Tesla seems to be dominating the EV market at the moment. Who is the biggest threat to Tesla in the future?
I don’t think there are currently any real threats to Tesla at the moment. They pretty much have an open market since they had the cash to work with from the beginning to do it right. The only other companies that have that are the major manufacturers, who are all looking into low end vehicles that are still too expensive to get to compete in the market properly. once the range increases to around 150-180 easily enough, i can see them really taking off. even if they cost mid 20’s to mid 30’s
While Leaf has pretty nice reviews and the price is really looking right, when Tesla gets a vehicle to that price point Nissan may be in trouble. They gotta be racing to grow their range.
Right now the only potential threat to Tesla seems to be the plug in hybrid, since nothing else “EV” can come close to offering similar range.
As long as manufacturers are unwilling to design around the batteries (Ahem… FORD!!), these plug in hybrids will be seriously handicapped. Who wants to give up their trunk and have diminished handling so they can save money and energy… with the caveat that trips must be under 50 miles or the EE advantage goes away?
Oh yeah, and those cobbled together vehicles cost a lot more, and have crappy residual.
I think the EV market is pretty much Tesla’s to lose, and it doesn’t look like they make stupid mistakes.
Hi Tedkidd
I tend to agree with your comments - up to today Tesla Motors has not put a foot wrong. If it does eventually deliver an affordable EV in the $40,000 bracket then Nissan could be in trouble.
Mark
I seen…
[quote=tedkidd;16094]While Leaf has pretty nice reviews and the price is really looking right, when Tesla gets a vehicle to that price point Nissan may be in trouble. They gotta be racing to grow their range.
Right now the only potential threat to Tesla seems to be the plug in hybrid, since nothing else “EV” can come close to offering similar range.
As long as manufacturers are unwilling to design around the batteries (Ahem… FORD!!), these plug in hybrids will be seriously handicapped. Who wants to give up their trunk and have diminished handling so they can save money and energy… with the caveat that trips must be under 50 miles or the EE advantage goes away?
Oh yeah, and those cobbled together vehicles cost a lot more, and have crappy residual.
I think the EV market is pretty much Tesla’s to lose, and it doesn’t look like they make stupid mistakes.[/quote]
I couldn’t agree more. I was at the auto show and saw the new plug in fusion which looks amazing, but then then i opened the trunk and saw the lack of space due to all of the electrical components and couldn’t believe how bad it was… :bolt:
Not sure Tesla has to worry about competition right now. There is the Nissan Leaf but it caters to a different market than what Tesla is aiming for at this point.
It was interesting to see that pure EVs outsold Hybrids in the US in the first half of 2013 by roughly 19,000 to 22,000. These figures are still very small but interesting to see that the hybrid stepping stone to a full EV seems to be working.