Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by cdkee 2349 days ago
People have been saying this for years. However, none of the other players have built a compelling product with widespread appeal or adoption. The E-Tron? iPace? Taycan? All have been more or less dead on arrival from an adoption and sales standpoint.

Honda announced recently that they will be focusing on hybrid technology, not full electric. Toyota is backing their Hydrogen Fuel Cell technology. GM has the Bolt, a single full-electric offering. The Model 3 doesn't really have any meaningful competition at the moment IMO. Tesla has forced the industry to change and from where I'm standing no competing product has managed to holistically match the value proposition Tesla brings.

2 comments

"As it turns out, through October 2019, Audi has sold about 17,500 e-Trons globally, compared to about 21,600 for the Tesla."[1]

"With clients able to register their interest, Porsche has collected almost as many pre-orders as they plan to produce electric vehicles. The Handelsblatt quotes Porsches HR Director Andreas Haffner on the status of registrations to order the manufacturer’s first electric model. Says Haffner: 'There are 30,000 orders for the Taycan.'"[2]

Right, clearly all DOA. The model 3 has no competition because the major auto manufacturers are moving away from the sedan platform entirely to SUVs and trucks. It fills a small market niche, but one that's quickly slowing as a percentage of total vehicle sales.

> However, none of the other players have built a compelling product with widespread appeal or adoption

Neither has Tesla if we're honest.

[1] https://www.forbes.com/sites/samabuelsamid/2019/11/29/audi-w...

[2] https://www.electrive.com/2019/07/29/porsche-reveals-number-...

> The E-Tron? iPace? Taycan? All have been more or less dead on arrival from an adoption and sales standpoint.

These are expensive luxury cars. They're never going to see high volume.

Jaguar sells about 76,000 cars a year in total across all of their models. Porsche expects to sell about 20,000 Taycans a year. Both the Audi e-tron and the Jaguar I-Pace outsell the Model X and the Model S in Europe:

https://ev-sales.blogspot.com/2019/12/europe-november-2019.h...

If you want volume then have a look at Volkswagen ID.3 sales at the end of this year in Europe. It may well end up being the top selling EV in Europe even though it'll only be on sale for half the year at best.