VW on cusp of changing gears

[3Victoria]

VW To Unleash 20 EVs By 2020 As Dieselgate Turns Into Tesla's Tarbaby

This article says that VW gathered its workers to announce a push to EV. Dieselgate has hit hard, diesels are starting to be banned from EU cities when polution is high which is common occurrence.

The other EU auto companies also look like they are climbing aboard.

The article keeps quoting poor demand for EVs ... there will demand. Things are achanging.

 

[Ormond]

How Did G.M. Create Tesla’s Dream Car First?

I hope Tesla can keep quality up and meet demand.

 

[3Victoria]

Thr problem with GM is that I do not think they understand yet. The Bolt very much looks like a compliance car. GM might be in a good position to ramp up but the price had better come down and battery supply will probably be problem.

 

[dauger]

The "telephone game"-like mistake in Schmitt's article is: VW has a very loose definition of EVs, wherein a PHEV and 100-mile range all-electric cars are all various types of EVs. So 19 PHEVs and 1 short-range BEV will count, by VW's reckoning, as "20 EVs", so VW isn't really lying even though none of those holds a candle to long-range BEVs like Tesla's.

Where Schmitt's thinking is "severely misguided, and tantamount to self-delusion" is: What proof shows VW will offer a >200-mile range BEV in substantial numbers (like >2000/yr) by 2020? That'll take a lot of batteries, a fact other commenters on the article point out, to match Tesla's 500,000-1,000,000 per year production rate in 2020. I've gone further in the financial argument I post here:

Tesla Disrupts Different - Market Share

We know VW doesn't have a Gigafactory to build these batteries because they're talking about spending $11 billion building one in a decade.

Talking. In a decade. Like 2026-ish. $11 billion, after spending $18 billion on dieselgate. These facts looks bad for VW, and good for Tesla.

 

[bh1783]

too late! VW is already dead. This is their current offering in their 5th largest market:
Models < Volkswagen Korea

90% drop in VW sales in Korea.
Volkswagen, Audi car sales plunge in Korea in August following sale ban - Pulse by Maeil Business News Korea
Company is banned from selling diesels.

 

[flankspeed8]

This will be the only thing that will save them IMO. My last two cars before the Volt were VW's and an Audi....Never again...that is unless they build a competitive EV. Sadly the bar for competitive EV is pretty low right now and they cant even do that.