Electric vehicles – Page 9457 – I wish I had more to offer

BMW sold over 140,000 EVs in 2018

“Since launching the BMW i3 in 2013, the BMW Group has rapidly grown its sales of electrified vehicles.” New Delhi: Luxury carmaker BMW Group on Thusrday said that the company has sold more than 140,000 electrified (battery-electric and plug-in hybrid) vehicles in 2018 worldwide. In total, the company delivered 142,617 units of electrified BMW and… Continue reading BMW sold over 140,000 EVs in 2018

Audi closes 2018 with around 1,812,500 automobiles sold

Audi delivered around 1,812,500 automobiles to customers worldwide in 2018, 3.5 percent less than a year ago. In Europe, sales fell 13.6 percent in the past twelve months. On the home continent, Audi had replaced almost a third of its deliveries with important model changeovers for the A1, A6, A7 and Q3 since the start… Continue reading Audi closes 2018 with around 1,812,500 automobiles sold

Volkswagen sets new delivery record in 2018

Most successful year in company’s history with global deliveries of 6.24 million vehicles (+0.2 percent) Growth in South America, USA and Europe offsets situation in China and adverse effects due to WLTP SUV offensive and numerous other new products were key growth drivers Sales Board Member Jürgen Stackmann: “2018 was characterized by considerable uncertainty in some… Continue reading Volkswagen sets new delivery record in 2018

Tesla feature that gets car to follow you like a pet will ‘probably’ be available soon, Musk says

Spencer Platt | Getty Images
The inside of a Tesla vehicle is viewed as it sits parked in a Tesla showroom and service center in Red Hook, Brooklyn on July 5, 2016.

A Tesla feature that gets your car to follow you around like a pet and auto-park is undergoing regulatory approval and will “probably” be available for some customers soon, CEO Elon Musk said on Twitter on Thursday.

“Going through final validation & regulatory approval,” Musk said of Summon+, a planned upgrade to Tesla's Summon auto-parking feature. “Probably releases to early access program owners in a few weeks. It's trippy!”

However, the auto executive added the caveat that the firm might not be able to roll out Summon+ in all of the markets it operates in, saying it was “getting some regulatory pushback.” He didn't elaborate on those regulatory hurdles.

Musk said back in November that cars operating with Summon+ will be able to “drive to your phone location & follow you like a pet,” and that users will be able to control their car remotely “like a big RC car.”

He said at the time that the upgrade would be compatible with all Tesla cars made in the past two years.

The technology is part of Tesla's Autopilot self-driving system. It currently lets Model S and Model X drivers park their car in tight spots and get it to move short distances remotely using the Tesla app.

Tesla's CEO recently broke ground on a new factory the firm is opening in Shanghai, and met with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang to discuss the plans.

Li told Musk at their meeting that he hoped the firm could become an “in-depth participant of China's opening and a promoter of the stability of China-U.S. relations.”

Tesla FUD: Tax Credit & Tesla Pricing — #TSLA

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Published on January 5th, 2019 |

by Frugal Moogal

Tesla FUD: Tax Credit & Tesla Pricing — #TSLA

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January 5th, 2019 by Frugal Moogal

The goal of this series is to examine current topics being written about Tesla [TSLA] that appear to be stirring up “Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt” (or FUD). The plan is to try to provide reasonable analysis about the validity of the claims. I generally do not link to the articles that “inspire” me to write this, as I do not wish to reward analysis I feel is poor with increased traffic. However, I will freely admit that my analysis may contain incorrect assumptions, and will do my best to acknowledge them in future articles.

If you somehow missed it, Tesla just announced Q4 deliveries totaling 90,700 vehicles, and that the company was dropping the price of its vehicles by $2,000 in response to the phaseout of the federal EV tax credit.

The stock price responded by dropping almost 7% on the day.

There is actually a TON to unpack in Tesla’s Q4 communication, and I intend to do that soon, but I wanted to briefly touch on the believed reason for the stock hit — the price drop on the vehicles and the supposed “price ceiling” to Tesla’s current offerings.

Before I go on, my usual boilerplate paragraph about my stock: I’ll note that I remain a Tesla shareholder with a whopping 8 shares, with no intention to add to or sell that stake. I do think that Tesla remains a risky investment for a plethora of reasons that I won’t get into right now (a few people commented that they want to hear that, so I need to think about how to explain it without creating my own Tesla FUD article…), but also one that has the potential to increase astronomically in the future, which is why I decided to purchase and hold a very limited number of shares. I would not suggest anyone use the following article as their sole data point to decide to invest nor sell shares in Tesla.

What Did The Market Expect?
I don’t get what the market wanted Tesla to do here.

Like it or not, the federal EV tax credit is considered to be a discount on the purchase to nearly all buyers of EVs. Every other time we have had a market where EV credits or rebates have phased out, we have generally seen a surge in demand followed by a sudden drop in demand, especially if the pricing of the vehicles remains the same.

Duh?

Between Black Friday and Christmas, Microsoft knocked $100 off its Xbox One S console, making it just $199 to get one. It was advertised as a limited time promotion, and today the same console does indeed cost $299 to purchase. Is anyone expecting Microsoft will sell the same number of Xbox One S consoles this month as it did last month? If so, they seem to have missed some lessons on supply and demand, and the impact of pricing on that demand.

Tesla’s Response
Tesla decided to offset the $3,750 reduction in the federal tax credit by reducing the cost of its vehicles by $2,000. To me, it’s a genius move for a whole variety of reasons. I’m trying to keep this article short, so here’s a quick rundown of some of the positives here:

Auto loans don’t take into account the tax credit (that has to be claimed by the individual who owns the car), meaning that this makes the monthly payments for purchasing a new car cheaper. Most people take out loans to purchase cars.
Tesla is making more than $2,000 in profits off all of its cars. It can reduce the price and still make money.
According to Tesla, more than ¾ of Model 3s sold were to new customers, not reservation holders, meaning that new Model 3 demand was more than 45,000 vehicles. Considering that Tesla hasn’t started international deliveries, that means that demand remained very strong. Some of that demand may have been moved up due to the tax credit expiring, but not all of it.

Let’s also remember, Tesla hasn’t pulled several demand levers for the Model 3 — in particular, international sales and the start of leasing.

Conclusion
I have been accused of being a Tesla shill in the comments before, and I guess this article may continue that trend, as my conclusion for this one is simple: Not just did I expect Tesla to make a move like this (I expected it to be a slightly larger reduction, actually), but the scale of Tesla’s EV production leaves the company in a much stronger position to reduce pricing to raise demand as the tax credit begins its phaseout process than other automakers producing electric vehicles.

In short, I don’t understand the reaction here.

If you think I’m overly positive on this one, leave me a comment explaining why — the more detail, the better. I intend to write a longer article soon unpacking how the tax credit affects demand, and different demand levers that I expect Tesla can and will use to keep that demand up, and I’ll do my best to incorporate and reply to any comments I get.

About the Author

Frugal Moogal A businessman first, the Frugal Moogal looks at EVs from the perspective of a business. Having worked in multiple industries and in roles that managed significant money, he believes that the way to convince people that the EV revolution is here is by looking at the vehicles like a business would.

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Tesla Has The Highest Customer Loyalty Of All Car Brands

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Published on January 9th, 2019 |

by Matt Pressman

Tesla Has The Highest Customer Loyalty Of All Car Brands

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January 9th, 2019 by Matt Pressman

Originally published on EVANNEX.

Studies demonstrate that Tesla has forged a unique bond with its customers. Last year, Consumer Reports found that Tesla has the highest rate of customer satisfaction of all car brands. Now, according to more recent research conducted by Experian, it turns out these high levels of satisfaction are translating into exceptionally high rates of customer loyalty as well.

Tesla owners tend to be a satisfied and loyal (Image via Tesla)

In fact, electric vehicle owners (regardless of brand) have a high propensity for loyalty. According to Experian, “Once dealers have customers in an EV, there’s a good chance they get them back again in the future. Electric vehicle customers are showing early signs of being a highly loyal customer segment. When EV customers return to market, 62 percent buy another EV.”

So what about industry leader Tesla?

Experian found, “Tesla owners show an even higher make loyalty rate than EV customers as a whole. More than 4 in 5 Tesla customers — 80.5 percent – buy or lease another Tesla when they return to market. Tesla has the highest level of make loyalty in the industry, ahead of Subaru at 72.1 percent and Ford at 72 percent.” Experian also found that, “Tesla led the industry with a Conquest/Defection ratio of 13.77 to 1.”

Electric vehicle market share based on US EV sales in the first half of 2018 (Source: Experian)

While Tesla plans to introduce a lower-priced Model 3 option, its current vehicle lineup remains relatively expensive. Therefore, it’s no wonder EV owners tend to be a well-heeled crowd. Experian reports that, “individuals with higher education and high home values are currently more likely to purchase EVs.” Furthermore, if trends start in places like California, EV fever could be spreading. According to Experian, EV buyers “are also more likely to be found [see chart above] on the west coast.”

These insights into electric vehicles (and industry leader Tesla) are definitely encouraging. Experian concludes, “the auto industry should be enthusiastic about the electric vehicle segment’s future … as battery costs continue to come down, EV [pricing] will more closely mimic today’s vehicles. All things being equal, customers are likely to opt for a more environmentally friendly option in the future and eventually, the scales will tip in the favor of EVs.”

Exclusive: VW, China spearhead $300 billion global drive to electrify cars

(Reuters) – Global automakers are planning a $300 billion surge in spending on electric vehicle technology over the next five to 10 years, with nearly half of the money targeted at China, accelerating the industry’s transition from fossil fuels and shifting power to Asian battery and electric vehicle technology suppliers. Volkswagen logos are pictured during… Continue reading Exclusive: VW, China spearhead $300 billion global drive to electrify cars

Elon Musk Offers Help During California Wildfire, Twitter Gets Into Argument As Some Mock His Thailand Efforts

Elon Musk from Tesla offered to help during the California wildfire if possible. On Twitter, he noted that “If Tesla can help people in California wildfire, please let us know. Model S & X have hospital grade HEPA filters. Maybe helpful for transporting people.”

However, it’s led to a big argument on the platform in the comments, as some mocked him for the prior debacle during the Thailand cave rescue. Meanwhile, others are blasting the critics, saying that he is a wealthy man that’s offering to help people in need, so there’s no reason to demean him.

Some may remember that Musk offered his help when a soccer team became trapped in a dangerous cave system in Thailand. He and his team came up with a child-size submarine that could potentially be used to shuttle the players out of the cave. While the actual invention was not used during the successful mission, it’s what happened next that brought on a ton of negative publicity for Elon.

He was criticized by a diver, Vernon Unsworth, who said that Musk’s efforts were merely a “PR stunt” and told him he “can stick his submarine somewhere where it hurts.” Upset by the diver’s words, Elon later tweeted, “Sorry pedo guy, you really did ask for it,” while saying he never saw Unsworth when he delivered the submarine.

One user has gotten over 1,400 likes for his comment in the hour since Musk tweeted his willingness to help. The user blasted Elon for his prior actions during the Thai rescue.

“Just an idea but maybe you can intrude into this continuing crisis, build an unworkable and ridiculous capsule or something, and call some firefighters pedophiles.”

But that didn’t sit well with others, who couldn’t believe that people were putting Elon down for simply wanting to help.

“Why is it that when Elon Musk wants 2 help people that he has to have ulterior motives? Honestly, just cause he is rich & successful he should be an a**hole?”

Another user simply said, “Elon just wants to help, so let this guy just do it.”

As the argument rages on in the comments, the fallout from the fires are undeniable. So far, nine people have been reported killed as a result of the “Camp Fire” in Paradise, detailed Eyewitness News. The same fire destroyed the entire town of 26,000 people, and so far has burned somewhere near 28,300 hectares of land. Meanwhile, firefighters have not been able to contain the fire.

iOttie’s new motorized car mount will clutch your phone in its robotic embrace

iOttie’s car mounts for phones are considered by many (including the ever-reliable Wirecutter) to be some of the best around, but you know what would make them even better? Mechanized robotic arms that reach out and grab your phone for you, securely holding your phone within their cold metal embrace while you drive. Or at… Continue reading iOttie’s new motorized car mount will clutch your phone in its robotic embrace

Exclusive: VW, Ford to reveal deeper alliance next week – sources

HAMBURG/DETROIT (Reuters) – Volkswagen AG (VOWG_p.DE) and Ford Motor Co (F.N) will unveil a deeper alliance next week that goes beyond cooperating in commercial vehicles in a move meant to save the automakers billions of dollars as they develop new technologies, two people familiar with the plan said on Wednesday. FILE PHOTO: A car with… Continue reading Exclusive: VW, Ford to reveal deeper alliance next week – sources