A new electric Tesla competitor, Porsche, Toyota
German car manufacturers have clearly indicated that they plan to match the luxury electric vehicles Tesla with models from their being a disruptor able to capitalize on technology breakthrough, the company's Elon Musk will be a catalyst for incumbents of Tesla's industry first mover advantage is questionable, especially in Europe.
At the Frankfurt Motor Show, which runs until the end of next week, the four biggest German luxury car manufacturers - Audi Volkswagen and Porsche, Bayerische Motoren Werke and Daimler - stressed electric models, some of Tesla them explicitly meant to be killers Granted, most of these cars are still concepts, and they won t make the market before 2018, but given the sales trajectory Tesla, there is no need for its competitors to rush.
Porsche Mission E will accelerate from zero to 62 mph in 3 5 seconds, about as fast as Teslas the sportiest, go 310 miles on a single charge and take 15 minutes to bring the charge level to 80 percent The Audi E-tron Quattro SUV promises the same long-range, almost as much power and acceleration slightly slower, reaching 62 mph in 4 5 seconds Mercedes didn t show his Tesla rival in Frankfurt, but has declared its intention to start selling one, with a range of 250 to 310 miles in 2018 BMW has a slightly different strategy he's not promising long-term miracle cars, but the expansion of its product range - new models of plug- ins will be available next year and the i3 and i8 already produced.
Range, of course, remains weak electric vehicles Tesla was TREATED better than others, but in conditions of real life, even his electric cars can not go as far on a single charge that applications of the company Norway, the country's most electric cars per capita in the world, the local association asks EV manufacturers to the state minimum and maximum ranges for their cars in kilometers on the table below; 1 km is 0 62 miles.
Tesla is ahead of the competition, most cars can go about 50 miles on one charge under unfavorable conditions, but it still can not provide a range close to those running out of fuel traditional fossil, it is expensive in Norway so far this year, the e-Golf, with a price tag VW only a third to a high quarter, outsold it two to one in August, Tesla was also beaten by the i3 which is about 60 percent cheaper and the Nissan Leaf Many buyers don t think clearly the advantage of mileage Tesla worth the price difference.
The Norwegian system of incentives - no tax tax or value added import on cell cars, access to bus lanes to all vehicles, a network funded by the government of approximately 6000 charging stations - makes electric cars about as attractive as gasoline the -Powered It Sá oriented subsidy market, as the home of a California Tesla Yet even in Norway, Tesla is not the leader.
In Germany, which doesn t subsidize sales of electric cars, Tesla's only sixth unit sales so far this year behind local manufacturers, Mitsubishi and Kia.
Revenues Tesla are higher than those of competitors at the moment because the luxury cars have a higher price New models of Porsche, Audi and Mercedes announced in Frankfurt this week are intended to correct this situation and provide the kind of range that traditional car buyers are used to - which justifies the luxury price German manufacturers have now set a goal of 310 miles for the next three years, and Bosch, the majority of car supplier world that sells batteries to Volkswagen and other automakers, is confident it can be achieved.
Tesla could be competitive in this field when the new models on sale, but it will be just one of a number of companies with similar offerings and mass market relatively Model 3 is expected to launch in 2017 unless SA time usual, will enter an already crowded field.
Traditional producers have significant advantages over Tesla They sell millions of petrol cars, allowing them to absorb the costs of development of electric vehicles, and they can save by using many of the same parts through several Tesla models, which does not have this ability, is it lost significant losses of 338 million in the six months to June 2015 the staggering valuation of the company argues, but once traditional manufacturers fit his product offering in all market segments, the evaluation will be difficult to justify.
Moreover, in Europe - and China, where local manufacturers dominate the market for electric vehicles budding - local businesses are much more lobbying power that Tesla Once their commitment to electric cars become commercially significant certainly with the launch of Tesla-killer models, governments will be encouraged to develop charging infrastructure and stations will be built to the standards of local manufacturers, and not to its own network of Tesla Tesla legendary status and evaluation are based on a story by technical superiority and a return of traditional automakers like Tesla arrogant sales unit slow movement rose to 28,700 last year from 22,477 in 2013. Even if the company manages to double that by 2018, VW, BMW and Daimler have won t be hopelessly behind and those numbers are tiny by their standards VW sold July 1 Audis million last year.
Believers in disruptive technology often underestimate the sheer power of the incumbents of the established industry rarely need to go as fast as newcomers Watching experience and pushy burn money usually makes more sense.
Many expected Apple to watch undermine the traditional Swiss watch industry, but does not occur s Swiss watch exports, including electronic, cheaper, are up so far this year, Swiss companies are also experimenting with smartwatches, but they do not have to race from Apple - it is more productive to learn from his experience in the new market which is what Apple itself often does, mimicking competitors moves when they are successful builders German car - and their Japanese rivals - are clearly staking Tesla, and it is not out of reach, even in the United States where it is the market leader in the electric car.
It is difficult for a first motor to survive in a rich industry in cash, technologically advanced players put a lot of resources in their second movement Although Tesla manages to stay ahead of the curve in terms of technology, its advantage is likely to be eroded sooner rather than later.
This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.
To contact the author of this story Leonid Bershidsky to.
To contact the editor responsible for this story Therese Raphael.
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