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The Model S has won many awards. And it's built (in automotive terms) by a very young startup. Their approach is very software savvy whereas all the other autom

The Model S has won many awards. And it's built (in automotive terms) by a very young startup. Their approach is very software savvy whereas all the other automakers treat software as an afterthought. Its a completely different approach and the recent Model 3 unveil (400,000+ reservations) pretty much confirms that petrol cars have a decade left at most. Other manufacturers may catch up, but at the moment they are miles behind. We'll see whether the chevvy bolt works out or not soon.

bgarbiak 10y ago
Do other manufacturers really miles behind? Or just on a different roadmap? All BMWs are going to be hybrids/EVs by 2022, Volvo is skipping a few iterations of semi-AI on purpose, VW puts automatic controls even in their budgets makes (Skoda and Seat), Nissan has a Model 3 rival already on the market, a new Chevy Bolt is almost there, Toyota/Lexus is so deep in this stuff that they may introduce a hyrdogen powered Lexus even tomorrow, and so on, so on. Sure, nothing there is on par with Model S, but is it because of RnD deficit? Or because nobody is that much interested in going after that market (> $85k EVs) while they could milk their "old" tech for a few years more and keep the profits? This ugly Nissan Leaf has about one third of Model S range, but also one third of batteries. Once they up that number and put it into Qashqai Tesla won't look that good no more. I'm not against Tesla, I'd gladly drive one. But they're running out of the time. Model 3 is a great promise today, by 2020 it could be just an exotic option for those not willing to drive an electric VW Passat.
- codeulike 10y ago
  Maybe. Putting a bigger capacity battery in a car is easy. Doing it without making the car too heavy or expensive is very difficult. Tesla are currently building the biggest factory in the world in order to make cheaper batteries. Will anyone else be able to match their $/kWh ratio? Maybe. Let's see how the chevvy bolt goes. It sounds brilliant at the moment but let's see if they can actually deliver it in volume.

bgarbiak 10y ago

Do other manufacturers really miles behind? Or just on a different roadmap? All BMWs are going to be hybrids/EVs by 2022, Volvo is skipping a few iterations of semi-AI on purpose, VW puts automatic controls even in their budgets makes (Skoda and Seat), Nissan has a Model 3 rival already on the market, a new Chevy Bolt is almost there, Toyota/Lexus is so deep in this stuff that they may introduce a hyrdogen powered Lexus even tomorrow, and so on, so on. Sure, nothing there is on par with Model S, but is it because of RnD deficit? Or because nobody is that much interested in going after that market (> $85k EVs) while they could milk their "old" tech for a few years more and keep the profits? This ugly Nissan Leaf has about one third of Model S range, but also one third of batteries. Once they up that number and put it into Qashqai Tesla won't look that good no more. I'm not against Tesla, I'd gladly drive one. But they're running out of the time. Model 3 is a great promise today, by 2020 it could be just an exotic option for those not willing to drive an electric VW Passat.

codeulike 10y ago
Maybe. Putting a bigger capacity battery in a car is easy. Doing it without making the car too heavy or expensive is very difficult. Tesla are currently building the biggest factory in the world in order to make cheaper batteries. Will anyone else be able to match their $/kWh ratio? Maybe. Let's see how the chevvy bolt goes. It sounds brilliant at the moment but let's see if they can actually deliver it in volume.