The big luxury car manufacturers are now finally able to boast about their electric cars. Tesla's model S have been in the market for over 6 years now finally it faces some competition. This competition could seriously impact Tesla's business since Mercedes, Audi and Jaguar have a much larger sales network. All 3 manufacturers also have supercharging capabilities which allow faster charging than Tesla which is very important.
The biggest 2 problems with electric cars is the range and the time taken to charge the batteries. Mercedes' EQC can charge to 80% capacity in 40 minutes while the Audi can charge to 80% capacity in 30 minutes. This really helps especially when the driver needs to utilise the vehicle for long journeys.
The 3 models will take a chunk out of Tesla model X's sales since it is cheaper and more accessible. Tesla currently sells its cars on its own without appointing distributors or dealers. This basically limits its reach and coverage. In countries like Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, India and many other developing countries Tesla is not present while Mercedes, Audi and Jaguar already have a dealership network.
It will be a matter of time before BMW, VW, Toyota, Honda and Nissan introduces a flurry of electric cars. The question is how much will this impact Tesla. Will Tesla be able to survive when these giants get into the game. Tesla's trump card will be the gigafactory which aims to produces majority of the batteries for electric cars. The plan for the gigafactory is good but the construction is taking far too long and now China's BYD is teaming up with several battery manufacturers to building their own gigafactory and it appears that the construction have already begun and it progressing at a very rapid pace.
Tesla may have had the edge over the major car manufacturers but it seems like the competition have stepped up a notch and it won't be easy for Tesla to compete unless it changes its strategy. Since numerous Tesla engineers left for other car manufacturers so many new players have emerged making competition very stiff all of a sudden.
The EQC, E-tron and i-Pace may not be as quick as the Model X but it is good enough to rival the Model X and it has gained significant public interest. The electric car industry is really starting to heat up and will be exciting to see how it shapes up.
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