Volkswagen Group isn’t fooling around any longer, in my opinion. There’s plenty of room to remain cynical, but Volkswagen Group indicated yesterday that it is putting genuine skin in the game — big time.
Before I discuss the announcements further, let’s go through a quick thought exercise.
Mercedes and Volkswagen have again announced hastened electric vehicle plans. This article is certainly about these companies and their plans — which we’re very excited to report on today — but it would be a crime to not briefly highlight how they relate to Tesla, and why they are a “win” for Tesla. That bit is included at the end of the article, after getting through the hot news out of Germany.
The US electric car market has continued to grow at a rapid pace in the past year — led by California’s particularly strong electric car market, of course. From January through August, sales of 8 fully electric cars* grew 82% in the country. Sales of 6 plug-in hybrid cars were up 28%. Overall, that meant sales of these 14 plug-in car were up 40%.
In so many conversations about electric cars and the transition to electric transport, certain commenters throw around the claim that conventional automakers can jump on the electric bandwagon as soon as “the time is right.” As soon as consumers demand them, large automakers can turn on the EV production switch and go into full production. “It’s just about putting the pieces of the car together — assembling the various components of the cars — and no one does it better than [pick your favorite conventional auto company].” Furthermore, “Tesla doesn’t have any real technological advantage. It can’t do anything large automakers can’t do.”
Not that long ago, only a few electric cars were on the market. Nowadays, there are a few dozen. We certainly have a few favorites here on CleanTechnica, but every plug-in car really has its own selling points. I’m sure I don’t have a comprehensive list of these in my head, and many of the points are definitely as subjective as opinions about music or movies, but below are many of my thoughts on why I’d recommend various plug-in models.
In the UK, the all-electric car that looks almost identical to a regular Volkswagen Golf is doing well. The e-Golf is considered to be the electrified “centerpiece” of the German manufacturer’s choices. The e-Golf was originally presented in 2014. VW reports that in its latest guise, the zero-emission e-Golf has new battery technology. Gas2 earlier reported that the 2017 Volkswagen e-Golf goes 50% further on a single battery charge. The new e-Golf also has a host of connectivity features both in the car and in the customer’s hand via the ubiquitous smartphone — everything from warming or cooling the EV remotely to interesting security features. The price also makes the electrified VW a valuable find.
As the electric vehicle (EV) sector rapidly continues to expand, data experts cap hpi have looked at the total cost of ownership (TCO) to acknowledge the electric cars with the lowest motoring costs in the UK. Cap hpi examined used EVs for this, first posing the question, “Once all the servicing, fuel and other motoring costs are taken into account, which EV cars perform the best?” The following are the cheapest electric cars to run in the UK.
The European plug-in car market started its usual holiday season in July, down almost a third compared to the previous month (summertime = lower sales). There were some 19,600 registrations. But that is still up 41% regarding the same month last year, so the growth trend continues. Year to date, the market is up 34% this year, with the EV share now standing at a record 1.6%.
Apparently, slamming the Big 3 of Germany — Daimler, BMW, and Volkswagen — is in fashion in German politics. Or chief politicians in Germany are just fed up.
I recently compared the specs of the Tesla Model 3 to the specs of 22 gas-powered competitors that are more or less “in the Model 3’s class.” Naturally, readers also requested that we compare the Model 3 with other electric cars in such a detailed way. So here we are!
