Elon Musk once scoffed at the notion that BYD could compete with his company. Now, the automaker run by billionaire Wang Chuanfu is poised to be the new No. 1 in electric vehicles.
Not surprised in the slightest. All old guard (western +Japan) car manufacturers, Tesla Included, were greedy and delusional enough to think they could push virtually exclusively high-end, premium vehicles as BEVs. The few forays into affordable BEVs from the old guard auto makers were Zoey from Renault, the Leaf from Nissan and a few more but we got literally zero of the most sold body types as BEVs, i.e. hatchbacks, SUVs and station wagons. Instead we got Sedans, a dying breed outside BEVs and CUVs which lack the U part of the name and all at significant price premiums compared to their ICE sisters and cousins. Hell even the relatively cheap stuff like Mazda MX-30 and Peugeot Mokka-E / 2003-e are very premium for those brands.
Is this a US take? Serious question because in Europe, I see primarily SUVs being sold when it comes to EVs. Small and shitty ones yes, but still aiming to resemble at least the SUV look. E.g. VW ID3, ID4; these I see a lot on the streets over here. Big exception seem to be hybrids, they usually are sedans or hatchbacks.
… In what world is an ID3 or 4 an SUV? They’re the aforementioned CUVs I was bitching avout. And further why in the fuck are they so expensive? Where is an electric VW Polo for a pricetag the average family can actually afford? Say €30k ish. Not €45-60k
BYD as an example sell the Dolphin, a hatchback of the body type and size most sold in recent years in Europe, for €30k and a normal sized SUV (Atto 3) for €50k. And I’m very confident that they print money at those prices in Europe, but they can charge that because there is very little competition at anywhere near those price points and also even few actual models that are similar in body size while being BEVs
My bad, I just looked up what a CUV is and you are totally right. I’d go even further and say that there are barely any real “SUVs” around from European car makers, seems like the CUV label fits pretty much all of them (with few exceptions, usually the big ones like Audi Q5+, BMW X5+, VW Touareg). So I learned sth today, thanks!
Not surprised in the slightest. All old guard (western +Japan) car manufacturers, Tesla Included, were greedy and delusional enough to think they could push virtually exclusively high-end, premium vehicles as BEVs. The few forays into affordable BEVs from the old guard auto makers were Zoey from Renault, the Leaf from Nissan and a few more but we got literally zero of the most sold body types as BEVs, i.e. hatchbacks, SUVs and station wagons. Instead we got Sedans, a dying breed outside BEVs and CUVs which lack the U part of the name and all at significant price premiums compared to their ICE sisters and cousins. Hell even the relatively cheap stuff like Mazda MX-30 and Peugeot Mokka-E / 2003-e are very premium for those brands.
The Volkswagen e-Golf was literally just an electric GTI hatchback but they discontinued it…
Is this a US take? Serious question because in Europe, I see primarily SUVs being sold when it comes to EVs. Small and shitty ones yes, but still aiming to resemble at least the SUV look. E.g. VW ID3, ID4; these I see a lot on the streets over here. Big exception seem to be hybrids, they usually are sedans or hatchbacks.
… In what world is an ID3 or 4 an SUV? They’re the aforementioned CUVs I was bitching avout. And further why in the fuck are they so expensive? Where is an electric VW Polo for a pricetag the average family can actually afford? Say €30k ish. Not €45-60k
BYD as an example sell the Dolphin, a hatchback of the body type and size most sold in recent years in Europe, for €30k and a normal sized SUV (Atto 3) for €50k. And I’m very confident that they print money at those prices in Europe, but they can charge that because there is very little competition at anywhere near those price points and also even few actual models that are similar in body size while being BEVs
My bad, I just looked up what a CUV is and you are totally right. I’d go even further and say that there are barely any real “SUVs” around from European car makers, seems like the CUV label fits pretty much all of them (with few exceptions, usually the big ones like Audi Q5+, BMW X5+, VW Touareg). So I learned sth today, thanks!