Comments by "Scott Franco" (@scottfranco1962) on "DW Documentary"
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Its a good documentary. It also feels older than its date here on youtube, a lot of emphasis on the model S, not much model 3. I like the fact that they actually found and interviewed an ex-Tesla employee. American TV has been really behind the curve in showing the real face of Tesla.
The german makers are stepping up to the plate with mid-price cars with real range and charge times like the e-tron. However, they have a lot of ground to make up and tesla is moving ahead again, with lower prices and a new 250kW charger vs. the 150kW/350kW chargers of the CCS family. The issue there is that Tesla is far, far ahead in charger numbers. The vast majority of CCS charging stations are 50kW or even less (its hard to tell since the best web site, plugshare, will not filter by charger wattage). Eventually, the American makers along with Europe will wake up and push chargers, but this is not really their priority right now, since the number of cars capable of 150kW or better charging is minimal.
The lag was the german makers has been impressive. BMWs car series has been expensive cars with the same range, < 100 miles, as the low end EVs with no competition for Tesla whatever. The Porsche Taycan is competition for the Model S, a high end one at that, a car that is already going obsolete. Good luck finding a 350kW charger for this science project. The e-tron is more direct competition for what is becoming the main car of Tesla, the model 3, but again, is far behind on the charging curve. VW shows the most promise, but so far that is all we have seen from them, promises promises.
In short, the german makers are talking now about waking up and meeting the competition from Tesla. If that is true, then the german makers need to put down the coffee and get on the train to work. Time is ticking away.
One thing I think gets lost in the "car makers vs. Tesla" story is that EV makers around the world are not competing against american car makers, who are still (by comparison) fast asleep (in the back of a pickup truck). They are competing against silicon valley, and silicon valley companies MOVE. Like rapidly.
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