Tesla's competitors find that going electric has its own set of problems

[Zorro]

Not all is good in EV Land.

Nio, a Chinese electric-car manufacturer vying to become the next Tesla, has fallen on hard times. A perfect storm of reduced government subsidies, uncertainty brought on by the trade war with the U.S., as well as generally lower demand in China has forced the manufacturer to cut more than 2,000 jobs and heavily “optimize” its business by spinning off non-core businesses by year’s end. The company’s shares have plummeted.

Unfortunately, Nio’s not alone. Harley-Davidson in mid-October briefly halted the production of its LiveWire electric motorcycle because of problems with charging the vehicle using low-voltage outlets (the ones found in your home or garage).

Similar problems plague Volkswagen unit Audi. In June, it was forced to recall the e-tron, its electric SUV, because of battery-fire risk. The company has recalled half of e-tron cars sold since the model was launched in April.

June was a month of recalls for Jaguar. Its I-Pace model has had problems with regenerative braking, which could lead to an increased delay between braking and the vehicle decelerating, increasing the risk of a crash.

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/teslas-competitors-find-that-going-electric-has-its-own-set-of-problems-2019-11-04

[ffr]

1. I always look at today's EVs as the Model T of their generation

Everything that comes out subsequently will be better. But even still, they're better than oxygen consuming cars.

[Nitram]

2. Yes, Musk made it look easy. How could someone with no previous experience in the car-manufacturing

industry come along and produce really workable electric cars starting from scratch? Now imagine the government had more strongly supported the purchase of electric cars and the installation of tens of thousands of charging stations along every major highway?