Vendor Watch Out Tesla, There’s a Tough Road Ahead in 2018

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is a sponsored post from Autozin, an online marketplace for cars.

As was evident on the December 2017 U.S. electric car sales reports, Tesla may face an intense rivalry this year. Despite the fact that Tesla has been a sensation in the automotive industry with its electric luxury sedan, failing to achieve the planned production rate has become a huge setback for the new Model 3. Consequently, Tesla’s strong fan base could be seen shifting towards its rivals, ultimately letting them achieve quite good sales numbers in the market.

Still, Tesla’s Model 3 has many admirers, so Autozin.com would like to offer some analysis of Tesla’s Model 3.

Price and Availability:

The Model 3 has been considered one of the the most affordable electric cars with a price starting at $35,000. “You will not be able to buy a better car for $35,000, even without any options,” is what Tesla CEO Elon Musk says. UK will have to wait, as the price for Model 3 is still not announced.

Both U.S. and UK customers can also factor in EV grants that will bring down the price.

Specs:



The Model 3, despite being less expensive, offers a range of 220 miles. On top of that, it takes 5.6 seconds to go 0-60 mph. The standard battery variant of Model 3 has a top speed of 130 mph. On the other hand, the long range battery variant has a little higher top speed of 140 mph.

A front luggage compartment and traditional boot are designed to provide more space than any other gasoline car possessing identical outer measurements.



Interior:

Tesla has also successfully made the interiors of the Models 3 promising. Here is a quick look on the interior features of Tesla Model 3.



Instead of an instrument cluster, the car contains a large 15-inches touchscreen display located in the middle where the driver can see all necessary readouts.

Tesla has also embedded the self-driving Autopilot hardware functionality for the Model 3.



Neck and Neck Competition in 2018

Success doesn’t come without hurdles, such is the case with Tesla’s Models 3. Although Tesla has been able to gain sound popularity, slow Model 3 production has frustrated eager EV buyers. For this reason, Tesla will face greater competition in 2018.

Tesla Model 3 vs. Chevrolet Bolt

Tesla Model S vs. Fisker eMotion

The Tesla Model S may also get tough competition from Fisker. Fisker’s new EMotion sedan boasts 400 miles of battery range and stylish gullwing-style doors, features that may attract would-be Model S buyers. The EMotion is available for order, but won’t go into production until 2019. That may be soon enough for EV shoppers to wait.

It’s undeniable that Tesla will soon face tough competition from other EV models like the Chevy Bolt and Fisker EMotion. Nevertheless, Tesla’s strong fan base will help the company continue to grow.

 

[JohnSnowNW]

No people buy a car because they need to get to work and their kids to school. Again, the vast majority of people will never need a supercharge network. Last I read something like 10% of miles driven in Tesla were Supercharge miles, so again, the vast majority of people have no need for a nation wide network.

Only requiring 10% SC usage was the difference between us buying a Tesla and not, and we're not in the minority. People will absolutely take a nationwide charing network into consideration when purchasing a BEV, even if they only require it twice a year.

Tesla isn't building out a network for no reason, VW isn't required to build out a network for no reason, and other German automakers aren't building out the network in Europe and the US for no reason.

 

[Evoforce]

The vast majority of people don't need a national super charger network so it become irrelevant for over 80-95% of drivers. Over 90% of people drive less than 100miles a day.

What people need and what people want are two different things. Technically, most of us don't drive more than 30-50 miles a day, yet most of us want a battery range better than 200 miles.

The National charging network makes a big difference to most people. City to city travel and and large city travel need to have a much better Quick/Fast Charging network. People are used to having fuel stations readily available wherever they are. Driving a 60 mile Leaf compared to driving a 200-300 mile Tesla is vastly different and a lot of that has to do with working Superchargers that are proliferating.

Bolt is more restricted even with a 238 mile battery because of the lack of Fast/Quick charging stations. You can get an adapter for a Bolt that will allow you charge at L2 Tesla Destination Chargers which does help on drives longer than 200 miles but is still far slower and less convenient compared to Supercharging.

The cost to use, and lack of maintenance on, and the number of Quick/Fast Charge stations is abysmal. Tesla, on the other hand, is addressing all of that with Supercharging stations.

 

[JayyyDeee]

Are you joking ?
Fisker ? - it's the greatest vaporware, borderline scam ever. They claim to have some new, unproven battery technology that nobody else has, and always lots of hype. The only thing they actually manage to achieve in the past years are those selv-burning cars that went up in smoke randomly, nothing but bragging and big words since then.
you cannot compare any existing product to those claims/lies.

Im pretty sure in 2 years the Model S will have 400 miles range and when the made their statement about charging they never said from zero to full it just said something like charge in 5 mintues

 

[thegruf]

the competition is coming ... forget Fistker ... Jaguar is probably first albeit low volumes but there are well advanced plans behind the initial model, but Audi and MB then BMW in a year or two's time. US and even China manufacturers not far behind.

The biggest factor for Tesla will be; will buyers hold off Tesla once they start seeing the big players actually starting to deliver cars.

The unwritten part of the story though is that I think Tesla have worked out how to make a profit from BEVs and have the advantage of no comparable ICE models, whereas the rest will be selling at a loss, and be compelled to do so in their efforts to damage Tesla and ultimately compete with each other, but for how long? This will be what will lead to failures and quite probably some spectacular ones.

Battery supply though will govern mostly how the market evolves, and China are going to make it tough for everyone else as they will control battery supply and will promote their internal market ahead of ROW.

Look ahead to the point where China will dictate to the rest of the world from a position of relative environmental sanctity. This is a major decadal geo-political power play by the Chinese whilst the west remains focussed on short sighted often petty agendas. Think this is wrong - well consider just one fact:
Shenzen has ~16,000 BEV buses running already, that's 100% of them. A city in the western hemisphere able to claim anything even approaching that?

Even considering all the above I remain very much of the opinion that Tesla will not only succeed, but will succeed big, and I wish them well.
Tesla are much more than the cars, they are a solidly thought through supply chain, manufacturer, and ownership ecosystem that is extremely difficult to emulate.

 

[Electroman]

Over 90% of people drive less than 100miles a day.

Ya right.. thats why everyone is flocking to Nissan dealerships across to grab a Leaf...

 

[LCR1]

Ya'll are funny.

 

[S'toon]

Yipes! Watch out Tesla! Move over Tesla!

 

[Ande]

No people buy a car because they need to get to work and their kids to school. Again, the vast majority of people will never need a supercharge network. Last I read something like 10% of miles driven in Tesla were Supercharge miles, so again, the vast majority of people have no need for a nation wide network.

Even those who seldom need longer range, want the option to do a longer trip now-and-then without staying overnight at destination, or along the road,just to charge the car.

This was the biggest argument against EV in the pre-Tesla-era in Norway. few wanted a vehicle they could not rely on when they needed to drive a longer trip.

My closest Superchargers are 150km(north) and 160km(south) from my home/hometown. I used each of them only a few time this year. - but I would not have BEV if I they did not exist, as it would limit my option to get "anywhere" .

So Audi and other wannabe-big manufacturers try to get into the Norwegian market, but they dont have big advantage Tesla has, nowhere near....

 

[Electroman]

Over 90% of people drive less than 100miles a day.

Right, and that 100 miles becomes 60 miles in a cold windy day, which means the radius they can venture out is 30 miles. If you add 10 miles buffer for safety and peace of mind, then it is only 25 miles radius.

I have heard this erroneous argument that a 100 mile range car is sufficient so many times, from so many people including from EV advocate Ms. Sexton. In fact it is that soundbite from so many people led many manufacturers to not even attempt anything more than 100 for so many years, until a guy name Elon showed up on the scene

 

[IV Leaguer]

One shouldn't forget the vast infrastructure that the ICE industry already has in place. As the EV revolution evolves, all the dealerships, gas stations, repair shops, auto parts stores, etc. will retool to adapt. Installing the necessary hardware to accommodate EV's can be greatly facilitated by the utilization of land, personnel, etc. already in place. Propriety superchargers or standardized ones can be installed in many of these facilities. Tesla has a big head start but the ICE industry will strive to survive. I believe Musk welcomes this competition.

 

[Brando]

There is no competition for Tesla in 2018, may be in late 2019....

I thought there was 80-100 million world wide Tesla competitor cars built EACH year!
What difference will another 1% make? I guess we won't have a million EVs to compete for our dollars this next year 2018. 2020 if we include China?

How about a million EV competitors just in the US (~5% US market) in 2021? wouldn't that be great.
Maybe Fisker or Lutz will offer something by then - coffee thru the nose (don't plan on it).

 

[Brando]

One last FACT (sic) about competition. We all have seen that just as soon as any car had competition that car company went broke or stopped making that model. right? seriously, no comments needed/expected

 

[wschwisow]

Are you joking ?
Fisker ? - it's the greatest vaporware, borderline scam ever. They claim to have some new, unproven battery technology that nobody else has, and always lots of hype. The only thing they actually manage to achieve in the past years are those selv-burning cars that went up in smoke randomly, nothing but bragging and big words since then.
you cannot compare any existing product to those claims/lies.

 

[wschwisow]

nailed it...

 

[Brando]

Not actually a direct competitor - but surely one of the "TESLA Mission Accomplished" type cars to change the world.
From Sweden - seems to continue making fine progress - worth a review of their web-site. Prototype building happening In England.

Uniti - An electric car to redefine urban mobility

Reserve your Uniti One
Pre-order your Uniti One today with a 100% refundable deposit of 149€. Your reservation secures your place to be among the first to own a Uniti and offers membership in our global community of Uniti enthusiasts. Membership benefits include admission to limited test drive events, access to exclusive online content and other members-only perks.