Hacker News Reader

Comment by netfl0 | Hacker News Reader

Interesting analysis, but I wonder if they have plans the author is not aware of.

BMW knows Tesla is eating their 3 series lunch. I’d be surprised if they had nothing up their sleeve.

As far as I know, no other car manufacturer has the battery production capacity Tesla has, and Tesla itself is limited by its own battery production capacity. It will take them years to catch up on that front.

> It will take them years to catch up on that front

Not really. They'll just buy batteries from battery makers like CATL, LG, SK Innovations, Panasonic, etc. as well as pursue partnerships with companies like Northvolt:

https://www.france24.com/en/20190502-asia-charge-electric-ca...

This was my thought as well. Regarding modularity, batteries seem to be the easiest to deal with. I was always impressed with Tesla’s idea of laptop batteries, it essentially has not changed much. Lots of little batteries.

Serious question: Does Tesla actually have that capacity, though? My understanding (which may be wrong) is that Tesla batteries are being produced by Panasonic. The Toyota/Mazda/etc joint venture has revealed that they are going with Panasonic as well. Meanwhile the Panasonic/Tesla battery factory in South Korea has been shelved. I'm actually more than a bit curious if this will cause problems for Tesla in the near future.

BTW, in case it's not obvious, I'm not that well versed in this, so nobody should read too much into my comments. I'm really just soliciting opinions from people who know more than me.

EV companies are hesitant to invest into battery cell manufacturers because if they don't get an exclusive deal then they end up funding their competitors. Tesla probably solves this dilemma by leasing floor space to Panasonic inside the Gigafactories. Tesla will always be the highest paying customer because they don't have to pay shipping costs.

Panasonic was cancelling planned production increases not so long ago, have you got a link?

http://thestoreyteller.online/2019/04/25/tesla-and-panasonic...

No kidding. I want to replace my aging 325i with an all electric 325e and there seems to be nothing on the horizon. I truly enjoy driving BMWs and would like to stay in the fold, but my next car will be electric.

I’m not sure that is the case, BMW have had eight consecutive years of growth. If they are suffering at all at the moment it is probably down to weak demand in China as much as anything.

https://www.best-selling-cars.com/brands/2018-global-bmw-min...

If it was anything imminent I think we would have known by now. If they do have a plan to reveal slmething 2-3 years from now it is already way too late.

Why is that too late, I am curious if you have any source or data for that?

Reply on news.ycombinator.com