With GM and Jaguar/Land Rover recently announcing they would convert their offerings to electrified vehicles and Ford announcing they would only continue poisoning people outside of Europe, who should be the next manufacturer to go all in on electrification? My vote is for Subaru. I like their cars but they have sad engines with even worse transmissions - perfect opportunity to switch to all EVs.
Subaru and Mazda are depending on Toyota to engineer their PHEV and BEV powertrains. They have zero inside technical knowledge of EVs. IMO they will be absorbed by Toyota before they go all electric. My guess is the Koreans are next. S Korean government is making a big push out of ICEv with big subsidies for BEVs and to a lesser extent FCEV. Plus Hyundai Chaebol has a deep relationship with Korean battery cell manufactures.
I did think of that and also hoping Toyota divests itself from Subaru. They are an albatross. (Tesla should buy out Toyota and provide engineering to Subaru ). I am surprised Hyundai/Kia hasn't already made the announcement. The new Ioniq 5 looks very promising.
Who should be the next to ANNOUNCE? Who cares... has something changed that we actually believe these announcements now?
1)The regulatory environment keeps changing in favor of BEVs. 2) Tesla is growing automotive market share over 50% per year, taking market share from the legacy automakers every year. 3) The Chinese and American startups look to accelerate the trend.
Unfortunately, it is not the same as the regulatory environment changing against ICE vehicles. A tax on the combustion engine size? A tax on CO2 emissions? Then in 11 years Tesla will be the only brand left. So far, they are successful mainly in making the pockets of naive investors lighter.
Fortunately, it is a regulatory environment changing against ICE vehicles. You can tell when the pigs are squealing. You can see when they are eliminating V12,V8, and large Twin Turbo V6s from the product roadmap. Even if it is not a 1000% tax on ICEv as some would like. Psss, America isn't the only market for ICEv on the planet. Never said Tesla's growth would remain 50% plus forever. Pss, America isn't the only market on the planet. So far, this is just the beginning in the USA. Not the end. Venrock, Softbank, Jeff Bezos, Saudi PiF et al are not complete morons. Risk is high. But so is reward. You want almost zero risk then invest in Treasury Bills.
This is GM's Joint Venture with LG Energy Solutions(formerly LG Chem) It will produce 30 GWh of Ultium EV battery cells. It has an option to double land purchase and double size of factory. This isn't being paid for with profits from Chevy Bolt. or Volt. Or Cadillac ELR. It is being paid for with Silverado,Escalade,Tahoe,and Suburban profits. That is, effectively, a tax on ICEv to subsidize BEVs. Every year CARB makes it tougher on ICEv. Every few years a new US State joins CARB. Whenever a Democrat gets elected to the White House it makes CAFE tougher on ICEv. Don't get me started on EU limit of 95 grams of CO2 per KM and progressive fines for violating fleet averages. And the Chinese recently adopted a law based on CARB.
Is it really zero for both of them? EVs – Chademo Association points to the Subaru | Stella. I found these on that JDM-only vehicle: FHI Introduces Subaru STELLA EV Concept Review 2009 Subaru Stella Plug-In EV, World's First Production EV For Sale By Major Automaker Who Killed the Electric Car? Subaru To Slay Plug-In Stella EV There was Mazda | Demio and is the MAZDA: MAZDA MX-30 | MAZDA FIRST ALL-ELECTRIC VEHICLE UNVEILED AT 2019 TOKYO MOTOR SHOW. Seems like it's been on sale in Europe for a little while.
The battery pack, BMS etc was developed by EV Common Architecture Spirit Co Ltd, in which Toyota owns 90% and Mazda owns 5%. Toyota to form electric car technology venture with Mazda
Toyota and Subaru Agree to Jointly Develop BEV-dedicated Platform and BEV SUV | Corporate | Global Newsroom | Toyota Motor Corporation Official Global Website Above Toyota press release states Toyota and Subaru will jointly develop EV platforms for C segment. Toyota will supply vehicle electrification technologies and Subaru all wheel drive technologies.
Thank you. TIL about "EV Common Architecture Spirit". Not clear to how much of the MX-30 is based upon the work of the above. I found Mazda, Denso, and Toyota Sign Joint Technology Development Contract for Electric Vehicles on this. Apparently, more players joined this group: Suzuki, Subaru, Hino & Daihatsu join Japanese alliance - electrive.com. Mazda plans to launch an EV in 2020, plug-in hybrid by 2022 says As for Subaru, well, the Stella BEV debuted in 2009 which is well before this Toyota Subaru agreement. Perhaps Subaru's inside technical knowledge of EVs was pretty low prior to this tie-up but probably not 0.
What Subaru did in 2009 is pretty much irrelevant to today. If Subaru's EV technology knowledge is not 0 it is approaching 0 and functionally zero. The chances of Mazda, with a tiny R&D budget, co-developing EV tech with Toyota and other Japanese partners where they are a very junior partner then funding an entirely different EV powertrain is approaching ZERO.
What the ..? What AWD technology Subaru can provide for an EV? ... unless they are trying to fit in an electric motor into the engine compartment of an existing Subaru vehicle.... which would be an abomination of the EV technology.