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I think the reasons legacy vendors are not embracing electric cars are because (1) their expertise is in gas and diesel powertrains, and all that stuff about e

I think the reasons legacy vendors are not embracing electric cars are because (1) their expertise is in gas and diesel powertrains, and all that stuff about emissions, transmissions etc is not needed. (2) their dealers make a lot of their revenue from service, and evs don't have much service, and with Tesla they don't even have those irritating dealers (3) the second order effect that lack of battery supply, makes it hard to make many of them and they are going to be more expensive if they don't have a massive supply.

clouddrover 7y ago
> I think the reasons legacy vendors They aren't "legacy vendors", they are the world's biggest car companies. The reason that they're still making ICE cars is because that's what people are buying. Toyota sold over 10 million cars last year. Volkswagen also sold over 10 million cars last year. Volkswagen will be the world's biggest EV company in a few years, but even then their electric cars won't be the majority of their sales.
- adwi 7y ago
  ... or that’s what people are buying because that’s what they’re selling. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Who_Killed_the_Electric_Car%3F https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Who_Killed_the_Electric_Car%...
- NotSammyHagar 7y ago
  The term legacy vendors is reasonably appropriate & used because none of them except maybe nissan appears to have made an effort to move past the existing legacy of gas engines. It's pretty clear that evs are the way the world will go. As I said in another comment, the pre-existing car makers have a lot of reasons not to invest in evs, because their technical expertise isn't in that area, and it will seriously hurt their dealers by reducing their post-sales maintenance profits. They are like king of the world motorola when the apple iphone came out. King of the old world.
  - clouddrover 7y ago
    > because none of them except maybe nissan appears to have made an effort to move past the existing legacy of gas engines Volkswagen's investment in EVs is bigger than any other company's, including Tesla: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-volkswagen-electric-insight-idUSKCN1PV0K4 https://www.reuters.com/article/us-volkswagen-electric-insig...
    - NotSammyHagar 7y ago
      with little to show for it so far. it's not impossible that they have an impact. but not much so far. these companies also have limited battery supplies, which limits their sales.
      - clouddrover 7y ago
        Here's Volkswagen's EV lineup for the next 18 months. They're targeting everything from the low end to the high end: - VW e-Up!: https://www.carscoops.com/2019/09/vws-updated-e-up-offers-161-mile-range-costs-less-than-its-predecessor/ https://www.carscoops.com/2019/09/vws-updated-e-up-offers-16... - VW e-Golf (will be replaced by the ID.3, but still available): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ah4lrqWx8E0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ah4lrqWx8E0 - VW ID.3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=op4HO6GHC8Q https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=op4HO6GHC8Q - VW ID.4: https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/motor-shows-frankfurt-motor-show/volkswagen-id-4-2020-electric-suv-tests-alongside-id-3 https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/motor-shows-frankfurt-mot... - SEAT Mii: https://www.electrive.com/2019/09/11/seat-mii-available-to-order-soon-for-20650e/ https://www.electrive.com/2019/09/11/seat-mii-available-to-o... - SEAT el-Born: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZI7WFtwc8g https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZI7WFtwc8g - Cupra Tavascan (maybe, not confirmed): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNYHRKp4n1w https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNYHRKp4n1w - Skoda Citigo iV: https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/motor-shows-frankfurt-motor-show/new-skoda-citigo-e-iv-arrives-frankfurt https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/motor-shows-frankfurt-mot... - Skoda Vision iV: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-f1g9xl6W_E https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-f1g9xl6W_E - Audi e-tron (and also a new "sportsback" variant): https://www.audiusa.com/models/audi-e-tron https://www.audiusa.com/models/audi-e-tron - Audi e-tron Q4: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiwevzHsCbU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiwevzHsCbU - Audi e-tron GT (maybe 2021): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMEdiq2xTbQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMEdiq2xTbQ - Porsche Taycan (and the Cross Turismo variant in future): https://www.porsche.com/usa/models/taycan/ https://www.porsche.com/usa/models/taycan/
Gibbon1 7y ago
(4) They are desperately trying avoid the Osborne Effect and not tank sales of their current products while they are scrambling to develop and gear up to produce electric models. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osborne_effect https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osborne_effect

clouddrover 7y ago

> I think the reasons legacy vendors They aren't "legacy vendors", they are the world's biggest car companies. The reason that they're still making ICE cars is because that's what people are buying. Toyota sold over 10 million cars last year. Volkswagen also sold over 10 million cars last year. Volkswagen will be the world's biggest EV company in a few years, but even then their electric cars won't be the majority of their sales.

adwi 7y ago
... or that’s what people are buying because that’s what they’re selling. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Who_Killed_the_Electric_Car%3F https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Who_Killed_the_Electric_Car%...
NotSammyHagar 7y ago
The term legacy vendors is reasonably appropriate & used because none of them except maybe nissan appears to have made an effort to move past the existing legacy of gas engines. It's pretty clear that evs are the way the world will go. As I said in another comment, the pre-existing car makers have a lot of reasons not to invest in evs, because their technical expertise isn't in that area, and it will seriously hurt their dealers by reducing their post-sales maintenance profits. They are like king of the world motorola when the apple iphone came out. King of the old world.
- clouddrover 7y ago
  > because none of them except maybe nissan appears to have made an effort to move past the existing legacy of gas engines Volkswagen's investment in EVs is bigger than any other company's, including Tesla: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-volkswagen-electric-insight-idUSKCN1PV0K4 https://www.reuters.com/article/us-volkswagen-electric-insig...
  - NotSammyHagar 7y ago
    with little to show for it so far. it's not impossible that they have an impact. but not much so far. these companies also have limited battery supplies, which limits their sales.
    - clouddrover 7y ago
      Here's Volkswagen's EV lineup for the next 18 months. They're targeting everything from the low end to the high end: - VW e-Up!: https://www.carscoops.com/2019/09/vws-updated-e-up-offers-161-mile-range-costs-less-than-its-predecessor/ https://www.carscoops.com/2019/09/vws-updated-e-up-offers-16... - VW e-Golf (will be replaced by the ID.3, but still available): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ah4lrqWx8E0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ah4lrqWx8E0 - VW ID.3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=op4HO6GHC8Q https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=op4HO6GHC8Q - VW ID.4: https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/motor-shows-frankfurt-motor-show/volkswagen-id-4-2020-electric-suv-tests-alongside-id-3 https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/motor-shows-frankfurt-mot... - SEAT Mii: https://www.electrive.com/2019/09/11/seat-mii-available-to-order-soon-for-20650e/ https://www.electrive.com/2019/09/11/seat-mii-available-to-o... - SEAT el-Born: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZI7WFtwc8g https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZI7WFtwc8g - Cupra Tavascan (maybe, not confirmed): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNYHRKp4n1w https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNYHRKp4n1w - Skoda Citigo iV: https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/motor-shows-frankfurt-motor-show/new-skoda-citigo-e-iv-arrives-frankfurt https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/motor-shows-frankfurt-mot... - Skoda Vision iV: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-f1g9xl6W_E https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-f1g9xl6W_E - Audi e-tron (and also a new "sportsback" variant): https://www.audiusa.com/models/audi-e-tron https://www.audiusa.com/models/audi-e-tron - Audi e-tron Q4: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiwevzHsCbU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiwevzHsCbU - Audi e-tron GT (maybe 2021): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMEdiq2xTbQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMEdiq2xTbQ - Porsche Taycan (and the Cross Turismo variant in future): https://www.porsche.com/usa/models/taycan/ https://www.porsche.com/usa/models/taycan/

Gibbon1 7y ago

(4) They are desperately trying avoid the Osborne Effect and not tank sales of their current products while they are scrambling to develop and gear up to produce electric models. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osborne_effect https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osborne_effect