Atieva EV, yet another promising EV from the Bay Area

[gene]

I am surprised, but I can not find a thread on the Atieva. So, let's start one now!

Chinese giant BAIC to make Tesla rival with electric car start-up Atieva | Autocar

 

[tftf]

They are certainly taking their time, they are around since 2007. Still no details on first deliveries (Atieva used to be about battery tech, now apparently about making entire EVs):

Can Stealthy Atieva Pivot From Battery Builder to EV Automaker? | Greentech Media

They have a number of open jobs on their website which indicates their current direction:

Atieva

https://transportevolved.com/2015/0...utionise-electric-cars-from-teslas-back-yard/

 

[tftf]

Atieva now looks more and more like a front company for Chinese giant BAIC...

BAIC backs Bay Area EV startup Atieva to challenge Tesla


Which results in at least five Chinese-backed EV/PHEV projects or car companies with international ambitions:

- Atieva
- BYD
- Faraday Future
- Karma Automotive (formerly Fisker)
- NextEV

 

[Takumi]

Tesla Motors Club - Enthusiasts & Owners Forum

2-5-2015
Most underestimated threat to Tesla?

5-29-2009
Atieva Inc

...to start

 

[SwedishAdvocate]

Atieva now looks more and more like a front company for Chinese giant BAIC...

BAIC backs Bay Area EV startup Atieva to challenge Tesla


Which results in at least five Chinese-backed EV/PHEV projects or car companies with international ambitions:

- Atieva
- BYD
- Faraday Future
- Karma Automotive (formerly Fisker)
- NextEV

Make that six:

- Atieva
- BYD
- Faraday Future
- Karma Automotive (formerly Fisker)
- NextEV
- NEVS (formerly SAAB :crying

 

[gene]

Every time is see an article titled "to challenge Tesla", I always think of the new coming challenger to really be demonstrating to the public that EV is the future. Basically an endorsement of Telsa's achievements.

 

[tftf]

Every time is see an article titled "to challenge Tesla", I always think of the new coming challenger to really be demonstrating to the public that EV is the future. Basically an endorsement of Telsa's achievements.

BYD is already selling more (PH)EV cars globally than Tesla in 2015 (rather amazing, since BYD has a clear focus on China for passenger cars for now!).

BYD also has a profitable second global EV business in buses/specialized vehicles.

The move to more (PH)EVs in China is already happening without Tesla. BYD is currently selling more PHEVs in one month than Tesla is selling EVs all year in China: EV Sales: China

And neither the BYD Qin nor the BYD Tang are exactly "cheap" vehicles.

Tesla is nowhere without a local partner/manufacturing site - and the Chinese government heavily favors domestic car and EV companies.

Tesla is years behind in China - and that gap will not close until the company has local manufacturing JVs and local battery sourcing in place (I highly doubt shipping cells from Nevada ever makes them competitive in China).

 

[tftf]

Make that six:

- Atieva
- BYD
- Faraday Future
- Karma Automotive (formerly Fisker)
- NextEV
- NEVS (formerly SAAB :crying

Or seven if you include Volvo Cars (now of course Geely).

There is no shortage of (PH)EV entrants with deep pockets from Asia/China coming to market until 2020, or already on the market with (PH)EVs.

PS: But it takes huge amounts of money for all these new entrants. Geely spent almost $2 billion to buy Volvo and then invested/is investing another $10-11 billion to refresh the entire Volvo line-up until 2020:

Ford closes deal with Chinas Geely to sell Volvo - MarketWatch

The $11 billion gamble | The Economist

 

[wdolson]

BYD is already selling more (PH)EV cars globally than Tesla in 2015 (rather amazing, since BYD has a clear focus on China for passenger cars for now!).

BYD also has a profitable second global EV business in buses/specialized vehicles.

The move to more (PH)EVs in China is already happening without Tesla. BYD is currently selling more PHEVs in one month than Tesla is selling EVs all year in China: EV Sales: China

And neither the BYD Qin nor the BYD Tang are exactly "cheap" vehicles.

Tesla is nowhere without a local partner/manufacturing site - and the Chinese government heavily favors domestic car and EV companies.

Tesla is years behind in China - and that gap will not close until the company has local manufacturing JVs and local battery sourcing in place (I highly doubt shipping cells from Nevada ever makes them competitive in China).

The Tang and Qin are PHEV with ranges on battery of around 50 miles. In fact Tesla is way ahead of everyone, even in China in long range (>200 mile) battery only EVs because they are still the only car in the world in that market. Saying anyone selling a different type of vehicle is beating Tesla in their niche is like saying Toyota is burying Ford in the full sized pickup market with the Toyota Corolla because the Corolla is the world's best selling passenger vehicle and the Ford F-150 only sells half what the Corolla sells. The only pure electric BYD currently makes is the e5 with a range around 115 miles and they have only sold around 300 of them so far as well as the fact it's quite small and more of a competitor to the Nissan Leaf than the Model S.

China is a tough market for a non-Chinese company to break into. This is a major reason Tesla has announced they will be producing Model 3s in China for the Chinese market, though that will likely be the 2nd or 3rd manufacturing plant, not the first.

 

[tftf]

The Tang and Qin are PHEV with ranges on battery of around 50 miles. In fact Tesla is way ahead of everyone, even in China in long range (>200 mile) battery only EVs because they are still the only car in the world in that market. (...)
China is a tough market for a non-Chinese company to break into. This is a major reason Tesla has announced they will be producing Model 3s in China for the Chinese market, though that will likely be the 2nd or 3rd manufacturing plant, not the first.

Every PHEV or ICE car still competes with an EV for the same consumers, especially if it's the same vehicle type.

More importantly, all seven car companies listed above (maybe with the exception of Karma and a weak NEVS that still has to prove it actually has the funds from new investors) will offer long-range EVs before 2020, see their various announcements.

And these seven companies are of course just the new Chinese (or Chinese-backed) efforts/entrants with international ambitions.

Tesla has a niche in long-range EVs today, but it won't have one by 2020 - and that is in all price segments as battery prices come down.

Tesla being the only company that offers EVs in this price range today is simply a business decision, not a unique technology advantage.

Atieva has either squandered a lot of time since late 2007 (I doubt it, they have over 100 patents in the battery and BMS space) or they in particular will have competitive technology.

 

[tftf]

Atieva now looks more and more like a front company for Chinese giant BAIC...

BAIC backs Bay Area EV startup Atieva to challenge Tesla

Which results in at least five Chinese-backed EV/PHEV projects or car companies with international ambitions:

- Atieva
- BYD
- Faraday Future
- Karma Automotive (formerly Fisker)
- NextEV

LeEco apparently took over the Atieva stake from BAIC earlier this year and could merge it (or at least parts of it) with FF...

Battle of the electric car startups: will Faraday Future merge with Atieva?

The new parent of course also has an alliance with Aston Martin for a luxury BEV...

Aston Martin and LeEco partner to co-develop electric vehicle

 

[Takumi]

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10155110153116091