Electric car makers move into Tesla's turf with new models

World
Europe

While Tesla grapples with internal issues like production delays, a sometimes-erratic CEO and a recent about-face on whether to go private, its rivals are moving aggressively into the luxury electric vehicle space.

In the next few days, German competitors Mercedes-Benz and Audi, the luxury arm of Volkswagen, are both showing off production-ready electric sport-utility vehicles aimed at Tesla's Model X.

Jaguar Classic will offer tailor-made E-types restored and converted to electric power at the same Classic Works facility as its outstanding E-type Reborn restorations in Coventry, UK. /VCG Photo

Meanwhile, Jaguar Land Rover offers the I-Pace electric SUV while further out, Porsche is taking on Tesla's Model S high-performance luxury car with the Taycan, which is expected to reach the market in late 2019.

The established carmakers have multiple motives. They need zero driving emissions vehicles to meet tougher greenhouse gas limits coming into effect in Europe in 2021. Diesel is in the doghouse.

But the new models will also aim to win back some of the luxury customers drawn away by Tesla's electric vehicles at a time when the company is consumed by multiple distractions.

Mercedes-Benz has unveiled it's latest concept vehicle – the EQ Silver Arrow. /VCG Photo

Its CEO, Elon Musk, took to Twitter on Aug. 7 to abruptly announce he had secured funding to take his company private, only to turn around 17 days later to say that Tesla would remain public. The electric carmaker is also facing financial pressure, with a 230 million US dollar debt payment that's due in November on top of the 920 million that must be paid off three months later. And it has only recently hit production targets for its Model 3 mass-market vehicle.

In the meantime, its rivals – who had emphasized diesel and hybrids – are finally rolling out the leading edge of what they say will be a slew of all-electric models.

Their latest offerings are "the vanguard" of more to come, said Ferdinand Dudenhoeffer, director of the Center for Automotive Research at the University of Duisburg-Essen. "By 2020, Tesla must stabilize itself or be overtaken," he said.

The new entrants challenge what has been one of Tesla's key selling points: range.

An Audi AG Elaine electric concept autonomous automobile stands on display at the CeBIT 2018 tech fair in Hanover, Germany, June 11, 2018. /VCG Photo

The EQC sports utility crossover from Daimler AG's luxury brand Mercedes, for instance, should go up to 500 kilometers (300 miles) on a single charge. That's comparable to Tesla's SUV, the Model X, which has a range of up to 295 miles.

To be unveiled outside of Stockholm on Sept. 4, the EQC is the first in the Mercedes EQ sub-brand that bundles the company's efforts in electric, connected and autonomous driving.

Volkswagen's Audi will show off its e-tron in San Francisco on Sept. 17. It offers more than 400 kilometers (248 miles) on a single charge. The company says the e-tron should be able to use high-speed charger facilities – if they're available – to charge in less than 30 minutes.

A Porsche AG Taycan electric automobile sits on display as the luxury automaker celebrated its 70th anniversary in Stuttgart, Germany, June 8, 2018. /VCG Photo

The German price will be around 80,000 euros (93,000 US dollars) and it should go on sale near the end of the year in Europe, and next year in the US.

The Porsche Taycan will also pose a stiff challenge to Tesla's Model S in terms of range: Porsche claims it can load enough power for 400 kilometers (248 miles) in just 15 or 20 minutes. The company hasn't announced a price.

The I-Pace, whose price starts at 69,500 US dollars before local and federal incentives, offers 292 miles (470 kilometers) under the tougher European Union standard. The Model S, meanwhile, has a range of up to 335 miles.

Not that Tesla is standing still while the competition laps it. Musk has said the company intends to develop a Model Y, a small SUV to be unveiled in the first half of next year – a growing sales category that other carmakers have been piling into as fast as they can.

Chris Hopson, manager of North American light vehicle forecasting for IHS Markit, said that established manufacturers are going electric not just in response to Tesla, "but because of a whole host of other things, with Tesla in mind." New electrics serve "not just to alleviate some of the sales going to Tesla but to also to grab hold of the ongoing trend globally toward electric vehicles."

The electric push also comes in the wake of Volkswagen's 2015 diesel scandal. The company's illegal rigging of vehicles to cheat on emissions testing helped turn consumers off diesel. Falling diesel sales numbers make it harder for European car makers to meet lower fleet emissions requirements coming into force in the EU in 2021.

China is also pushing for more electric vehicles through regulation, requiring carmakers to ensure 10 percent of their fleets are electrics in 2019. Regulations limit foreign brands to about four percent of the market, with Tesla owning half of that. Other carmakers such as BMW, Ford, and GM work with local partners.

Source(s): AP