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> 8 years later and no company has managed to come up with a car that seriously competes with the 2012 Model S. Tesla was the first to market and remains the ma

> 8 years later and no company has managed to come up with a car that seriously competes with the 2012 Model S. Tesla was the first to market and remains the market leader. I actually worry about this. Tesla is the scrappy underdog for now and thus they are really innovating - but what happens when traditional automakers start going bankrupt because they aren't keeping up with the change over to EV? I wouldn't want a Tesla monopoly either.

altacc 7y ago
The other manufacturers are catching up, so there is a chance that it'll be the other way round. Here in Norway, many people buy an electric car as a second car, with many preferring something cheaper than a Tesla. Tesla still tops the sales tables, in part due to the massive tax benefits. If in 5 to 10 years time the legacy manufacturers can compete on both the low and high end, and win on reliability, customer service & manufacturing scale, then they'll easily give Tesla a run for their money.
cma 7y ago
Imagine each car brand had their own mutually incompatible proprietary gas station network.
- gkfasdfasdf 7y ago
  I mean we have adapters now that allow Teslas to charge at non-Tesla points. More generally though I think comparisons between charging stations and gas stations are almost always invalid for a few reasons. First is that charging stations have the potential to be ubiquitous in a way that would be impossible for gas stations. I.e. you don't need to bury giant tanks in the ground and have a complex fire suppression system in order to charge an EV, rather you can get started with just an electric outlet. Second is that for many people, charging overnight at home is sufficient to get you through the day. I.e. a charging station is only necessary for trips that are more than a couple hundred miles, which is only a small fraction.
  - cma 7y ago
    > I mean we have adapters now that allow Teslas to charge at non-Tesla points. I'm saying imagine the others were tied to manufacturers and made them mutually incompatible like Tesla.

altacc 7y ago

The other manufacturers are catching up, so there is a chance that it'll be the other way round. Here in Norway, many people buy an electric car as a second car, with many preferring something cheaper than a Tesla. Tesla still tops the sales tables, in part due to the massive tax benefits. If in 5 to 10 years time the legacy manufacturers can compete on both the low and high end, and win on reliability, customer service & manufacturing scale, then they'll easily give Tesla a run for their money.

cma 7y ago

Imagine each car brand had their own mutually incompatible proprietary gas station network.

gkfasdfasdf 7y ago
I mean we have adapters now that allow Teslas to charge at non-Tesla points. More generally though I think comparisons between charging stations and gas stations are almost always invalid for a few reasons. First is that charging stations have the potential to be ubiquitous in a way that would be impossible for gas stations. I.e. you don't need to bury giant tanks in the ground and have a complex fire suppression system in order to charge an EV, rather you can get started with just an electric outlet. Second is that for many people, charging overnight at home is sufficient to get you through the day. I.e. a charging station is only necessary for trips that are more than a couple hundred miles, which is only a small fraction.
- cma 7y ago
  > I mean we have adapters now that allow Teslas to charge at non-Tesla points. I'm saying imagine the others were tied to manufacturers and made them mutually incompatible like Tesla.