breitfeld. "They concentrate a lot on today's and tomorrow's businesses."
At the end of the day, McKenzie explains, "The established car manufacturers still have a chance to take part in an electric revolution, but those who assume they will be there by default become overly optimistic. The future car company is not one that can produce a and another good electric car among a series of gas burners. It has to concentrate on developing cars that will dominate over the next 20 years. The longer it waits, the bigger the challenge. Ask yourself who you would rather be: Tesla or GM? Better yet , Nokia asks. ”
About the Author
Matt Pressman is about Tesla, he is a TSLA investor, pre-ordered Model 3, and loves to drive the family cars Model S and Model X. As one of the founders of EVANNEX , a family business specializing in aftermarket Tesla accessories, he has served as contributor / editor for Electric Vehicle University (EVU) and Owning Model S and Getting Ready for Model 3 books. He writes about Tesla daily, and you can follow his work on the EVANNEX blog.
