A Silicon Valley startup that put electric motors in a handful of Lotus sports cars became a fairly large niche as it turned into car production.
Then Elon Musk took over. Automobile-smart, and with the balls to bet billions on two industries with incredibly high prices and incredibly small margins (local travel and car production), Musk saw an opportunity. That same year, his local company, SpaceX, introduced its first rocket, Tesla introduced the Model S, a car that replaced the way the world viewed electric vehicles.
The masterstroke of Elon Musk, the true genius of Tesla’s business model, to create an ecosystem in which the Model S can legitimately serve as an option for an internal combustion engine vehicle. Tesla’s Supercharger network made the Model S a genuine car, not something new.
Tesla sold just one million cars last year. It’s also the first truly new premium car logo, unlike an artificially created logo like Lexus, which emerges in decades, and its cars promote higher-priced cars than similarly priced classic premium logos like BMW and Mercedes-Benz in lucrative markets like the United States.
Look past the headlines, though, and Tesla has demanding situations ahead of him.
Tesla’s overall share of the global electric vehicle market last year likely would have been around 20%, but just two models, the Model 3 sedan and Model Y SUV, accounted for 97% of its sales.
The car that is everything, the Model S, is now nine years old and there’s no replacement in sight. The Model X SUV, now six years old, still has its heavy, complex and annoying “Falcon Wing” taildoors.
The high-profile Tesla Cybertruck Musk claimed he would be in 2020 was postponed to next year at the earliest. References to the upcoming Tesla Roadster, introduced in 2017 as a high-performance flagship, have quietly disappeared from Tesla’s website.
More importantly, the automatic status quo is beginning to combat the skills and resources accumulated over decades of designing and producing the most complex customer products ever created. By 2030, classic brands will produce dozens of electric vehicle styling lines and target millions of EV sales.
Hyundai Motor Group, for example, plans to offer 11 Hyundai-branded electric cars, six Genesis brand electric cars and 14 Kia electric cars through 2027. It aims for global sales of 3 million electric cars by 2030.
The Volkswagen Group, which last year sold 8. 6 million cars worldwide, expects electric cars to account for part of its global sales through the end of the decade. GM announces plans to launch 30 new electric vehicle models over the next 3 years.
In total, classic automakers are expected to spend more than $515 billion on electric vehicles and in progression this decade. Tesla, on the other hand, spent less on R.
Traditional OEMs are about to spend and produce more than Tesla, a company that still struggles to make cars in volume and with the best levels of quality.
Of more concern to Tesla, however, are new and emerging automakers looking to stay on their wheel tracks, many near-turnkey EV powertrains and batteries evolved and sold through a legion of developing suppliers. The arch-disruptor of the auto industry is a style for a whole new generation of disruptors.
Based in Guangzhou, China, XPeng was founded in 2014 through two former top executives of Chinese automaker GAC and Chinese tech billionaire He Xiaopeng. By the end of this year, it will produce and sell 4 electric cars in China. XPeng already sells one of its models in Norway and plans to increase exports to other European countries and the United States in the coming years.
The 4 XPeng models are built on two platforms. The smallest platform, designed for cars with wheelbases of 2600 mm to 2800 mm and codenamed David, is the basis for the G3i compact SUV recently on sale in Norway, and the P5, a compact 4-door sedan. of the Chinese market that features a long wheelbase and an ultra-spacious rear seat. Both are offered with a single motor driving the rear wheels, or two motors and all-wheel drive.
The XPeng P7, a sedan with Tesla Model S style elements, is built on the Edward platform, which is designed for cars with wheelbases from 2800mm to 3100mm. Developed in collaboration with Porsche, it has a multi-link suspension around it.
The single-motor P7 RWD Long Range is powered by a rear-mounted motor that develops 196 kW and 390 Nm of torque. The twin-motor P7 4WD High Performance delivers an overall formula output of 316 kW and 655 Nm.
XPeng’s Edward platform also underpins the company’s newest model, the G9 SUV, which will go on sale in China in the third quarter of this year and is rumored to be destined for the United States. The G9 has an 800V electrical architecture that will allow fast charging
It took XPeng, 8 years, less than half the time it took Tesla to put 4 cars into production and put them on sale. But the biggest risk for the Chinese company may be its end-to-end software architecture, such a unique generation concept. to Tesla in the automotive sector.
Called Xmart OS and first of all based on Android, but now very complex and unique, it controls the motive force assistance formulas as well as the connectivity and infotainment service formulas. The formula also supports artificial intelligence capabilities, adding a “Hey XPeng” voice activation service. as and an intelligent navigation formula, and allows live updates and remote vehicle diagnostics.
VinFast was founded in 2017 and, founded in Singapore, is part of Vingroup, Vietnam’s largest personal company. A $39 billion conglomerate with interests in the real estate and recreational industry, Vingroup is owned by Pham Nhat Vuong, who began promoting ramen noodles in Ukraine. in 1993.
VinFast, founded as a manufacturer of traditional internal combustion engine cars, announced in 2020 that it would move to generating natural electric cars within two years. President Pham Nhat Vuong reportedly personally paid for the design fee and engineering adjustments needed for the two internal engines. Combustion engine cars were the company in progress at the time.
These vehicles, the VinFast VF 8 midsize SUV and the larger VF nine three-row seat SUV, have just entered production in Vietnam and production of export models for the US market is imminent.
The VF 8 will be available in the U. S. In two grades of equipment: Eco and Plus. Both are twin-engine, all-wheel drive models, with the Eco providing 260kW and the Plus 300kW. VinFast claims an acceleration time from 0 to one hundred km/h of about 6. 0 seconds for the Eco and 5. 5 seconds for the Plus.
Two battery sizes will be offered, with diversity providing an estimated diversity of 418km on the WLTP cycle on the Eco and 400km on the Plus. The Enhanced Range battery increases those numbers to 470km and 455km respectively.
VinFast has announced that pricing for the VF 8 will start at $40,700, plus a $110 monthly battery subscription. Customers who don’t travel long distances can pay just $35 per month for 498 km each month, with each additional kilometer charged at the rate of 18 cents.
VinFast’s concept, the subscription payment, is to reduce initial acquisition prices (batteries are expensive) and reassure buyers. Although VinFast offers a 10-year/200,000 km warranty in the USA. In the US, the subscription agreement means you’ll upgrade the battery if your garage capacity degrades 70%.
The VF 9 will start at $55,500, with a battery subscription payment of $160 per month, or a flexible rate of $44 per month for 4nine8km, with an additional cost of 24 cents per mile.
A VF nine can be set up in six or seven seats and will also be available in the Eco and Plus versions, but unlike the VF 8, either is supplied with the 300kW dual-engine powertrain.
The battery in diversity provides a declared acceleration time from 0 to 100 km/h of around 7. 4 seconds for the Eco and Plus versions, with declared WLTP levels of 438 km and 422 km respectively.
The improved range battery offers a 0 to 100 km/h time of around 6. 5 seconds and a diversity of 594 km on the Eco model, and 6. 6 seconds and 580 km on the Plus model, which comes with larger wheels 21 inches in diameter. .
VinFast has 3 new electric cars scheduled to launch until 2024: the VF 7 compact SUV, the VF 6 sedan and the VF five city car, all aimed at the European and Asian markets.
This lightning-fast product launch and competitive pricing strategy are the only things Tesla deserves to worry about. VinFast just announced that it will invest $2. 8 billion in a new factory in the US. The U. S. government is required to manufacture the VF 8 and VF nine models in particular for Tesla’s domestic market. The plant will have the capacity to produce 150,000 cars per year.
Chinese entrepreneur Wang Chuanfu founded BYD in 2003 to build cars, trucks and buses. The initials stand for “Build Your Dreams,” though industry turmoil temporarily replaced “Borrow Your Designs” after the company’s early cars featured cheeky styling from brands such as Mercedes Benz, Renault and Toyota.
BYD has already overtaken Tesla as the world’s largest electric car maker, with reported sales of 641,000 cars during the first six months of this year, to 564,000 sets for Tesla.
In addition, the company, which is partly owned by U. S. billionaire Berkshire Hathaway Inc. , U. S. investment guru Warren Buffett, also overtook South Korea’s LG as the world’s second-largest maker of electric vehicle batteries, China’s CATL.
Dominating China, the world’s largest automotive market, BYD plans to go global, as it is already in Australia with its Atto 3 crossover, and its product portfolio is complete with models for export markets in Europe and North America.
BYD’s second-generation seven-seat Tang SUV is a convergence platform vehicle that can be built with a traditional internal combustion engine, either as a plug-in hybrid or with a full battery powertrain. It is already announced in Europe.
The Tang’s twin-engine, all-wheel-drive edition delivers 380 kW and 680 Nm of torque, enough to propel the 2489 kg SUV from idle to 100 km/h in 4. 6 seconds claimed.
Its 86. 4 kWh battery offers a declared range of 400 km in the WTLP combined cycle and settles for a DC rate of 110 kW, allowing the battery to be reclassified from 30% to 80% in 30 minutes.
BYD’s Han EV sedan went on sale in Latin American and Caribbean countries last October.
Launched in 2020 and recently refreshed, the Han EV is available in China with a single 163kW motor driving the rear wheels, or as a two-motor style with a 200kW front motor that raises the car’s overall formula force to 363kW. The car with wheel drive is said to reach 100 km/h in 7. 9 seconds, while the twin-engine car is destined to be able to nail the dashboard in just 3. 9 seconds.
BYD’s existing sales and production force has implications for Tesla’s expansion ambitions.
Tu Le, a lead executive at advisory organization Sino Auto Insights, recently told Britain’s Financial Times newspaper that BYD is “playing full speed,” with products covering many critical segments of the electric vehicle market. He said he also expects BYD to challenge foreign automakers on its own soil, in the United States.
“They are taking very competitive steps to move to internationals. “
Polestar began life as a manufacturer and tuner of Volvo racing cars. China’s Geely, which Volvo acquired in 2010, to make it the company’s premium electric vehicle logo in 2017. Polestar has since been separated from Volvo and Geely through a merger with the US. The U. S. is based in special purpose acquisition company Gores Guggenheim, which has raised $890 million.
Its first vehicle, the Polestar 2, is built on an edition of the platform that underpins Volvo’s XC40, among others, and points directly to Telsa’s Model 3. The upcoming Polestar models aim for much more than that.
The first is the Polestar 3, a high-performance SUV built on a bespoke EV platform, aimed at Porsche Cayenne customers.
Due to its sale later this year, the 3 will be supplied with a twin-motor powertrain powered by a giant battery that will offer a diversity of six hundred km. It will also come with hardware and electronics, adding a LiDAR system, which Polestar says will enable autonomous driving on the road until 2025.
The Polestar 3s for the North American market will be manufactured at Volvo’s South Carolina plant and the company expects them to play a key role in expanding global sales to 290,000 sets by 2025, ten times more than the 2021 total.
The Polestar 4, SUV, will remain in 2023, but this one for Porsche’s Macan. And 2024 will see the launch of. . . Hold on. . . the Polestar 5, a high-performance four-door fastback GT encouraged by the very good Polestar Precept concept introduced in 2020.
The target of the Polestar five is the Porsche Panamera and, like the Polestar, the car will be manufactured in Geely-owned factories in China. Uncompromising bonded aluminum chassis and 800V electrical architecture to enable ultra-fast charging.
Polestar has also shown that it will put into production the O2 roadster concept, with the Polestar 6 badge, temporarily placing buyers of the first 500 copies.
You may have seen a theme here: Polestar blatantly targets Porsche with high-quality, excellently designed cars.
But this strategy is also a challenge for Tesla, which has discovered itself as a maker of high-end electric vehicles.
This is partly because it is a pioneer in the space, with cars attracting wealthy early users. But it’s also because it hasn’t been able to produce cars at much lower costs than the company originally promised.
Teslas are expensive. And unless Tesla has a plan forged to rethink existing and new models this decade, it risks being defeated by a swarm of brands offering electric cars that look fresher or feel more sumptuous or simply offer better value for money.
“Production is difficult. Production with positive money is incredibly difficult. Elon Musk tweeted this in 2021.
Welcome to the automotive industry, Elon. Et possibly wouldn’t be easier.
Angus MacKenzie there, he did that. Born in Adelaide and now founded in London, Angus is editor of Street Machine in the early 80s and Wheels today in the 90s. He also spent time in the UK as an automotive leader and in the US. U. S. with MotorTrend.