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Comment by iMarv | Hacker News Reader

And that is the great thing about it. It is just another car, but runs on electricity. I really do not dig the futurism other car companies are trying to sell with their EVs. Why does everything need to look like some weird futuristic fantasy instead of just building a "normal" looking car with a battery in the floor?

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Have you seen the Porsche Taycan? It's like a Panamera fucked a LC500. It doesn't scream "electric".

Or the Audi E-Tron. It's... an Audi SUV. Or the Jaguar I-Pace. Or the Hyundai/Kia electrics. Or the Clarity EV.

There's a lot going on in the space, but it's still frustrating when fans get such large blind spots for cars not made by their favorite manufacturer. It's a tale as old as time, though.

Given the UK's commitment to ban the sale of new fossil fuel cars, and the likelihood of the EU following suit, I think Tesla's lunch is about to be eaten.

Why do I think this? Well, up until now none of the European car manufacturers have made any real efforts to design, build and market a corporate road warrior car (think Ford Mondeo, Vauxhall/Opel/GM Vectra, BMW 3 series etc). The kinda thing that batters up and down the M1, M4, M6 etc with a member off staff, a laptop and their suitcase.

I reckon their R&D depts have been quietly busy on the problem of extended battery life etc, but for now they're milking the ICE for all they can get. It takes on average 6-10 years to bring a new car to market, when properly focused. I reckon the big European names are now very focused. It's tick-tock time for Tesla.

I mean we've already seen a big shift in the EU market, given the drive to decrease the fleet average to 95g CO2/km. This is why the VW Group is now launching EVs on a near monthly basis, why Mercedes-Benz has launched multiple EVs in the past year, why PSA has, etc.

If they want to hit their goals, and avoid fines in the EU market, they need to drastically reduce the CO2 emissions of the cars they're selling. And realistically to meet those targets they need to start shipping EVs is significant quantity, which means they can't be quirky different vehicles, they need to be mass-market ones.

I think you’re right but for the opposite reason.

Tesla have shown very little inclination to design cars suitable for European roads (e.g. small-medium sized hatchbacks). B-segment car buyers in Europe will opt for an ID3.

For motorway mile-munchers Tesla still have the advantage of their super-charging network to set them apart.

Peugeot EVs have no apparent difference with their internal combustion engine counterpart, and I see this becoming the norm once the initial craze fades away

They have done, but with not so great success (see: VW e-golf) - those cars just aren't designed for it.

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