Pen Truth

Mike Trethowan

 

Remember when Experts in the  media told the world that Electric Vehicles will not be viable until they can get ranges similar to a gasoline vehicle?  Well many electric vehicles, “EVs” already do get equivalent or even better range than my gasoline vehicle with a 25 gallon fuel tank.  There are many EVs to spotlight, but as Faraday is big in the news currently, for better and for worse, I start there.

I love the look of the Faraday, but will the production vehicle be as impressive?  I hope so, because as Elon Musk has often intimated, competition is crucial for advancement. However, Faraday’s faux pas at CES 2017 (Consumer Electronics Show) in Los Vegas where the FF91 reveal took place didn’t help the company image very well.  The Faraday FF91 claims an estimated 378 miles between charges, while the Tesla, which I very much would like to own boasts a range of 315 miles.  Both Tesla and Faraday range claims are impressive, however these are high end vehicles that many in the middle class cannot afford, which is the demographic that needs to be reached.  The Chevy Bolt, in a September 2016 press release claimed better mileage than a Tesla Model 3 at 238 miles. While that is impressive as well, like the Faraday FF91, a vehicle not yet in production competing against a production vehicle, Chevy Bolt competing against a non production vehicle is simply absurd.

However, the point here is that ranges comparable to gasoline is being achieved.  As range of EVs will absolutely increase with time is a given, the manufacturers should really now focus on Charge Times.  With EV ranges now allowing one to drive, from say San Diego to Phoenix on a single charge, one still faces a multi hour charge time and in a large city one can wait several hours in line just to plug in.  Taking Moors Law into account, we will not have to wait long for 500 mile range with a one hour charge time… But until then the best bet for the middle class income earner, Hybrid Vehicles are the best bet.

Tesla has reached many impressive sales milestones.

  • 2013, 15,585 units
  • 2014, 18,485 units
  • 2015, 50,580 units
  • 2016, 83,992 units. (not the +90,000 that the company had expected.)

Tesla’s unit sales, even though these are high end vehicles shows the direction of consumer demand for an alternative to gasoline.   These numbers probably could have more than doubled as Pre-orders from Tesla Model 3 were well above 400,000 at this point, but as the Tesla website now states; “Delivery estimate for new reservations is mid 2018 or later…”  The pre-orders of the Tesla Model 3 seems demonstrate to all that the EV has arrived as a strong consumer product.  For me personally, I eagerly waited and as much as I would rather have a Tesla I will look to another company for my needs.

Disclosure: I currently hold stock in Tesla Motors Inc. NASDAQ: TSLA

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