VW/Audi, Porsche, BMW and Mercedes need to take a long hard look at themselves. The market is changing way faster than they expected IMO.
Just sell a bloody 250 mile range car I can buy for £25k. That's it. It's not hard. Do it, now. Not in 3 years. Now.
If it's so easy why don't you do it? Let me guess, you've never designed, built, or shipped any physical product.
You're like a first-year art student 'designing' the next iPhone in a 3D rendering program (Half as thick, with twice the battery life! Indestructible edge-to-edge screen!)
Update:
And keep in mind Tesla is not product of yesterday. Vibe for electronic car was around I think much longer than Tesla.But big names (Audi,BMW,etc) just ignored it for so long (maybe because of no serious competitor or corruptness -why do they need to work on something revolutionary when they are market leaders) until some guy stepped in and challeged them seriously.
Anyways that's what I read into it.
As consumers we assume hugely successful historical automotive powerhouses like BMW would have something ready to go NOW because they've been working on it already for 5 years (or ten years+ considering Prius).
Maybe not always fair, but it's generally what people are going to assume.
Maybe if the OEMs had spent the last 10 years designing and building electric cars instead of putting out diesel agents that broke the law in dozens of countries they would be in a better position.
Sure, I couldn't do it. But the difficulty has an upper bound based on a simple existence proof.
... that will be quietly dumped in a year or two, just in time for a new "company changing electric initiative" in 2018, with production slated for 2024.
I hope they save these press releases and just put in new dates - it would be a shame to rewrite them every three years.
Tesla's Model 3 costs £27k, has a range of 215 miles, and is promised to start delivering late next year.
That's the state of the art. Best the world can do. Pretty sure that means it's hard.
State of the art is probably the Chevy Bolt, with its 200+ mile range and cost around $40k. And unlike the Tesla Model 3, it exists. There are lots of reviews of it, and full production starts next week.
No supercharger network.
No over the air software updates.
No 8 year/infinite mile power train warranty.
State of the art?
And you must have missed the announcement last week when they gave specifics on cost and range. The cost is what they promised, and the range is more than Tesla 3. It will go on sale for the general public at the end of the years. That's you and me, without having to put down a deposit, and wait who knows how long. That probably means those cars are churning out their manufacturing line now.
And you must have missed the news when one of Tesla's biggest supporter, Steve Woz, said he would ditch his Tesla for the Checy Bolt.
http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1106012_apples-woz-likes...
Give credit when credit is due. One of the largest and oldest auto manufacturers in the world turned around a, well received fully electrical vehicle on a short amount of time. It is reasonable priced and has more range than Tesla's Model 3.
http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1106012_apples-woz-likes...