5 ms·

I'll nitpick. 15-20 years ago the battery tech wasn't there to make a decent and affordable electric car. Well the 18650 cells that Tesla used have been aroun

I'll nitpick. 15-20 years ago the battery tech wasn't there to make a decent and affordable electric car. Well the 18650 cells that Tesla used have been around since the 1990s, although price has obviously come down massively (NB around 2 years ago Tesla switched to a slightly different cell). They've tinkered with the cell chemistry a bit but the main Tesla innovation is in the area of "how to combine thousands of cells into a battery pack with cooling, monitoring and safety systems" Tesla is filling a huge market vacuum which is how they're able to grow so quickly. Every other car manufacturer was so married to the ICE that they never seriously considered a fully electric vehicle. This really isn't how it happened. Before Tesla we had the Nissan Leaf and the BMW i3 which were pretty serious attempts at EVs, the problem is they were aiming for the middle market. Tesla's bright idea was to make expensive cars with huge batteries and make them desirable, and make them kick arse. No-one had gone there before. Then, as per the well known 'master plan', work down from the expensive vehicles to less expensive ones via economies of scale. On their way they transformed peoples view of EVs and helped created the market vacuum that they are now enjoying.

erikpukinskis 7y ago
Sure, other people produced some OK electric cars, but they had no intention to actually market them, I.e. they aren’t “serious” considerations. They are compliance cars, and showpieces. Not an actual product line. That’s started to change in recent years, but Tesla has been the only company to stand up and say “We make an electric car. It’s awesome. You should buy one.” Everyone else is like “wellll, if you really want one of them, we have one in the back we can sell you. But have you seen our new SUVs? We have a hybrid!”
- clouddrover 7y ago
  > They are compliance cars, and showpieces. Not an actual product line. That's not the practical reality. Nissan has sold over 400,000 Leafs and they're still selling them: https://global.nissannews.com/en/releases/nissan-leaf-first-electric-car-to-pass-400k-sales?source=nng&lang=en-US https://global.nissannews.com/en/releases/nissan-leaf-first-... > Tesla has been the only company to stand up and say “We make an electric car. It’s awesome. You should buy one.” False. That's exactly what Volkswagen are doing. Here are some marketing videos for the Porsche Taycan. - 24 hour endurance run: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jSG_10_JRg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jSG_10_JRg - Onboard lap of the Nürburgring-Nordschleife: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8m31EgQkswg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8m31EgQkswg - Acceleration and braking: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PAX74HkmvHU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PAX74HkmvHU And an ad for the Volkswagen ID.3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPjvgXWA78E https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPjvgXWA78E
  - jandrese 7y ago
    400,000 Leafs over 10 years worldwide. That's niche car numbers.
    - clouddrover 7y ago
      All electric cars are niche cars.
      - erikpukinskis 7y ago
        You moved the goalposts there.
        clouddrover 7y ago
        Here is a cold dose of perspective for you: http://ev-sales.blogspot.com/2019/09/global-top-20-august-2019.html http://ev-sales.blogspot.com/2019/09/global-top-20-august-20... Up to August, 2019 the Leaf has sold 46,864 units making it the fourth best selling battery electric in 2019. That's twice as many as the Tesla Model X. The Tesla Model S didn't make the list. Even the Volkswagen e-Golf has outsold the Model S so far this year. Set that against the reality that Toyota sold over 10 million cars in 2018. Volkswagen also sold over 10 million cars in 2018. 86 million cars from all brands in total. Electric cars were only 1.26 million of that total: https://www.jato.com/global-car-market-remains-stable-during-2018-as-continuous-demand-for-suvs-offsets-decline-in-sales-of-compact-cars-and-mpvs/ https://www.jato.com/global-car-market-remains-stable-during... Battery electrics are a small segment of the market. They are niche cars.

erikpukinskis 7y ago

Sure, other people produced some OK electric cars, but they had no intention to actually market them, I.e. they aren’t “serious” considerations. They are compliance cars, and showpieces. Not an actual product line. That’s started to change in recent years, but Tesla has been the only company to stand up and say “We make an electric car. It’s awesome. You should buy one.” Everyone else is like “wellll, if you really want one of them, we have one in the back we can sell you. But have you seen our new SUVs? We have a hybrid!”

clouddrover 7y ago
> They are compliance cars, and showpieces. Not an actual product line. That's not the practical reality. Nissan has sold over 400,000 Leafs and they're still selling them: https://global.nissannews.com/en/releases/nissan-leaf-first-electric-car-to-pass-400k-sales?source=nng&lang=en-US https://global.nissannews.com/en/releases/nissan-leaf-first-... > Tesla has been the only company to stand up and say “We make an electric car. It’s awesome. You should buy one.” False. That's exactly what Volkswagen are doing. Here are some marketing videos for the Porsche Taycan. - 24 hour endurance run: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jSG_10_JRg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jSG_10_JRg - Onboard lap of the Nürburgring-Nordschleife: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8m31EgQkswg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8m31EgQkswg - Acceleration and braking: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PAX74HkmvHU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PAX74HkmvHU And an ad for the Volkswagen ID.3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPjvgXWA78E https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPjvgXWA78E
- jandrese 7y ago
  400,000 Leafs over 10 years worldwide. That's niche car numbers.
  - clouddrover 7y ago
    All electric cars are niche cars.
    - erikpukinskis 7y ago
      You moved the goalposts there.
      - clouddrover 7y ago
        Here is a cold dose of perspective for you: http://ev-sales.blogspot.com/2019/09/global-top-20-august-2019.html http://ev-sales.blogspot.com/2019/09/global-top-20-august-20... Up to August, 2019 the Leaf has sold 46,864 units making it the fourth best selling battery electric in 2019. That's twice as many as the Tesla Model X. The Tesla Model S didn't make the list. Even the Volkswagen e-Golf has outsold the Model S so far this year. Set that against the reality that Toyota sold over 10 million cars in 2018. Volkswagen also sold over 10 million cars in 2018. 86 million cars from all brands in total. Electric cars were only 1.26 million of that total: https://www.jato.com/global-car-market-remains-stable-during-2018-as-continuous-demand-for-suvs-offsets-decline-in-sales-of-compact-cars-and-mpvs/ https://www.jato.com/global-car-market-remains-stable-during... Battery electrics are a small segment of the market. They are niche cars.