Tesla sales vs legacy ICE

[dan_b]

Wonder if the legacy ICE manufacturers will start to take EVs seriously at some point soon.

Tesla delivered 310k vehicles globally in Q1 of this year.
Compared to other car makers in the US market, Tesla was the only one to post a growth in sales with a 93% increase in vehicle sales over the year, Ford down by 27%, GM down by 16% and VW down 44%. And this is before Berlin and Texas have started any real volume production.

Ouch.

[Stinsy]

Sales figures have much less to do with demand for vehicles and more to do with a functioning supply chain.

Sales figures measure vehicles delivered. There is no shortage of demand for ICEVs, the low sales figures are more a reflection of production constraints and order books stretching out to 24 months in some cases. If the ICEV manufacturers could deliver the vehicles they have orders for the sales figures would look very different.

[Joeboy]

Sales figures have much less to do with demand for vehicles and more to do with a functioning supply chain.

Sales figures measure vehicles delivered. There is no shortage of demand for ICEVs, the low sales figures are more a reflection of production constraints and order books stretching out to 24 months in some cases. If the ICEV manufacturers could deliver the vehicles they have orders for the sales figures would look very different.

So not only an inferior product, also can't deliver it...

[Ken]

As Stinsey says supply chain probs. Tesla have a different way of using their chips and being the co they are they have have been quick to re-engineer how they do it.

Also i stromgly suspect that peoples would like demand is very high for EVs but they are waiting for prices to drop aka computers,mobiles ..... and for the ranges to increase along with the charging structure. People hang back on any new tech but one day the sheep realise and then whoosh - at the moment its PV. Most people are sheep and operate "behind the curve"

[Moxi]

I think many more people would have taken up BEV's by now but as Dan says charging infrastructure is a big influence on inertia but the biggest disabler for the masses is the cost of a BEV, we really need to have some functional cheaper BEVs that the average family can afford, more so with the cost of living increasing as it is.

Who would go and buy a second hand Leaf with a 24kW battery for circa £11K when you can get a brand new Corsa ICE (or similar) for around the same money ? and thats assuming the average family has 11 K spare which I suspect is not so many these days.

Some times we need intervention to make a mass transit to a new format and we cannot rely on supply and demand and consumer driven economics.

Maybe ICE to BEV transition is one of those occasions like when the UK went to Natural gas in the 70's?

Moxi

[AE-NMidlands]

A friend told me yesterday that he is changing his car but sticking with an ICE, mainly because the highest proportion of motorway breakdowns involve EVs.
I can't find anything to justify that, but I can find lots of articles saying other people wildly over-estimate the range limitation "problem" (which isn't one actually.)
Any thoughts?
A

[Ken]

My assessment is that range anxiety and charger anxiety are yesterdays problem. When Ecotricity were running(not) the MSA chargers it was quite frankly a disgrace. But since Gridsrve took them over there as almost been an explosion of rapid chargers at MSAs. Instead of a single charger dotted around the place we now have charging hubs with 12+ rapid chargers and soon Tesla superchargers are going to become available to others.
I would be quite happy to jump into my E-Golf and drive anywhere in the UK at a drop of a hat - well not perhaps the Scottish Highlands.

With a production shortage and huge demand the manufacturers are milking the market, and that goes for used as well.

[Moxi]

Dan I appreciate range isn't an issue in urban environments but rural locations are far from adequately provided for as far as I can tell.

I have a colleague who works all around the fenlands from Lincolnshire south to the Thames estuary and as far west as Milton Keynes and he worries about range a lot. I would have thought the majority of that region would have good charging with a few outlying areas needing a bit more thought.

I recently considered a second hand leaf as a second car 24kW battery seemed to be the most available but the range and the charging points in North Wales was just not realistic.

Moxi

[Countrypaul]

I thik that range anxiety and charger anxiety are still a problem but range and charger availability is largely no longer a problem. The anxiety is largely with those that still have an ICE and won't look at the facts only the Social media hysteria about those that make mistakes and need help to get home type of article.

For most if not all on this forum, the anxiety is probably largely history, but the vast majority of the population is not as well informed and rely on information that is probably quite out of date. Unfortunately more education is needed and that will not be easy to do whilst ICE cars are marketed as self charging hybrids.

The goverment could obviously do much more to encourage EV take up, for example put a "carbon tax" on the sale of all new ICE cars (including hybrids) - enought to push the fleet buyers which in 3 or 4 years would feed through to many more 2nd hand EVs appearing on the market. I have heard that some fleet purchasers have bought hybrid that only end up ever using the ICE or charging the battery using the ICE even if they can be charged like a BEV.

[Tinbum]

For me personally it's the cost of a new car.

I'd love a new electric car, have been looking at the Hyundi and the new Skoda. I could afford to buy either and have come very close but then my head stops me. We don't do that many miles now and the Octavia we have owes me absolutely nothing and really isn't costing anything much to run. I can leave it parked anywhere and don't worry about being damaged when I do. Yes, it uses diesel but doesn't use not that much. For me destroying a perfectly good car and replacing it with new doesn't make environmental sense either.