Could Model 3 be too late?

[roblab]

The only manufacturer that might be able to compete with TM would be Nissan. They are serious with a BEV and are exploring longer range and high volume pack production with one of the battery supplier leaders. Unfortunately the are not really competition like the Germans could have been.

As I posted in the Nissan Leaf portion of this forum, Nissan has come out to say that they are ONLY increasing the range of the NEW Leaf 25%. So it will only have a range of a little over 100 real miles. This is not being serious.

And Nissan has three of their own battery factories, and are not "able" to get enough raw materials for them. You gotta plan farther than that if you are "serious".

I am not happy with Nissan and their decision. I was hoping for better than that.

 

[Red Sage]

EVNow: Wait... What?!? How much they are spending? Oh, well... OK.

Nissan got a nearly $3,000,000,000 (three BILLION, with a 'B') guaranteed loan from the US government and brought out the LEAF. They then kindly asked if some of their 'independent franchised dealerships' in North America would pretty please, with sugar on top, have the good sense to install a charging station or two. Some of those don't work. Some of them are only open during business hours. Some of them can only be used by patrons who bought a LEAF from the very same dealer. Joy.

Tesla Motors got less than $500,000,000 (ie, that means 'that is', less than 1/6th as much as Nissan) on the same program and developed the Model S. Then they started the Supercharger program. Announced it was 'Free for LIFE!' And paid off the loan less than a year after the first deliveries of Model S -- nine years early. Then kept expanding the Supercharger network -- worldwide.

Did I mention the Model S outsold the LEAF in Q1 2015?

As for the Prius... Toyota marketed it as an 'electric car' and many people unfortunately believe it is powered by the solar panels that appear on some models.

 

[MassModel3]

As for the Prius... Toyota marketed it as an 'electric car' and many people unfortunately believe it is powered by the solar panels that appear on some models.

I thought you were joking when I first read that statement! But no...

Gee, it can power a fan in the cabin. That's about useless. Seems to me that's more of a sales gimmick than anything else.

 

[Matias]

Chevy Bolt allready on track

2017 Chevy Bolt charged up for production

 

[EVNow]

As I posted in the Nissan Leaf portion of this forum, Nissan has come out to say that they are ONLY increasing the range of the NEW Leaf 25%. So it will only have a range of a little over 100 real miles. This is not being serious.

First Nissan has not come out and said anything. Leaks say MY16 will have a 30 kWh battery.

Second, Gen 2 Leaf is coming as MY17.

- - - Updated - - -

Nissan got a nearly $3,000,000,000 (three BILLION, with a 'B') guaranteed loan from the US government and brought out the LEAF.

Nissan's Leaf effort predates the loan - which, BTW, they didn't draw in full. They took a smaller amount. Most of Nissan's Leaf investment is not in the US.

BTW, how much did Ford take and what have they done ?

 

[Red Sage]

Make that 'loan guarantee'... Ford's take was twice that of Nissan. Right around 5.9 BILLION bucks. They gave us the plugin Energi hybrids and the Focus Electric. Yay. ~*snore*~

 

[Asymmetry]

Imagine that sooner or later BMW would announce i5 or 3 series electric.....
Benz C class electric drive ....
Audi , Porsche 's full electric model also around corner ....

Would you still take Model 3 instead of the German electric cars?

BMW are horrendous in terms of reliability, just junk. Would not touch them, we had a 2006 6 series, it was fragile and expensive to keep on the road. Benz the same.

rather a car build from the ground up as a EV than some half arsed EV retrofit.

 

[igotzzoom]

Make that 'loan guarantee'... Ford's take was twice that of Nissan. Right around 5.9 BILLION bucks. They gave us the plugin Energi hybrids and the Focus Electric. Yay. ~*snore*~

Good point. I'm as big of a fan of Ford as anyone, an I'm glad they didn't take a bailout. BUT...this fact is often overlooked when Tesla is lumped together with Solyndra, GM, Fisker, etc. 6-7 years ago, EVERYONE had their hand out for Uncle Sam's green money.

 

[30seconds]

My take

Auto Industry: We face each other as God intended. Sportsmanlike. No tricks, no weapons, skill against skill alone.
Elon: You mean, you’ll put down your rock and I’ll put down my sword, and we’ll try and kill each other like civilized people?
Auto Industry: I could kill you now.
Elon: Frankly, I think the odds are slightly in your favor at hand fighting.
Auto Industry: It’s not my fault being the biggest and the strongest. I don’t even exercise.

Oh here's the reference (so worth watching)

The Princess Bride (4/12) Movie CLIP - Dream of Large Women (1987) HD - YouTube

 

[art]

Tesla will not be late on model 3. We will see it next year, and production will start in 2017. Green car reports.

 

[EchoDelta]

Also, do you mean the B class electric drive? It has a Tesla drivetrain. So, it barely fits in the category "competitor".

I have one, it it an upscale Leaf, and a little cousin of a Tesla - I assume mchelen meant a electrified C Class