Is 2020 the Year of the Electric Car? Tesla, VW, and Ford say yes (Honda disagrees)
Turn me on with your electric wheel... Mother Earth isn't a fan of burning gas — So is 2020 the year we switch to something else? The verdict is: a (strong) maybe. Carmakers spent the final week of 2019 humblebragging their future-focused electrification accomplishments.
- Ford announced it's sold out of pre-orders for the first electric car it's actually serious about: Mustang Mach-E (this ain't no "compliance car").
- Tesla just delivered its first 15 models produced in China, capping an insane under 1 year start-to-finish construction of its car-pumping Shanghai Gigafactory.
- VW can't contain its e-citement, so it's accelerated its goal to produce 1M fully electric cars by 2023 instead of 2025.
Honda isn't convinced... The Boston Red Sox to Toyota's Yankees, Honda's experience with electric goes back to '99 (remember that salamander-looking Insight?). So its CEO is qualified to say he's "not sure" the world wants full-electric cars yet. Instead, Honda's focused on improving fuel efficiency with ybrid tech and won't go full electric "anytime soon."
Electric's 2 biggest issues = Price + Battery... If you haven't bought an electric car, it's probably because they're too expensive or you're nervous about running out of juice mid-ride (aka "range anxiety"). Carmakers know that — here are some ways they're trying to fix it:
- Price problem: Analysts think e-cars won't be price-competitive until 2024-ish when battery prices fall more. Meantime, Tesla's China plant can produce cheaper, and tariff-free, for Chinese buyers.
- Battery problem: Ford's Mach-E boasts a 300-mile option that 80% of pre-orders include. And VW is building a nationwide charging network so you can plug in mid-bathroom pitstop.