Quote:
Originally Posted by theman23
Twice the price and 300 km range would still have it be somewhat competitive with North American BEVs. Fifty percent would more would be a bargain.
edit: conversion to CAD probably changes things, but still an interesting vehicle.
|
Absolutely. Not sure I'd trust a Chinese vehicle myself (not in the least because of concerns on data privacy), but these vehicles are absolutely a threat to the legacy OEMs as they steal marketshare outside North America. This is why, when oil and gas bulls, say the developing world will have substantially growing demand for oil, I'm skeptical. I think they skip ICEVs the way they skipped land lines.
I think the coming lower priced Tesla and upstart EV competitors (like Fisker) are what change the game in North America. I fully expect that Tesla hatchback to come in at US$25K with at least 250 miles range in the base model, in 2025. I also expect we'll see all the other Tesla offerings substantially standardize around 320 miles/500 km as the base range offering in 2025 when this entry car is announced. A Golf sized car built with large castings could probably offer 500 km of range with a 45 kWh battery for US$30k with peformance and tech features better than a GTI. Given than a GTI is US$25k base, a lot of gas cars will be in trouble.