Elon Musk once scoffed at the notion that BYD could compete with his company. Now, the automaker run by billionaire Wang Chuanfu is poised to be the new No. 1 in electric vehicles.
Not surprised in the slightest. All old guard (western +Japan) car manufacturers, Tesla Included, were greedy and delusional enough to think they could push virtually exclusively high-end, premium vehicles as BEVs. The few forays into affordable BEVs from the old guard auto makers were Zoey from Renault, the Leaf from Nissan and a few more but we got literally zero of the most sold body types as BEVs, i.e. hatchbacks, SUVs and station wagons. Instead we got Sedans, a dying breed outside BEVs and CUVs which lack the U part of the name and all at significant price premiums compared to their ICE sisters and cousins. Hell even the relatively cheap stuff like Mazda MX-30 and Peugeot Mokka-E / 2003-e are very premium for those brands.
I wouldn’t consider the Tesla model Y a high end premium vehicle. It was the best selling vehicle in the world earlier this year, in spite of the higher price than gas-powered competitors:
Sure, but at least in Sweden 90% of all Model Ys (and there are a fuck ton of them) on the road are corporation owned cars. The heavy subsidies for BEVs made them very attractive especially since they had (this is changing rapidly right now) a very low rate of depreciation. I’d hazard a guess that this is a common pattern, i.e. cars that are privately used but commercialy owned as well as a lot of subsidies at play.
Prior to the Tesla the most common corporation owned cars in Sweden were XC90s which aren’t exactly cheap either.
Further what do you think I meant with high end premium? I meant expensive and the model Y is very expensive. Are you implying that if there was a sub $15K Dacia Logan MCV it wouldn’t sell better? A car like that with no bells and whistles but a BEV with decent range (say 300 km) would sell like hotcakes given that they’d pay for themselves for a majority of car owners. But instead they focus on stuff that is simply to expensive for the masses.
Is this a US take? Serious question because in Europe, I see primarily SUVs being sold when it comes to EVs. Small and shitty ones yes, but still aiming to resemble at least the SUV look. E.g. VW ID3, ID4; these I see a lot on the streets over here. Big exception seem to be hybrids, they usually are sedans or hatchbacks.
… In what world is an ID3 or 4 an SUV? They’re the aforementioned CUVs I was bitching avout. And further why in the fuck are they so expensive? Where is an electric VW Polo for a pricetag the average family can actually afford? Say €30k ish. Not €45-60k
BYD as an example sell the Dolphin, a hatchback of the body type and size most sold in recent years in Europe, for €30k and a normal sized SUV (Atto 3) for €50k. And I’m very confident that they print money at those prices in Europe, but they can charge that because there is very little competition at anywhere near those price points and also even few actual models that are similar in body size while being BEVs
Not surprised in the slightest. All old guard (western +Japan) car manufacturers, Tesla Included, were greedy and delusional enough to think they could push virtually exclusively high-end, premium vehicles as BEVs. The few forays into affordable BEVs from the old guard auto makers were Zoey from Renault, the Leaf from Nissan and a few more but we got literally zero of the most sold body types as BEVs, i.e. hatchbacks, SUVs and station wagons. Instead we got Sedans, a dying breed outside BEVs and CUVs which lack the U part of the name and all at significant price premiums compared to their ICE sisters and cousins. Hell even the relatively cheap stuff like Mazda MX-30 and Peugeot Mokka-E / 2003-e are very premium for those brands.
The Volkswagen e-Golf was literally just an electric GTI hatchback but they discontinued it…
I wouldn’t consider the Tesla model Y a high end premium vehicle. It was the best selling vehicle in the world earlier this year, in spite of the higher price than gas-powered competitors:
https://www.theverge.com/2023/5/26/23738581/tesla-model-y-ev-record-world-bestselling-car-electric
Sure, but at least in Sweden 90% of all Model Ys (and there are a fuck ton of them) on the road are corporation owned cars. The heavy subsidies for BEVs made them very attractive especially since they had (this is changing rapidly right now) a very low rate of depreciation. I’d hazard a guess that this is a common pattern, i.e. cars that are privately used but commercialy owned as well as a lot of subsidies at play.
Prior to the Tesla the most common corporation owned cars in Sweden were XC90s which aren’t exactly cheap either.
Further what do you think I meant with high end premium? I meant expensive and the model Y is very expensive. Are you implying that if there was a sub $15K Dacia Logan MCV it wouldn’t sell better? A car like that with no bells and whistles but a BEV with decent range (say 300 km) would sell like hotcakes given that they’d pay for themselves for a majority of car owners. But instead they focus on stuff that is simply to expensive for the masses.
Is this a US take? Serious question because in Europe, I see primarily SUVs being sold when it comes to EVs. Small and shitty ones yes, but still aiming to resemble at least the SUV look. E.g. VW ID3, ID4; these I see a lot on the streets over here. Big exception seem to be hybrids, they usually are sedans or hatchbacks.
… In what world is an ID3 or 4 an SUV? They’re the aforementioned CUVs I was bitching avout. And further why in the fuck are they so expensive? Where is an electric VW Polo for a pricetag the average family can actually afford? Say €30k ish. Not €45-60k
BYD as an example sell the Dolphin, a hatchback of the body type and size most sold in recent years in Europe, for €30k and a normal sized SUV (Atto 3) for €50k. And I’m very confident that they print money at those prices in Europe, but they can charge that because there is very little competition at anywhere near those price points and also even few actual models that are similar in body size while being BEVs