When will Teslas take a 350 kW charge? Porsche is doing that this year.
How many models will Tesla have available in 2022?
But the biggest advantage is not that. It's having electrical motors that are cheaper, lighter and more powerful (Munro has a great slide on that). It's having cells that are cheaper to build and better integrated (Munro was apparently blown away). It's having power electronics that are better. That's the kind of advantage that makes for higher margins and better products. I'd love it for others to surpass it, but it hasn't happened yet.
I'm not particularly in favor of Tesla, just EVs for several reasons. I do hope all the traditional manufacturers come out with great EVs. They just haven't yet.
350 kW chargers are already rolling out on the Ionity, Fastned, and Electrify America networks. They use the CCS standard. They already work with cars on the road:
https://insideevs.com/first-ionity-350-kw-chargers-denmark/
https://fastned.nl/nl/blog/post/everything-you-ve-always-wan...
https://insideevs.com/here-are-the-350-kw-nad-150-kw-abb-cha...
Why is Tesla so far behind?
Volkswagen knows. They'll sell you a Porsche Taycan. Then they'll sell you an Audi e-tron GT:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMEdiq2xTbQ
And then they'll sell you a Porsche Macan:
https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/porsche-macan-electric-on...
Better planning, bigger scale.
Meanwhile Tesla is still losing money. They were down $1 billion in 2018:
https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1121240_tesla-turned-pr...
When will Tesla's technology be profitable? The closure of the retail stores doesn't inspire confidence.
No it's not. Right now, there just is no EV "family car".
I would love to buy a model 3, but with that ridiculous trunk there's just no way I could fit my kids stuff in there.
All the EVs currently being built (or announced) are just commuter cars. Sedans and small SUVs are great for driving to work on your own, but I think it'll be really awkward to go on a skiing trip with a family of 4 in a Model 3 or in a Nissan Leaf or whatever.
(technically there's the Nissan eNV, but that car is hideous)
Maybe Volkswagen will be the company that finally builds a practical EV...
And one for work: https://jalopnik.com/the-volkswagen-i-d-buzz-cargo-is-the-fu...
And a dune buggy for the weekends: https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1121245_volkswagen-conf...
It isn't a bunch of Golfs. It's hatchbacks, crossovers, and buses built on the same modular platform:
http://newsroom.vw.com/vehicles/future-cars/official-the-vw-...
The MEB platform can be adapted to hatchbacks, sedans, crossovers, vans, and even dune buggies. That's what will give Volkswagen economies of scale Tesla doesn't have.
It isn't just a promise. It's the mass market arm of their EV strategy.
Yes, an Volkswagen advantage has.
> that number of models was an advantage that VW had
It is. Their MEB modular platform allows them to target every segment across multiple brands while maintaining economies of scale in manufacturing. They're good at it:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen_Group_MLB_platform
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen_Group_MQB_platform
As I say, better planning and bigger scale.
The system scales from small compact cars like the Audi A1 or the VW Polo to big family cars like the VW Touran or Skoda Superb or even SUVs like Skoda Kodiaq.
If their strategy works out, and they can introduce a system like that for EVs, they can start introducing multiple new models per year.