Off topic, but I've always been able to listen to music from my iPhone in my Model S, whether the phone is plugged in or not.
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FlatSix911
Porsche 918 Hybrid
Gotta' admit that I like this ... Mercedes to unveil its first dedicated all-electric vehicle at the Paris Motor Show
ZachShahan
Active Member
I agree essentially 100%. But 4:1 is being nice and giving the Bolt quite a lot of your optimism.
"their pride will prevent them from doing so."
-- It is very sad, especially because of 1) how ridiculous it is, and 2) what is at stake, but I completely agree. There's no good reason why these automakers wouldn't have a deal lined up with Tesla, imho. Sure, they could try to do it themselves or go through a consortium, but that will only put them further behind, to the point where bankruptcy is a legitimate likelihood. They need Tesla's help here, but they have too much pride to accept it. And they could also greatly benefit from the good press, which they are all so envious of Tesla consistently getting for free, but too bitter to think about it.
"Sad pride" is really the best phrase I can think of for the situation.
ZachShahan
Active Member
You don't think perhaps they are planning a network but they are in super ultra stealth mode and being completely silent about it? Because look at the situation if you are correct, and they are not planning to build their own network AND like you theorize, they are not planning to use Tesla's network. The very obvious question becomes - how will they sell EV's in the Model S price range without a charging network that is equivalent to the Superchargers in convenience? Are you suggesting they are either stupid enough to think that a rapid charge network doesn't have a significant impact on sales or they actually do not care whether their very expensive high end EV's will sell in large numbers?
I know I, for one, will not dump $80K on an electric Audi if I have to resort to a patchwork of of semi-rapid chargers using the Plugshare app to find them as I try to drive long distances.Without the Supercharger network I would not have purchased a Tesla. Maybe that isn't important to most people, but it certainly is to me.
I focused on these issues in a long article I wrote yesterday, so am not going to do so at length here (here's the article: What’s Actually New In The Electric Car World? ), but key points:
1) No, these automakers have so much invested in ICE cars that they want the transition to EVs to happen slowly. They do what they can to slow it down without losing market share in the process, and they certainly don't want to think what they can do to make the transition happen faster than Tesla wants it to!
2) They've been working on putting some standards in place, but there is absolutely no sign, not a peep, that they have vast networks planned. BMW tried "quickly" rolling out "notable" expansions of a DC "fast charging" network in the US and found it it takes much longer than they expected.
ZachShahan
Active Member
Yes, and they found out that it takes a lot more time than they realized it would (approx twice as much, iirc). And it's "fast charging," not "super-fast charging," which means driving for 1–2 hours and then charging for 1 hr ... if the stations are located in just the right spots and not out of order. I think you know what I'm saying...
Gizmotoy
Active Member
You can, but it uses the compressed Bluetooth connection, which kind of sucks if you have high-quality audio files. And you only get skip forward/back/pause for controls, which is also pretty lacking. And if you have several phones linked to the car, whichever one the car sees first connects, so there's unpredictability about which of the phones got control of the audio.
There's a lot of advantages to a wired connection, which, presumably, is why everyone else supports it.
That looks fantastic. I like it a lot on a cosmetic level. Wonder how it will drive, though. Wasn't very impressed with the B-Class.
Edit: Hmm. Some editorial license taken with those pictures. Buried in the article that says it's the Mercedes GLC Coupe, an ICE, that they think the electric might resemble. But it's not a sedan/coupe like those pictures, it's an SUV. So, in other words, it won't look like that at all.
freeewilly
Member
What you're looking at is a MB GLE Coupe, the front looks nice, interior touch is superior than Tesla, but the rear is UGLY. The picture doesn't do justice, it's uglier than the picture.
Attachments
FlatSix911
Porsche 918 Hybrid
That looks fantastic. I like it a lot on a cosmetic level. Wonder how it will drive, though. Wasn't very impressed with the B-Class.
Edit: Hmm. Some editorial license taken with those pictures. Buried in the article that says it's the Mercedes GLC Coupe, an ICE, that they think the electric might resemble. But it's not a sedan/coupe like those pictures, it's an SUV. So, in other words, it won't look like that at all.
Unfortunately another tease from MB.
The rear 3/4 view reminds me of ... a Model X
STbreaker
Member
Looks pretty similar to an X6, which I also think is hideous in the rear. Honda is known as a really conservative company, but they were actually all over this trend with the ZDX - maybe a few years too early for them unfortunately.
Anyway, this announcement comes right as I wrote that long post about how if I were them I would stick to perfecting high efficiency hybrids and use the fact that it can run on gas if needed as a way of combating range anxiety and the lack of a supercharger network. If you had this same car as a high efficiency hybrid with an 18 gallon tank, you could potentially be talking about needing gas every 6 weeks (assuming 1K miles of driving per month). Mercedes in particular is doing really well in Formula 1 with their hybrid engine, so you would think they would be breaking their necks to apply that technology in the consumer space. Seems a lot more likely to succeed than trying to slap EV technology on an existing platform - but hey, what do I know...
That photo is not the car that Mercedes says they will show this year. The article says Mercedes will show a "concept" EV, not a production car. And the production car will not be for sale until "2018 or 2019". I am glad that Mercedes appears to have finally acknowledged what has long been obvious, that Tesla is taking significant sales away from them and they need to do something meaningful in the EV space. But 4 years after the Model S went into production, Mercedes remains far, far behind, and they will still be far behind when they actually go into production years from now.
Ciaopec
Active Member
Traditional ICE manufacturers come with too much heritage and too much baggage. Hard to escape the "we've done it this way, with these buttons, an these items in these locations". Look at them trying to find places for their batteries; still using start buttons; etc.
I've found a new home. No more BMW, Mercedes, or Lexus (Ok, I'm keeping my Lexus performance hybrid-is that wrong?). Otherwise, in reference to the first two manufactures, good riddance to your arrogance.
I've found a new home. No more BMW, Mercedes, or Lexus (Ok, I'm keeping my Lexus performance hybrid-is that wrong?). Otherwise, in reference to the first two manufactures, good riddance to your arrogance.
Unless they are truly asleep at the wheel (in a manner of speaking), they will do it. I remember the first few years of production of the Mercedes M-Class - it was lacking even in comparison to the current MS. (I actually saw a guy turn down a car in Germany at his factory delivery - he could not believe Mercedes would sell a car with such a crude interior).
The interior appointments were a lower priority during the early years when still perfecting things like the power train, paint, etc. However, over time, all the things expected of a luxury vehicle were added. When I notice all the little things the MS doesn't have (door pockets, handles over the doors, hook for hanging your jacket, variable speed control fan for back seat HVAC, etc., etc.) I think: we were missing all these things with the M-Class way back when, and over time added them all in. Now the M-Class (rebadged as the GL- line) has all those things, but it did take 10 years to get there. I would hope that Tesla is quicker than that, because it works in internet time - everything accelerated - if real competition does arise, they will recognize that once you have solved the problems of power train and quality, the little nice touches do start to matter.
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