> Without the edge of being the “only” company with EVs is there any reason to think they’ll be big much longer?
Many years of head-start in terms of experience/designs/scale-up etc with EVs, brand recognition, and in the US a charging station network.
Also, they're fully committed to EVs whereas most of the legacy manufacturers seem to be completely stuck at half-assing the transition at best. It feels like (with the exception of Volkswagen Group - includes Audi and Porsche) a few of the legacy competitors are starting now and many are not even seriously trying yet. The other competitors are newly founded companies. Everyone is playing catch-up while Tesla has delivered millions of EVs.
Tesla has also bet on massive scale from the beginning (i.e. high up front costs for lower costs per unit later) whereas other companies seem much more cautious. They are also not burdened with decades of organizational cruft and ICE-focused structures that have built up in the traditional companies.
> Tesla has also bet on massive scale from the beginning
According to the article being discussed, GM and Ford will have more scale in 2025. I think Volkswagen and at least on Chinese company likely will have, too.
The article also claims that Tesla stopped betting on scale (“Tesla didn't take greater advantage of the free money it could have gotten, raise much more, open capacity faster, grow much faster and shut the door. He didn't. He didn't move fast enough. He didn't recognize what was going on in the market. He had tremendous hubris that they would never catch him, they would never be able to do what he's doing, and they're doing it.”)
I don't know why, but Hyundai/Kia don't seem to have much presence/mindshare in Europe. I wasn't even aware that they're seriously investing in EVs before I stumbled across them while searching for sources for my post.
Agree that the Chinese ones will likely be huge too - they're new but they have a massive market and supply chains to back them, and eventually they'll make it across to the West.
Many years of head-start in terms of experience/designs/scale-up etc with EVs, brand recognition, and in the US a charging station network.
Also, they're fully committed to EVs whereas most of the legacy manufacturers seem to be completely stuck at half-assing the transition at best. It feels like (with the exception of Volkswagen Group - includes Audi and Porsche) a few of the legacy competitors are starting now and many are not even seriously trying yet. The other competitors are newly founded companies. Everyone is playing catch-up while Tesla has delivered millions of EVs.
Tesla has also bet on massive scale from the beginning (i.e. high up front costs for lower costs per unit later) whereas other companies seem much more cautious. They are also not burdened with decades of organizational cruft and ICE-focused structures that have built up in the traditional companies.