Quote:
Originally Posted by matbl
If it were only scandinavia it would be a different story. But the fact is that the world's biggest car market, china, is moving even faster. Also, most parts of western europe incl. BMW's home market are moving in that direction too.
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I am talking about per capita which is the figure that would drive perception.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elec...use_by_country
The Netherlands and Norway are way out in front of anyone else. Sweden is in the mix. Yes, the US, China, Japan, and some European countries are there too, and the former three even lead in total sales. But on a market share basis, only in Scandinavia could EVs start to be considered common and be encountered on a regular basis.
Sure, these numbers will increase, but the automakers, including BMW, are obviously aware hence their plans to build more EVs. If anything, Tesla will be the one hanging on, at least for the next decade and a half, because they offer no PHEVs or other hybrids and never will. The transition to a pure EV world will go through a long interim period of electrified vehicle powertrains of various types, just as we are seeing today. The traditional automakers can flex powertrains as necessary to meet demand, and this type of strategy will dominate by the end of the 2020s. Testa, Lucid, and the other startups will have to survive on pure EV sales alone, or perhaps become suppliers to the big players. A vehicle with a REx, just for example, even if the ICE is only necessary 10% of the time, will be a lot easier a sell than an EV until range anxiety is no longer a thing.
So, from the looks of things, BMW has the right idea. The products are ramping up for next decade when the EV/electrified push takes off in high gear. I personally think this is going to be fun to watch. An historic period in the auto industry for sure.