Volkswagen Revs Its Batteries
Imagine a €1.2 billion mega-factory pumping out 904 electric cars every day, and so large it needs 66 zip addresses. Well, that’s what Tesla is now up against!
The German economy is driven by car manufacturing, which is why yesterday, Chancellor Angela Merkel paid a visit to “the Detroit of East Germany.” She cut ribbons, shook hands, and pulled the cloth off her country’s first electric car “accessible to millions,” the ‘ID.3!’ It’s a compact car that’ll be built out of an all-electric Volkswagen plant, and by “accessible to millions,” the giant auto-maker means it will cost 30,000 euros.
Volkswagen is keen to protect home turf as Tesla has grown sales in Germany by 453% since March. Market share is being redistributed as electric cars disrupt the combustion engine, so Volkswagen better hit the gas (or the power bank?) before it gets left behind!
Every major car brand is rushing to adapt and catch up with Tesla on the technology curve. The industry also needs consumer behavior to change. Most electric cars are bought by early-adopting types who want to take part in ‘the great experiment,’ not the majority of people. Not only that, but this first batch of commercial, mass-appealing electric cars are also facing the slings and arrows from environmentalists of all people!
What powers a power station? Coal. There’s also the concern that further down the road, hydrogen fuel cells, antimatter, and supercapacitors, will prove more useful than lithium-ion batteries. If this tells investors anything, it’s that the race has a way to go yet!
