Battery Electric Vehicle News / Enjoying the Transportation Revolution

JKenH

Demand Surges For More Affordable Tesla Model 3 In China

I wonder what would happen if we had similar price cuts in the UK. I accept that the ID3 and eNiro are in a different segment to the M3 but I suspect that a few of their potential purchasers would be seriously tempted by the M3. On the other side of the coin what effect does the prospect of a future price cut have on demand? China has now seen 2 price cuts and the US one so might we expect one in Europe? Tesla must have to give price cuts quite a bit of thought. Yes it can stimulate short term demand but is it a good long term strategy? 

Would you hold off purchasing a Tesla because you think an M3 price cut might be on its way to help Q4 figures? Would you hold off buying an ID3/eNiro because you think you might get a Tesla for the same money?
https://insideevs.com/news/446863/demand-surges-affordable-tesla-model-3-china/

Edit: before anyone else corrects me I should point out that there was  a €400 cut on the M3 earlier this year - will more follow?

JKenH

Tesla Model Y Glass Roof Blows Off While Driving Just Moments After Delivery

No, I couldn’t see it in the video either. 

It seems it is just a sealant issue so easily fixed but is symptomatic of a lack of real world testing before new models are rushed out to the public. It must save a lot of money doing it this way compared to the legacy manufacturers putting 100,000s of miles on prototypes and then scrapping them. If Tesla can get away with it then is selling a beta product not a better business model than wasting resources on testing and delaying the release? In a rapidly evolving marketplace it actually makes sense to me as long as the business has a customer service department geared to dealing with these problems effectively and efficiently. (Just don’t call it “genius engineering”😉).

https://insideevs.com/news/447279/video-new-tesla-model-y-glass-roof-flies-off/

JKenH

michaels said:

Other imports were 5.8k so the Model 3 must have only just missed out on hitting the top 10 in a registration change month.  I wonder if it might have been the highest grossing vehicle for the month (price x volume)?

Auto Express are also suggesting that Tesla had a good month. 

https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/news/105893/new-car-sales-2020-worst-september-two-decades-despite-plate-change

JKenH

MG charges ahead with best-ever UK sales month

With car sales across the UK down by a third year-on-year, MG is also the only mainstream brand to be forging ahead with growth – its astonishing September result sees the brand’s sales up by 52.1% year-on-year at 14,228 cars, with almost a third of the volume attributed to the zero-emissions MG ZS EV.

https://www.automotiveworld.com/news-releases/mg-charges-ahead-with-best-ever-uk-sales-month/

Solarchaser

I'm not in the game anymore, but when I used to visit various dealerships, you would be surprised at how often things would be wrong with brand new deliveries.
The PDI (pre delivery inspection) would quite often result in a trip to the parts department. 
From silly things like no rubbers on the clutch pedal, gear knob missing, to more concerning things like no bolts in the bumpers.

So one sunroof falling off would not outright concern me.
15 in a month would.

There was a certain small Italian car that was notorious for the back bumper just falling off as you were driving around, that was 10 years ago mind.

But essentially where you add humans in manufacturing, you add errors, everyone makes mistakes.

Martyn1981

Here's a different angle, looking at the taxpayer subsidies that ICEV company cars receive. However, I'm a little confused as the benefits seem to be from reclaiming VAT, and depreciating the asset, which seems ..... OK? I think the idea is that changing the rules to benefit BEV's more (or ICEV's less) would encourage a switch, though the BiK presumably does this now.
So ..... perhaps important and interesting, but if I'm reading it correctly, ICEV's and users are not doing anything wrong, it's just that the rules could be changed to promote BEV's.

European Taxpayers Fork Out €32 Billion A Year To Subsidize Polluting Company Cars

Subsidies for company cars are costing European taxpayers €32 billion every year, a new study shows, and almost all of it is spent on polluting petrol and diesel engines. The 10 largest leasing companies alone — including BMW’s Alphabet and Daimler’s Athlon — cause 8% of EU car CO2 emissions because they are driven over twice as many miles as private cars. Green group Transport & Environment (T&E), which commissioned the study by Dataforce, said governments should end the VAT deductions and write-offs for fossil fuel vehicles and instead guide corporate fleets towards 100% emissions-free vehicles.

JKenH

Germany’s YTD car sales figures show Tesla as the only company that increased sales during 2020. At only 0.55% market share they are, though, still relative minnows. 

It will be interesting to see the sales figures for VW’s ID3 in its home market.

https://www.best-selling-cars.com/germany/2020-q3-germany-best-selling-car-brands-and-models/

JKenH

Meanwhile in France the Renault Zoe moved from 30th place in 2019 (full year) to 9th YTD 2020 with sales of 25980 cars (2.23% market share) while the Tesla M3 is in 60th place with 5025 sales (0.43% market share).

I think what is interesting about both the French and German markets is the dominance of domestic brands which may prove hard to break. As long as the French and Germans (and probably the Italians) make EVs for the most popular sectors they are likely to outsell imports in their own countries, irrespective of how good the competition is. Once the American legacy manufacturers start building EVs in quantities they will dominate their own markets. We can’t assume that because Tesla make the most efficient and best value cars they will get their rightful share on merit. 

https://www.best-selling-cars.com/france/2020-q3-france-best-selling-car-brands-and-models/

Martyn1981

More German news, and I know I go on about it every month, but the big boys (Germany, France and the UK (Italy is lagging a bit)) are now consistently entering disruption territory for BEV's (5% to 8%+), so now it's 'just' down to supply. So 2020 may be the year where the serious fun began. [Note I was going to say supply & price, but I think prices will drop nicely as supply ramps up.]

Fossils Panic! September In Germany Hits Record 15.6% EV Market Share

The combined plugin electric vehicle result in September was contributed fairly evenly by full battery electrics (BEVs) at 8.0% share and plugin hybrids (PHEVs) at 7.6%.  Year to date cumulative contribution stands at 4.8% BEV and 5.2% PHEV.

JKenH

Continuing the same theme as in my posts on the German and French markets on obstacles to Tesla in some markets, in Japan the market is totally dominated by home manufacturers. The top ten manufacturers are all Japanese!

https://www.best-selling-cars.com/japan/2020-q3-japan-best-selling-car-brands-models-and-kei-minicars/

Tesla’s market penetration is poor compared to other countries. Elon Musk was very optimistic when Tesla first launched in Japan but it seems the Tesla business model just doesn’t fit in with the culture there and Nissan Leafs outsell Tesla’s by more than ten to one. 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/peterlyon/2020/07/29/tesla-might-be-worlds-most-valuable-automaker-but-japan-didnt-get-memo/

I accept that Tesla have a significant technological advantage at the moment but manufacturing and sales are two different things and Tesla’s technological advantage may not be enough to maintain their sales advantage in Europe and the US once the home manufacturers start turning out a full range of EVs. They may never get a major foothold in Japan. China, on the other hand, traditionally looks outside its borders for luxury brands and I do see Tesla faring better there and that is, of course, the biggest market.