"Wow, looks like a jungle resort. Did I see a gorilla in the mist"
Elise from Australia tells us:
“A $20 is a Lobster
A $50 is a pineapple
A $100 is a spot
$500 a monkey
$1000 a gorilla.
Don't know bout you, but I'm looking forward to seeing a LOT of "Gorillas" in my Misty Old SMSF in the Not too distant Future thanks mainly to AVZ / EV Revolution, after all
Well, it is imo, as well as a few others i could name, Elon / Tesla for 1, VW at 2, etc etc
As,
Volkswagen Will Be World’s Largest EV Manufacturer By 2030, Claims New Report
to reach that goal, Volkswagen will need to capture 53% of the global market for electric cars between now and 2028.
“The company would also need to secure 57% of all EV battery pack production, something that would prove to be extremely challenging,” he says.
He thinks it is more realistic to expect Volkswagen to produce about 14 to 16 million EVs in the coming decade. Even those reduced numbers would represent 27% to 39% of the global market and make VW top dog in the electric car world.
In an online research note, Chandrasekaran writes, “VW views battery electric vehicles as the most effective means of CO2 reduction.
Currently, there is very little overlap between the top ten automakers and top ten BEV makers. In fact, only three companies – Nissan, Hyundai and VW – appear on both lists.
VW sat in second place, behind Toyota, for all car sales in 2018, however dropped down to tenth place for BEV sales in the same year.”
The company obviously has to have its supply chain in place to achieve the production totals it projects.
“VW has reached an agreement with Ganfeng to supply lithium for the next decade,” Chandrasekaran notes.
“It also has cell supply deals with Samsung SDI, LG Chem, SK Innovation and CATL.
Most recently, VW invested $1 billion in Northvolt, a Swedish battery manufacturer.”
What About Tesla?
Tesla is ramping up production at a torrid pace these days. Might it challenge Volkswagen for the lead in the electric car sales race? In a separate research note, Wood Mackenzie says that could only happen if Tesla introduces less expensive, entry level cars — something Volkswagen is already planning on doing, especially in the critical China market.
During the Q3 conference call in 2019, Elon Musk said he expects Tesla to control 1% of the global new car market. But Ram Chandrasekaran thinks Tesla will need less expensive offerings to reach that goal.
“Tesla CEO, Elon Musk, has publicly discussed the possibility of launching an entry-level car to compete in a new market. Interesting to note, the most traded-in car for a Model 3 is a Toyota Prius — which is incidentally priced at $24,200.
If Tesla successfully launched such a vehicle, the company would be well positioned to hit its 1% target by mid-2020s.”
It is wonderful news that Volkswagen expects to sell more than 20 million electric cars in the coming decade and that Tesla is building new factories in China and Germany. But there are billions of internal combustion powered vehicles in the world and they all must be replaced if there is to be any hope of lowering worldwide carbon emissions.
It is not enough to celebrate the fact that the EV revolution is finally happening.
Like a big-budget sports team on a free-agent acquisition binge, the car industry has been rapidly acquiring new players. And as there’s no overpriced ball park program for car buyers to work from, we thought we had better put together a guide to the rookies.
As usual, not all of these newcomers are going to make it in the league, but the season is young, optimism is in the air and we will soon see which of them has what it takes to compete in the major leagues.
Here’s a guide to the newest crop of car companies.
Coda Automotive
With a contract to provide electric cars to Hertz, Coda looks to be solidifying its footing as a player in the electric car business. The company plans to kick off retail sales of its new electric car in California in 2011 and will roll out sales to the rest of the country soon after. The California-based company does final assembly in the Golden State using sub-assemblies imported from China. The company’s challenge will be to interest U.S. customers in buying its unremarkably generic compact sedan for $37,400 when they can now just as easily buy one from a mainstream automaker.
Wheego Electric Cars
Despite an Atlanta headquarters, Wheego thinks that air conditioning should be an option (and not a standard feature) in its Smart car lookalike electric car (and the company wants you to pay $1,995 for it!). The LiFe two-seater’s base price is $32,995, and like most current electric models it’s approximate driving range is 100 miles. Its small size, 65 mph top speed and relatively high price compared to similar cars from established brands could make LiFe tough for Wheego. The company promises to start delivering cars at the beginning of 2011.
Tesla Motors
With the arrival of financial angel Toyota, Tesla’s immediate future is solidified as the company moves from its racy Lotus-derived Roadster to developing its $56,500 Model S luxury sedan. This baby will rocket from 0 to 60 in 5.6 seconds and top out at 120 mph when Tesla gets it into production. Doubt about that eventuality should be eased by the $30 million investment in Tesla by Panasonic and Tesla’s deal to electrify RAV4 SUVs for Toyota, giving the startup company some stability as its gears up for production of the Model S.
Think
Think isn’t really a new company, but it’s new to most consumers because Ford never consummated its plan to sell Think City cars in the U.S. Now the Norwegian company has set up final assembly in Elkhart, Ind., using lithium-ion batteries from Indianapolis and has contracts to sell its cars to government fleets, which should provide reliable income. More importantly, Think is already delivering its diminutive four-seaters to fleet customers. Hopefully a retail price and deliveries will follow.
Fisker Automotive
Befitting its sublimely sophisticated founder Henrik Fisker, Fisker Automotive is blessedly short on bluster and credibility-eroding unfounded claims (in contrast to some other notable electric car start-ups). Instead, the company is quietly building substance to match the slinky looks of its Karma extended-range electric prestige car.
The company says it has 3,000 “pre-orders” for its cars and plans to sell them through a network of 42 dealers nationwide.
Tango Commuter Cars
Tango
If a Smart car fell into the Death Star’s trash compactor like Luke and the gang did in "Star Wars," it might well pop out looking like the skinny Tango T600. Interested DIY types can buy a kit to build one, while those more interested in driving than building can put their names on a waiting list for a fully-assembled version. No price is yet available, but the company does list a like-new used car on its website with an asking price of $150,000.
BYD
BYD (now said to stand for “Build Your Dreams” started life as a contract manufacturer called Build Your Design, and it leads the Chinese charge into the U.S. market. As with other Chinese carmakers, BYD is finding that selling cars in the U.S. is tougher than one might guess based on the runaway success of import brands here.
While the company’s products and activities in the U.S. may look inept so far, when a company has the backing of the Chinese government export machine we can expect that they aren’t going away until every Wal-Mart is stacked floor to ceiling with BYDs.
GEM
Global Electric Motorcars, or GEM, is a small car company, but it’s owned by a much larger one called Chrysler. Now that might not exactly be a financial Rock of Gibraltar, but it’s significantly more substantive than some of the wing-and-a-prayer companies emerging in the electric car segment. GEM builds neighborhood electric vehicles — that is, glorified golf carts that you can legally drive on many urban and suburban streets with low speed limits. These simplified machines provide an affordable route to electric car ownership and are ideal for fleets (and for golf communities).
SABA Motors
SABA Motors promises to soon deliver a Tesla-like, two-seat electric roadster that accelerates to 60 mph in five seconds and reaches a top speed of 105 mph with a driving range of between 120 and 140 miles per charge. But Tesla already sells similar cars and SABA doesn’t even list a price. Even so, SABA is aggressively seeking investors.
Venturi
A French company building exotic cars in Monaco and Columbus, Ohio (wait, where and where?), Venturi is developing the “America” — a jacked-up, two-seat electric dune buggy. The thinking, apparently, is that Americans will buy anything with generous ground clearance, hence the high-riding America roadster. With 300 hp and a whopping 54 kilowatt-hour battery pack (that’s more than twice the capacity of the Chevy Volt’s battery), the America seems likely to achieve its promised driving range of nearly 190 miles.
started life as a contract manufacturer called Build Your Design, and it leads the Chinese charge into the U.S. market. As with other Chinese carmakers, BYD is finding that selling cars in the U.S. is tougher than one might guess based on the runaway success of import brands here.
(20min delay)