Ugh, what a shit article. It mentions exactly one model, a Dacia, that has been already on the market for some time, and a Renault prototype coming maybe in 2026. There is nothing like what the headline suggests as far as I can tell.
Very interesting. I wonder how those manufacturers are planning to make these cars cheaper? Do they just have a smaller battery, or do they go with LFP instead of NMC or NCA?
probably buying batteries from china, since there is no one even close to competitve with them, like BYD's Blade battery. And then competing on everything else, for example by cutting down on all the superfluous crap they put in to massively overinflate car prices over the last 20 years.
Renault has been doing the Zoe at roughly this price point for about a decade already, although there was a monthly lease on the battery so there's an ongoing cost. I see quite a few of them going around here, though they're not a huge presence. They're simple but pleasant on the inside
Good. Much better than that auto exec who was suggesting tariffs on imported EV vehicles would be needed to "save" Europe. I want to say it was BMW but that might just be my own bias against them speaking.
Hasn't musk been losing traction in this game for a while now anyway?
My understanding is that Tesla's whole initial selling point was that they disrupted the market and made electric vehicles something that people would want to buy, whilst the other automakers were 'technically' making EVs but making them look awful to keep the fuel industry alive.
Other automakers have woken up to the demand now and are making nice EVs. Unless Tesla can do something innovative that actually works consistently they're probably going to phase out.
made electric vehicles something that people would want to buy
*people who were considering whether they wanted a Porsche or a Landrover. Selling Teslas to people who had $80,000 dollars to blow in 2015 is orthogonal wide adoption of EVs.
the other automakers were ‘technically’ making EVs
It's worse than that. California passed a law requiring the big automakers offer a non-fossil fuel vehicle. Most companies stuck electric or hydrogen motors in existing cars to make cheap garbage that technically met the requirements. GM spent half a billion developing the EV1. They released for lease-only in 1996 with a 160 mile range. They estimated a starting MSRP of $34,000 by 1999.
The customers loved them. Then California got rid of the law. And GM canceled the program. Thousands of customers sent checks trying to buy the cars. GM proceeded to revoke all leases, crush the cars, and sell the battery technology to Chevron.