GM VS TESLA IN THE 200 MILE RACE

The story of Elon Musk and GM’s race to build the first mass-market electric car

Steve Levine, August 25, 2014 (Quartz)

“One of the hottest clashes in technology pits two pathmakers in the new era of electric cars—Tesla and General Motors. Both are developing pure electrics that cost roughly $35,000, travel 200 miles on a single charge, and appeal to the mass luxury market…The stakes are enormous…Experts regard 200 miles as a tipping point, enough to cure many potential electric-car buyers of…the fear of being stranded when their battery expires. If GM and Tesla crack this, sales of individual electrics could jump from 2,000 or 3,000 vehicles a month to 15 to 20 times that rate…But there is a price to such distance. The 208-mile S starts at around $70,000…Getting 200 miles of range in a $35,000 car will require a battery that can leap over the best lithium-ion technology known to be within reach. And to be ready for 2017 or even 2018 models, it has to accomplish the jump with astonishing speed…Musk’s battery economics are superior…[and GM also] lacks the pizzazz, the style, and the engineering…This makes Musk the bettors’ favorite. Yet where Musk is gambling his company on the success of the Model 3, GM has options. It could ignore Tesla, and surrender the $30,000-$40,000 electric market, along with the technological crown that will go with it…and pull a winning, 200-mile automobile from the drawing boards of its design-and-engineering teams…[or] produce an entirely different, 200-mile car, one aimed at a lower demography, such as that served by its $14,000 Chevy Sonic… GM would arguably leapfrog over Musk, into the biggest mass market of all…” click here for more

click to enlarge

Tweet