Audi To Invest A Third Of R&D Budget To Taking Down Tesla

Way late to the game.

Audi is way late to this game.

As an innovator in this area (aside from Tesla, which may slowly be fizzling), I'd say the innovation leader who will emerge will be Mercedes Benz.

Mercedes (smartly) has not been trumpeting its accomplishments and advances in this area, but between the S550 with the first-gen of MB's self-drive/cruise control system (which is basically a better engineered/positioned/marketed version of Tesla's Autopilot - same capabilities without the boastful name) and the launch of the new E-Class which is the closest vehicle out there to a self-driving car (though it has the usual Mercedes safety features built-in), Mercedes is the furthest ahead with this technology.

Once Tesla's mow down some pedestrians or smash into a Buick LeSabre full of senior citizens on their way to Bingo, it will be over for Tesla. The way Tesla positioned their "Autopilot" system is just stupid and narcissistic.

...also Mercedes has quietly rolled out "plug-in" versions of all of its cars from the C350e Plug-in Hybrid, S550e Plug-in Hybrid, the GLE550e Plug-In Hybrid, and the EV B-Class - Mercedes has this market covered in a subtle, quiet way, while they perfect the technology.

BMW and Toyota obviously also are successful in this segment, but Mercedes is the innovator with the staying power.

I don't know why Audi is wasting its money. According to the experts on this site, Tesla is going out of business in 1-2 years time anyway.

All companies will have to invest and introduce electric vehicles in the next 10 years - as many European and Asian countries are either favoring No emissions vehicles or requiring them. In china - the largest market - several areas will require cars like that (I assume Hydrogen powered cars are not EV's but will fill the bill) and Audi has no choice but to go along. And it is in THAT competition that Tesla will be taken down. Their sales model simply is not designed to compete with other brands - and the other brands having competing dealers as well.

However - until those requirements go into effect - the price of gas will still control the market for cars. As more EVs , Hybrids, and alternative Energy vehicles come to market - the oversupply of oil will simply result in even lower gas prices - and people will not buy ALternative vehicles unless it can be shown that they are competitive cost wise to run. Today - it is virtually impossible to justify the purchase of a Hybrid based on the "savings on fuel" against the increased vehicle cost. Maybe Lincoln has the answer in pricing their MKS Hybrid and entry level 4 cylinder at the same price. But I do drive a Hybrid for work - and in comparison - the Hybrids simply are not cars I would want to Drive all the time - they are simply appliances that move people. No fun at all. Especially the CVT transmissions that they seen to mostly have.

Being late to the game is EXACTLY how to play this. Audi and Porsche will no doubt share a lot of technology between their respective brands. We have to remember that there is nothing really revolutionary about Tesla's products. Sure, the batteries are in the floor, but ANY manufacturer designing an EV from scratch and not using existing platforms would do the same.

I would definitely buy an Audi EV over a Tesla and that's saying something given my "mild disdain" for Audis.

I will put money on one of the German companies or Toyota coming up with technology that allows an EV to be fully recharged in the time it take to fill up a gas tank.

Go, Go, Go Audi!

My (possibly incorrect) understanding is that the Audi A3 Sportback e-tron (what a name :-/) is actually a very respectable plug-in hybrid that can run pure electric, pure gas, gas/electric, and even recharge the batteries while under gas power. I can't help but think they'll turn out something that's at least "pretty good" as an EV.

We also must remember that Tesla is NOT built on new, patented tech, with which nobody else is familiar. Given VAG's much longer history in auto production, I believe they'll easily get past most of Tesla's teething pains and scalability challenges.

But will anyone care? The EV and hybrid market is sliding ever-quicker down-hill with low pump prices.

An Audi EV--ironically--could make me a believer.