No Time For Half Measures _ Who Will Be The First To Seriously Challenge Tesla?

Mercedes and BMW have shown the world their visions for the future of electric mobility with the B-Class Electric Drive and the i3. That future however might be further out still. Both models have received generally positive reviews and a bit of market buzz but somewhat lukewarm sales. As Breaking Bad's Mike Erhmantraut famously said, half measures never work. In this case, both the upconverted B-Class and even the bespoke i3 are nothing more than half measures from Mercedes and BMW. Considering its pricing, the Model S took EV sales to a new continent when it hit Tesla stores two years ago. Perhaps a luxury touch was all that was needed, to ease some of the electric price premium. The truth is that no half measure, half hearted, effort will cut it if you want to duplicate Tesla's success, no matter your badge. After its own half measure effort with the Roadster, Tesla went full in with the model S matching the best of the luxury brands in design, engineering and performance.

Nothing less than fully matching or exceeding Tesla's range and performance will cut it for any electrified model from the established luxury brands.

Which brand do you think will be the first to create a truly viable Tesla competitor?
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TheSteve - 12/9/2014 2:04:47 PM

0 Boost

So what do you consider a serious challenge to Tesla? Tesla is in a unique position, being a car company whose entire lineup is EVs, and at this time, their stock value has experienced a superb runup over the past 2 years (about 1000%). BMW and Mercedes are both makers of conventional internal combustion drive vehicles (gasoline and diesel), with an occasional hybrid, and an even more rare (if available at all) pure EV.

I don't think anyone will be a Tesla replacement any time soon, at least not over the next two years while gas prices are so ow and heading ever lower.

chewy - 12/9/2014 5:28:38 PM

+1 Boost

Currently nothing. The rumored Audi or I believe Range Rover full EV might be the only ones. The only issue is that Mercedes, and BMW, Porsche and eventually Audi paint their plugins or EVs as something that is cutting edge or leading in the way most of their cars are. But in reality they are so far behind Tesla that's it's laughable. The brands might not even really want to compete with Tesla with an electric vehicle internally but externally they are giving an impression of competing.

It's more or less if Tesla gave the Model S 200 hp and 100 miles of range and pretended to compete with the A7, CLS and Panamera and felt good about itself, but it didn't and delivered a full competitor.

ParadoX - 12/9/2014 3:26:08 PM

+2 Boost

BMW from the looks of it. Maybe not with a pure electric vehicle, but vehicles like the i8 could potentially challenge Tesla if they were to make one that offers both performance and good pricing like the Tesla.

MDarringer - 12/9/2014 7:32:50 PM

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Tesla has only been building cars of its own design for a few years. Dumping batteries in a Lotus is not engineering.

My money is on Toyota and Mercedes long term.

chewy - 12/9/2014 11:30:16 PM

+3 Boost

The Roadster was a half measure effort that wasn't terrible. For now most of the competition is essentially taking that same approach but obviously with their own models. The Model S is a full effort with plenty of engineering that from all the evidence so far is a good one. They are miles ahead and others can certainly catch up but so far no one has even tried to join Tesla in the "Pros".

runninglogan1 - 12/9/2014 9:46:31 PM

+2 Boost

General Motors has mentioned that it is interested in developing a Model III competitor. We shall see...

Sciros - 12/10/2014 10:39:41 PM

+1 Boost

They have the Volt (and the ELR hahaha) so at the very least they probably have the technological foundation to give it an honest effort.

Heck, if the ELR were priced at $49k rather than $70k it might already have started competing among some (older) demographics. An updated Volt could compete among the younger.

Young techies are interested in Tesla. They are also, apparently, the ones buying Volts. We have a lot of Volts in our parking lot (a fairly high tech company). When I picked up my C7, the sales guy asked what I did for a living and he was surprised because he said that every other tech guy he knew had sprung for a Volt.

I think GM _could_ be in the best position to compete if they get their heads out of their asses with Cadillac and trim the Volt's rear end by 50% so it looks like a real car.

mre30 - 12/10/2014 11:04:46 AM

+1 Boost

The only two from a "brand" perspective would be BMW or Porsche. I know about 5 Tesla owners and they all traded in the BMW's or Porsche's for Tesla's.

BMW with its "I" series (except the turd-like i3) once its been restyled and Porsche with a dedicated mid-size "wild" hybrid sedan.

In my opinion, the Tesla proposition is NOT a "trade-up" from a Prius situation, its a lateral trade from another extroverted, expensive, mid-size sedan or sports car.

Tesla's customers are the "new thing" crowd (not really those who want to save money by driving an electric car) and Tesla's primary challenge will be how to continually re-invent itself so it stays in that "new thing" category - its gonna be tough.

mre30 - 12/10/2014 11:20:37 AM

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Although I guess they technically didn't "trade-in" - just got their Tesla's when their leases were up.

chewy - 12/10/2014 1:30:28 PM

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The X won't be so much reinventing but it will definitely open up sales opportunities as crossovers generally have a broader appeal than sedans. The 3 will be a whole new game though!

Sciros - 12/10/2014 10:42:49 PM

+1 Boost

The Tesla is absolutely a trade-up among some folks. The younger crowd who is enviro-conscious, when they start earning "real" money and can move up from a Prius or Civic Hybrid or what-have-you, what's to stop them from looking toward Tesla?

The Oatmeal is a perfect example of someone who Tesla has won over that would never have gone for a 550i or anything else of that sort.

chewy - 12/11/2014 7:25:18 PM

+1 Boost

The Model 3 would definitely be a trade up to a Prius (older demo) but I also see it taking the BMW 3 series crowd (younger demo). Even with say 150 mile range.

On a side note, the Oatmeal is a great example of fame and money getting to people.

Sciros - 12/12/2014 12:12:49 AM

+1 Boost

God I wish some more fame and money could get to me, hah.