Many of us here on CleanTechnica have friends and relatives who want to buy an electric car, and that discussion has become more varied and interesting over the past year. An interesting piece of information came out in our “Tesla News” chat then Benny Schulz wrote, “most people I know are now buying an EV, and none of them are buying a Tesla.” With one exception (my friend, Matt, who is waiting for a Tesla Model Y), I’m in the same boat as Benni. With huge sales, unstoppable hype and the best fast charging network in the country, you might think Tesla would be right at the top of everyone’s EV shopping list. So, what gives?
Editor’s Note: Despite the anecdote above, and notwithstanding the arguments and ideas below, Tesla sells as many vehicles as it builds and actually has a long waiting list because there is so much more demand than production capacity. Despite rapid production growth, that can seemingly never keep up with growing consumer demand for the Model 3 and Model Y. And that mismatch between production and demand is usually due to battery availability. Nevertheless, the ideas below are probably good for becoming a truly dominant automaker in terms of market share. —Zach Shahan
Is Elon the problem?
Elon Musk at Tesla Cyber Rodeo. (Source: Tesla)
Look, Elon Musk is a polarizing figure, who many would like to see step back from his role at Tesla – there’s no doubt about that. Are the much-discussed antics of Tesla Technoking and? sketchy interpersonal behavior really getting people to overlook the brand?
That doesn’t seem to be the case for mainstream buyers (read: “non-car people”) who don’t follow Musk as eagerly as we might think. Most of those people don’t mind Elon. Instead, “they pay attention to the existing options,” as Benni said. “(They find them) boring.”
Stepping back and thinking of the Tesla lineup as a collection of cars, not a collection of electric cars, I have to agree.
Same sausage, different lengths
BMW 740iL (E38). Thanks to BMW.
For many years – a few decades in fact – BMW was accused of selling “the same sausage in different lengths.” This was superficially true, as the E36 3 Series of the early 1990s was very similar to the 5 Series, which (in turn) was very similar to the 7 Series (pictured above). Also under the hood, many of these cars could be run with different versions of the same inline-6 engine, with similar suspension tuning and ingrained RWD driving dynamics to give them all that ‘Ultimate Driving Machine’ feel.
BMW broke out of that mold in the early 2000s with the launch of the (opinion comes in 3…2…1…) positively abominable Chris Bangle designed and “flame turned up” E65 7 series launched in 2001. Despite the unfortunate rear (and side and front) of that car, it has successfully allowed BMW to transition from what it was to what it is, and it has come into its own aesthetically in a way that it can’t really. are said of other brands. A BMW looks like a BMW, no matter how you feel about angry space beavers.
Tesla right? Tesla seems to be stuck in that “same sausage” ooze that once stuck BMW. I know I struggled to distinguish a Model Y from a Model X when no other object was around to give me a sense of visual scale. I’m sure a lot of people feel the same way – and anyone who thinks the Model 3 doesn’t look like the Model S baby is kidding themselves.
Is that style bad? No not really. Most people seem to feel that Tesla styling ranges from “innocent” (me) to downright handsome (just about everyone else with a CleanTechnica byline), but if you don’t like the look of the Model X, you probably don’t like the look of the Model Y, you know? And since there aren’t any other sausages available right now, that means you’re probably shopping elsewhere.
More choice is good for consumers, bad for $TSLA
Hyundai Ioniq 5. Image Courtesy of Hyundai.
On the other side of the “same sausage, different lengths” ideology is Hyundai, which has rolled out concepts and production cars that offer visually different styling elements that could appeal to a wider audience — if only because the IONIQ 5 (above) doesn’t mean necessary that you have the . don’t like IONIQ 6.
Likewise, the expansion of viable EVs from non-Tesla manufacturers has brought more than just stylistic differences, but also functional differences. Even if we pretend the Tesla Cybertruck (a groundbreaking concept if there ever was one) was a real thing you could buy today, it’s just not as practical or functional a work vehicle as the Ford F-150 Lightning, which has the advantage of being compatible with just about every F-150 accessory on the market – from ladder racks to bed boxes to camper vans to lights and more. that is On top of the advantage that it is a real thing that you can buy.
Volkswagen too sells out of his ID. Buzz electric minibuses, while, at the other end of the practical spectrum, boutique brands like Pininfarina deliver on the promise of an electric hypercar. At the same time, Tesla’s efforts to get its Roadster 2.0 into production continue to falter some five years after its initial unveiling.
I think – and you might agree – that what Tesla needs to continue its rapid growth is not more of the same sausage, but an expansion into more niches for automotive products. And these are the ones I think it should go after.
An electric van
Image courtesy of Walmart.
Amazon has Rivian. Walmart has Canoo. Everyone else? I hate to tell the $TSLA believers, but hundreds of fleets with POs are ready for that Ford’s E-Transit and Mercedes E-Vito vans.
Tesla? Tesla has nothing like this (to my knowledge) in its product pipeline — and even if it did, the fact remains that the company is probably years away from introducing this. $990 Billion Global Market.
A sporty, affordable off-roader
2021 Rebelle Rally: Team 129 of Nena Barlow and Teralin Petereit finished first overall in a 2021 Jeep® Wrangler Rubicon 4xe.
Even if you could buy a brand new Tesla Cybertruck today, that doesn’t guarantee it would have the same kind of appeal that the Jeep Wrangler (above), Mercedes G-Wagen, or Ford Bronco. We will see.
A re-body Model Y with a bit of a lift and some off road tireswith a bit more of a boxy “edge” to its styling and a $40,000(ish) price tag could go a long way in getting Tesla back on the shopping lists of people who don’t want to something that fits just as well with the current Tesla Model Y.
The $25,000 Tesla
2022 Chevrolet Bolt EV; courtesy GM.
It’s worth noting that Benni and I strongly disagree with this. I don’t think a cheap Tesla is right for the brand, which has become known for having the biggest margins in the industry – and low cost means low margins almost by definition.
That said, if a brand-conscious buyer finds himself buying a Chevy Bolt, a Nissan LEAF, and a $25,000 Tesla Model C, I imagine they’d go for the Tesla every time — even if it didn’t offer the range or usability (read: chairs) of one of the other two offerings. Think Honda CRX instead of Honda Civic and that gets you where I want to go.
But that is not everything …
Photo by Zach Shahan/CleanTechnica.
Tesla wins the future, despite what sometimes feels like a deliberate attempt by his Technoking to derail the whole thing. Still, it takes more than just new models to beat Toyota, GM and Honda (which historically has turned late entry into a particular market into a tactical advantage).
If you’re curious about that, come back for the second half of this particular rant, where I’ll argue that what Tesla really needs to succeed… is dealers.
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