The Uk Electric Car Market: History And Future
Electric cars have been around for well over a century but its only recently that theyve started to gain a market foothold. In the early noughties, the Reva G-Wiz led the electric car craze, although that model was hardly a car at all, as it was classed as a quadricycle. It used basic lead-acid batteries, similar to the electric milk floats that once frequented British streets in the early hours, and was slow, cramped and not very safe. It wasn’t until the original Nissan Leaf came along that the process of electric car development went into overdrive.
As a five-door, five-seat hatchback, the Leaf offered the practicality of a conventional family car, and became the best-selling EV, albeit with sales figures significantly lower than its petrol and diesel counterparts. Initially the Leaf’s range was 80 miles at best, but constant development and improvement have seen that range increase, while the arrival of the Leaf Mk2 in 2018 saw the car gain a range closer to a conventional petrol car.
Looking into the future, you can only see the electric car market expanding, and fast. With comprehensive manufacturer buy-in fuelled by tightening emissions regulations from governments, electric car technology is improving fast – along with the infrastructure that makes running one easier. You might not be considering an electric car now but its a safe bet that you will be in the future.
Ipo Model S And Model X
In May 2010, Tesla purchased what would later become the Tesla Factory in Fremont, California, from Toyota for $42 million, and opened the facility in October 2010 to start production of the Model S. On June 29, 2010, the company became a public company via an initial public offering on NASDAQ, the first American car company to do so since the Ford Motor Company had its IPO in 1956. The company issued 13.3 million shares of common stock at a price of $17.00 per share, raising $226 million.
In January 2012, Tesla ceased production of the Roadster, and in June the company launched its second car, the Model S luxury sedan. The Model S won several automotive awards during 2012 and 2013, including the 2013 Motor Trend Car of the Year, and became the first electric car to top the monthly sales ranking of a country, when it achieved first place in the Norwegian new car sales list in September 2013. The Model S was also the best-selling plug-in electric car worldwide for the years 2015 and 2016.
Tesla announced the Tesla Autopilot, a driver-assistance system, in 2014. In September that year, all Tesla cars started shipping with sensors and software to support the feature, with what would later be called “hardware version 1”. In April 2015, Tesla entered the energy storage market, unveiling its Tesla Powerwall and Tesla Powerpack battery packs. The company received orders valued at $800 million within a week of the unveiling.
Solarcity And Model 3
In November 2016, Tesla acquired SolarCity, in an all-stock $2.6 billion deal, and entered the market. The solar installation business was merged with Tesla’s existing battery energy storage products division to form the Tesla Energy subsidiary. The deal was controversial because at the time of the acquisition, SolarCity was facing liquidity issues of which Tesla’s shareholders were not informed.
In February 2017, Tesla Motors changed its name to Tesla, Inc., to better reflect the scope of its expanded business, which now included electric vehicles, battery energy storage systems, and solar power generation.
That year Tesla also started its philanthropic effort. Tesla made multiple contributions of solar power to areas recovering from disasters in 2017, in particular installing a solar plus storage system to restore electricity at a hospital in Puerto Rico, following the destruction from Hurricane Maria. In July 2018, the company donated $37.5 million to kindergarten to 12th grade science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education in Nevada.
In August 2018, CEO Elon Musk briefly considered taking Tesla private. The plan did not materialize, and gave rise to much controversy and many lawsuits including a securities fraud charge from the SEC. By the end of 2018, the production problems had been overcome, and the Model 3 was the world’s best selling plug-in electric car for the year.
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Conduct During The Covid
Tesla’s initial response to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States has been the subject of considerable criticism. Musk had sought to exempt the Tesla Fremont factory in Alameda County, California from the government’s stay-at-home orders. In an earnings call in April, he was heard calling the public health orders “fascist”. He had also called the public’s response to the pandemic “dumb” and had said online that there would be zero cases by April. In May 2020, while Alameda County officials were negotiating with the company to reopen the Fremont Factory on the 18th, Musk defied local government orders by restarting production on the 11th. Tesla also sued Alameda County, questioning the legality of the orders, but backed down after the Fremont Factory was given approval to reopen. Tesla published a detailed plan for bringing employees back to work and keeping them safe, however some employees continued to express concern for their health.
In China, Tesla had what one Tesla executive described as “not a green light from the government to get back to work but a flashing-sirens police escort.” Tesla enjoyed special treatment and strong government support in China, including tax breaks, cheap financing, and assistance in building its Giga Shanghai factory at breakneck speeds. Musk has praised China’s way of doing things, a controversial stance due to deteriorating U.S.Chinese relations, China’s ongoing persecution of Uyghurs, and alleged human rights abuses in Hong Kong.
The Tesla Model Y Was The Most Registered Model Strengthening Its #1 Position For The Year
Nonetheless, the situation remains difficult and even plug-in electric cars are scrambling to see some growth.
According to EV Volumes data, shared by Jose Pontes, over 159,000 new passenger plug-in cars were registered in Europe in August, which is 2% more than a year ago. The market share amounted to 21%.
It’s noteworthy that battery-electric cars were up 12%, which means that the main issue is still falling sales of plug-in hybrids .
New plug-in car registrations:
- BEVs: about *99,000 and 13% share
- PHEVs: about *61,000 and 8% share
- Total: 159,720 and 21% share
* estimated from the market share
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The Challenge For Audi
The man charged with making Audi electric vehicles a success is Stefan Niemand, the brandâs head of electrification. In an interview at Audi headquarters in the Bavarian city of Ingolstadt, the barrel-chested executive argued that the company is well prepared for its electric future. The next generation of electric vehicles, he says, will be cheaper and packed with technology that customers want. âWe learned a lot with the e-tron battery system, the crash system, the cooling system, the connection system and all this stuff. And of course, we now better understand where we can bring costs down, where we can optimize the system, where we can gain range or performance.â
The most important question is whether customers will respond to vehicles like the e-tron. âI think we did all that we can. We made the first car, and I think for the first car, itâs very, very good,â says Niemand.
Pressed on whether consumers are ready to adopt electric vehicles en masse, Niemand thinks back to his first experience with the R8 e-tron, an electric version of the Audi 2-seat sports car that has been tested in various forms since at least 2010. Before driving the car, a professional driver warned the executive that it would be much faster than he expected. Niemand said he thought the driver was joking. âThen I pushed the throttle, and ⦠I knew, forget about everything else.â
His experience left him in no doubt: âThis is the future.â
Enjoy The Electric Car Driving Experience
Electric cars tend to be heavier than petrol and diesel models, which means they can feel less nimble on twisty roads, but there are a whole host of benefits to the way they drive that many people will find preferable.
For a start you get near-silent cruising with next-to-no sound from the electric motors. In traffic, the car slows itself when you lift off the throttle, so its possible to drive around town using just one pedal, hardly ever touching the brake. It all makes for a very relaxed experience, yet the instant torque provided by the electric motor means that even everyday EVs have the potential to leave a hot hatch standing when pulling away from the traffic lights and in some cases, supercars too.
In some ways, owning an EV means you have to change the way you think about driving. You automatically adopt a gentler, more relaxed style that maximises your range and often means you reach your destination feeling more refreshed than you would do otherwise.
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Ford Aims To Overtake Tesla Electric
Ford will more than triple the number of electric vehicles it manufactures over the next four years. Will that be enough to overtake Tesla?
US car giant Ford has launched a $US50 billion plan to more than triple the number of electric vehicles it sells globally over the next four years and now has market leader Tesla in its sights.
is the latest automaker to come gunning for the electric-car pioneer, and has dug deep to drive more than one-third of all vehicles it sells globally towards battery power.
Rather than create a vast portfolio of electric vehicles, Ford says it will instead initially focus on four core models before entering another expansion phase.
Ford has started its electric-vehicle rollout with the F-150 Lightning pick-up in the US, the Mustang Mach-E electric SUV for global markets, and the E-Transit electric van for commercial use.
A fourth key electric vehicle will also join the global Ford line-up in the coming years, but for now that model remains under wraps.
When asked if Ford could overtake Teslas electric-car sales globally, the companys chief financial officer John Lawler, told a group of international media in Detroit:
Thats an interesting question. I cant give you a date or a time. Right now what we need to do is we need to respect that there is one profitable company in the world that produces vehicles at scale. Just one, and they have incredible margins.
I dont think youre going to see a huge proliferation of a bunch of top hats .
Which Electric Cars Have The Longest Range
With ever-improving battery technology, electric cars are increasing their ranges. The Kia e-Niro is one of the more affordable EVs and it has an official range of 282 miles, which should be enough for most drivers. At the other end of the scale, pricier models such as the Tesla Model S can offer more than 400 miles. Check out our list of the longest range electric cars.
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Build It And They Will Come
While the electric car has a checkered past, there is a consensus among auto industry executives and analysts that a tipping point is approaching where mass adoption will become unavoidable because of falling battery costs, pressure from regulators and generous government subsidies. âThese factors have come together to force the traditional industry to take electrification seriously â faster than we had previously expected,â said Max Warburton, an analyst at research firm Bernstein. âThis is now really happening.â
According to Bernstein, dramatic declines in the price of batteries will allow leading automakers to sell fully electric vehicles for less than cars powered by gasoline and diesel as soon as 2022. Electric cars, they argue, are already gaining traction: As recently as 2010, annual sales were close to zero. âThereâs just such an incredible amount of money being poured into electric cars,â said Al Bedwell, the director of global powertrain at LMC Automotive.âIâve been looking at this industry for 20 years, and my real gut feeling is that itâs kind of unstoppable now.â
Seventh Tesla Ship Arrives At Port Kembla
Tesla shipping tracker Vedaprime reports that the seventh ship with Tesla electric cars on board arrived in Port Kembla on Sunday. This is a record number of ships so far for the quarter, he said in a tweet.
The seventh Australian #Tesla ship for this quarter Paglia has arrived at Port Kembla this morning. Many thousands of Tesla have arrived in Australia this quarter. Records have been smashed, he tweeted.
The seventh Australian #Tesla ship for this quarter Paglia has arrived at Port Kembla this morning.
Many thousands of Tesla have arrived in Australia this quarter. Records have been smashed.
VedaPrime
While official Tesla sales numbers for the month are due to be published in coming days, and it is unlikely that all the cars shipped in August may not be delivered in that month alone.
Nevertheless, The Driven estimates Tesla will report to Vfacts at least 10,000 sales for the quarter, most of which were shipped in August.
If this proves true, it means Tesla is on track for a record quarter by any carmaker delivering electric cars and could easily have delivered more than half of the number of 17,000 or so electric vehicles sold industry-wide in the whole of 2021.
While it is as yet unknown how many more ships Tesla has planned for Australian deliveries, The Driven understands there have been few if any cars built for the local market at the EV makers Shanghai plant in recent weeks.
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Tesla Model Y Beats Ford Ranger To Lead September Sales In Nz
Teslas Model Y compact-SUV was the star of New Zealands September new-car sales: it was the top-selling vehicle overall for the month with 1502 registrations, ahead of the Ford Ranger and Toyota Hilux .
Strong sales of back-ordered battery electric vehicles in general helped give the industry a boost. Behind the Model Y, the number two BEV for September was the BYD Atto 3 and MG ZS EV .
It was the second-strongest September overall on record at 14,879, but still 9.9 per cent down on the same month last year and 0.2 per cent down year to date.
Registrations of 10,601 passenger cars/SUVs were down 10.7 per cent on the same month last year, but still ahead of 2021 year to date by 2.2 per cent.
Autocheck Vehicle History Summary
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Tesla Us Dealership Disputes
Unlike other automakers, Tesla does not rely on franchised auto dealerships to sell vehicles and instead directly sells vehicles through its website and a network of company-owned stores. In some areas, Tesla operates locations called “galleries” which “educate and inform customers about our products, but such locations do not actually transact in the sale of vehicles.” This is because some jurisdictions, particularly in the United States, prohibit auto manufacturers from directly selling vehicles to consumers. Dealership associations have filed lawsuits to prevent direct sales. These associations argued that the franchise system protects consumers by encouraging dealers to compete with each other, lowering the price a customer pays. They also claimed that direct sales would allow manufacturers to undersell their own dealers. The United States Federal Trade Commission ultimately contradicted the associations’ claims and recommended allowing direct manufacturer sale, which they concluded would save consumers 8% in average vehicle price.
Dont Be Put Off By High Electric Car Prices Running Costs Are The Key
The list prices of electric cars can look expensive compared to equivalent petrol or diesel models, even when the Governments plug-in car grant has been applied, but looks are very likely to be deceiving. List prices are just one part of the cost of vehicle ownership and the overall cost becomes much more palatable when you factor-in the relatively low running costs of EVs – often around 60% of those of a similar petrol model depending on usage patterns.
As a general rule, charging an electric car is far cheaper than fueling a petrol or diesel one – even if you use more expensive public charging points.
The free VED , the company car tax advantages and the lower maintenance costs that result from an EVs fewer moving parts, and the lower cost of running an electric car will also help offset the higher upfront price.
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Production And Sales By Quarter
Tesla deliveries vary significantly by month due to regional issues such as availability of car carriers and registration. On March 9, 2020, the company produced its 1 millionth electric car, becoming the first auto manufacturer to achieve such a milestone. In the third quarter of 2021, Tesla sold its 2 millionth electric car, becoming the first auto manufacturer to achieve such a milestone.
