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Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) intends to sell electric cars for less than 20,000 euros ($22,836) and protect German jobs by converting three factories to make Tesla (TSLA.O) rivals, a source familiar with the plans said.
VW and other carmakers are struggling to adapt quickly enough to stringent rules introduced after the carmaker was found to have cheated diesel emissions tests, with its chief executive Herbert Diess warning last month that Germany's auto industry faces extinction.
Plans for VW's electric car, known as "MEB entry" and with a production volume of 200,000 vehicles, are due to be discussed at a supervisory board meeting on Nov. 16, the source said.
Fallout from cheating on diesel emissions tests continues. If German automakers, of which VW is the largest, switch to electric vehicles (EVs), will other car companies have to follow suit?
(Score: 4, Interesting) by PhilSalkie on Friday November 09 2018, @08:48PM
There's electric power everywhere you're likely to travel - much, much more electrical infrastructure exists than gasoline infrastructure, electricity is pre-wired to nearly every dwelling unit and business in the developed world. I put 40K+ miles on my Model S85D last year, and the convenience is unparalleled - the vehicle "fills its tank" in the carport every night, I can and do jump in the car without a thought about "infrastructure". As for "freedom", the solar panels on my house mean I'm able to charge the car without relying on OPEC or Exxon to extract and refine motor fuel for me, or having to send our military into harm's way to protect the oil shipping lanes worldwide.
Road trips are where infrastructure _is_ required, and one of the places where Tesla is way out front of every other EV manufacturer. Until the other car manufacturers invest in their own fast charge infrastructure (or license Tesla's) - and integrate it with the car to make it as seamless as Tesla has, they just aren't contenders for any non-local use of an EV. When I go on a 200+ mile trip I just tell the nav system where I'm going - the car tells me how far I can drive, adjusting its calculations continuously to account for weather and road speed. It shows locations available for high-speed charging, how many slots are available at each one, how long I should stop and charge, how much power they can provide, and what amenities the location has. There were far more times driving a Prius that I had to worry about gas stations, where the next one was, how far I could drive, and so on. It works out that by the time I want to stop and hit the restroom, the Tesla wants 20 minutes' charging. On longer trips, I'll stop for a meal and let the car charge to 100%.
I couldn't drive a Chevy Bolt from Detroit to Philly without quite a bit of route mapping and preparation ahead of time - and constant concern that I might get to a spot and find the single DC Fast Charger at some rest area is down, and have to plug into a 110V outlet and wait six hours. (Not to mention that Tesla sold as many Model 3's in Q3 of 2018 as GM sold Bolts all year - it looks to me like GM is in this game just to be able to sell gasoline cars in California (due to combined fleet efficiency requirements), and Tesla is in it for the long haul.)
IMHO, electrification of the vehicle fleet has begun, and will be all but unstoppable - electric cars just make more sense in so many ways (simplicity of design, reduced parts count, decreased pollution and noise, regenerative braking, home charging, they're a blast to drive...) Tesla's out front because they've got a game-changing, thoroughly integrated product - after driving a Tesla, driving any conventional vehicle feels like fifty different designers crammed two hundred different things into one metal box, without talking to each other, and sometimes with active hatred for the next guy over - then expected me to drive it down the road at 70 MPH. Tesla may not stay out front, may lose its way, or may run out of money - but they'll have produced vehicles which made everything else on the market look like, and operate like, something out of an antique auto show. There's a great big market for all these manufacturers to grab a share of - but Tesla's busy eating up lunches right, left, and center while the rest are announcing their plans to start designing a Tesla-killer real soon now. I look forward to seeing how things progress.