Is there a single competitor to the Model 3 on the market yet? They should be doing really good with the lack of competition.
In the US the BMW 3-series sales fell of a cliff since the Model 3 was announced, and Model 3 Q2 sales in the US are 3,000 shy from beating the BMW 3-Series, Lexus ES, BMW 5-Series, and Mercedes C-Class (those are the #2-#5 in that segment)... combined.
[1] - https://cleantechnica.com/2019/08/10/tesla-model-3-outsold-b...
BMW and the rest of the big makers have no reason to push electric car sales and increase electric R&D over the more profitable ICE models.
Same goes for the dealers. They are the ones stealing sales and they make their money on service. Which will be less with electrics.
Right now, if you want the best electric car all other factors be damned, you get a Tesla.
But the miniscule amount of sales that Tesla has compared to the large manufacturers indicates that market is still exceedingly small.
What incentive does BMW have to compete with Tesla? At the very best, they build an electric that blows the Tesla out of the water and take 100% of Tesla's sales. That amounts to about one month of their current revenue.
Perhaps when demand for electrics at that price points really takes off, they will be caught flat footed without a competitive product. But that day is yet to come and the full weight of their R&D apparatus and sales force remains to be seen when it comes to electrics.
Same goes for all the other big manufacturers.
I think your narrative is 3 years out of date. BMW is dying at the hands of Tesla in the US right now, along with all the other “premium” carmakers.
When the Model Y starts shipping, I imagine X3 and X5 sales will likewise be hit quite hard.
https://www.bmwblog.com/2019/04/11/march-2019-best-ever-worl...
In the US, BMW’s YoY in 2018 for 3 Series was -25%! [1]
Because you know, it makes just a bit more sense to compare them just within the US, where Tesla has had a chance to establish itself somewhat, compared to the 103-year old BMW.
The fact that Tesla sells almost 1/10 as many cars as BMW sells worldwide is actually pretty amazing, considering Tesla is selling purely EVs, all made in a single factory in the US.
When Tesla builds Giga4 in Europe in a couple years, then you’ll see the same effect there too.
There’s a reason BMW just fired their CEO.
[1] - https://www.press.bmwgroup.com/usa/article/attachment/T02893...
The greatest revelation for me was that good data-driven management decisions can cause a company to fail. In other words: good management can equal bad management.
My previous car was a BMW M3 and my Tesla has been a breath of fresh air along any possible imaginabile axis except the ergonomics of the air conditioning system that I'm not fan of.
Just because it is a good selling point for a certain subset of population that likes new and shiny and does not mind mowing people over in the process does not make it a good thing.
Really, once I was quite happy with a car that had roll-down windows and no a/c, but when we are talking about a premium-priced car in 2019 expectations are somewhat different.
The Mercedes EQC has voice control, but they need to move to a different triggering phrase. They're using "Mercedes" currently and that has too many false positives, particularly when someone is trying to review the car:
https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1114966_todays-bmw-i3-t...
Mercedes is debuting Real Soon Like Now (I think it's out in Europe as of.. the past few days?) the EQC electric GLC-looking SUV thing. Jag has the i-Pace, which is still uncommon here in the bay area, though I saw quite a few in Norway.
The new Audi e-tron was all over Norway, and I just saw my first 3-4 here in the Bay Area this week. (but they had permanent CA license plates so they must have been out for at least a month or so).
The Mercedes EQC is here now, maybe not in your region yet: