And 2024 will be remembered as the time Tesla fumbled around with a poorly implemented pickup truck while missing the boat on building the first really good EV van or SUV.
As I understand it, automakers have decided EV's are luxury vehicles with high price tags and high margins. Minivans are markedly none of those things. The article mentions that GM axed their minivan because it would be too popular. We don't have EV minivans for the same reason. They would instantly become the top selling EV and would ruin all other EV sales.
While I generally agree with the sentiment, I would also like to introduce you to the 2024 Chrysler Pinnacle PHEV, MSRP $63k. I can't speak to the margins, but they've certainly got luxury and high price.
It’s okay — everyone else seems to be dropping the ball, too. And Tesla bought itself a great deal of time while literally every competitor in the US market fumbles the transition to NACS / SAE J3400. I’m cautiously optimistic that TELO’s offering will end up filling the need of people who want minivans. Or maybe Rivian will be inspired to make a smaller and more van-shaped R1S.
(Damn it, CEOs of competitors: don’t wait for the final SAE publication and for the UL to figure out whatever weird paperwork they want and for whatever else you’re waiting for. Tesla launched this thing (apparently mildly different on a protocol level but physically identical) over a decade ago. If you need to, sells cars with two entirely separate charge ports, and make the NACS port modular just in case you screw up and need to replace it. But stop pretending like waiting until 2025 for launch makes sense, and stop telling customers that it won’t be annoying to be stuck using an adapter to charge the car.)