Tag Archives: Tesla

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Volkswagen ID.7 Vizzion is 57.4% cheaper in China than in EU

The new electric sedan Volkswagen ID.7 Vizzion is coming to the Chinese market, and the most attention is attracted by the price of the car, which is 57.4 percent cheaper than in Germany. Why is this so, whether and in what way the Chinese authorities help manufacturers to be more competitive on the market?

The Chinese authorities subsidize domestic car manufacturers in various ways, through loans from state-owned banks, capital reserves from state investment funds or lower electricity fees. A few years ago, the Chinese government gave about one billion euros to Nio to save it from bankruptcy. However, it was not just financial support, because with that money the government bought a 24 percent stake in the company. After that, there was another financial injection from an unnamed state banking house in the amount of 1.5 billion euros. Now the government is helping Nio with 32,000 euros per car.

In order to be more competitive in China, VW reduced car prices last month, which turned out to be good, when it comes to sales. However, growth was achieved primarily through the sale of low-cost cars such as the Lavida sedan (13,345 euros), putting VW in second place with 1.56 million vehicles sold. BYD was first with 1.79 million vehicles sold, and Toyota was third with 1.24 million cars.

What may worry VW and its Chinese partners is the problem of low demand for their battery vehicles, as the company is sold 92,332 units. Compared to the biggest competitor, BYD (893,754 vehicles), the problem seems even bigger. Also, Tesla managed to sell five times more electric vehicles (433,729).

Another reason why cars made in China are cheaper compared to the rest of the world is cheap labor. A manufacturing worker there earns about a third of what an American or European auto worker earns annually. Also, Reuters recently wrote about an unnamed employee of the Changan Automobile Factory in Che-fei, who experienced a reduction in income and left his job in July, because his salary in May and June was only four thousand yuan a month (about 512 euros ), instead of 900 euros as he expected.

How the rest of the world, primarily Europe and the USA, will react to the increasing pressure that Chinese manufacturers are putting on the global market remains to be seen.

Source: VW, Reuters, NYT

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Volkswagen ID.7 Vizzion is 57.4% cheaper in China than in EU
Auctions

Tesla Cybertruck sold for $400,000 USD

In 2019, Tesla presented its first and so far only electric full-size pickup truck, the Cybertruck. Tesla announced that it has received two million orders, and interestingly, not a single copy has been delivered to the customer, at least not yet. However, one copy of the Tesla Cybertruck was recently sold at auction.

The Cybertruck was sold at the Petersen Museum auction for $400,000. Each guest paid $1,750 for a seat, while a table cost $17,500 or $30,000 for a premier table.

In July, American media reported that they heard a little earlier that Tesla had already informed suppliers to be ready for the start of production of the Cybertruck at the end of August, while delivery would begin by the end of the year.

Each potential customer needs to pay a deposit of only 100 dollars, so there is a possibility that a large number of reservations will not be realized. It will be interesting to see if the Cybertruck will be available outside of the North American market (Europe and Asia) where customers can already pre-order the model. Because of its size and weight, selling the Cybertruck in overseas markets could pose a serious challenge. For example, in several European countries it must be classified as a commercial truck or truck.

Cybertruck will be powered by three electric motors with a total output of 805 hp (600 kW) and 1,033 lb-ft (1,400 Nm), which is enough to push the car to 62 mph in just 3 seconds with a top speed of 130 mph (209 km/h). It has a range of up to 500 miles.

Source: @haleykesparza and @greggertruck via Twitter

News

Hyundai electric cars will use Tesla Supercharger charging stations

Tesla is the largest investor in electric vehicle infrastructure and the owner of 50,000 Supercharger charging stations that can also be used by other electric cars. After General Motors, Honda, Jaguar, Nissan and Volvo, now owners of Hyundai electric cars that have adopted the NACS charging standards can use these charging stations.

The Hyundai Group also announces that Hyundai, Kia and Genesis electric models will be equipped with NACS connectors that are compatible with Tesla charging stations, and that from 2024 they will be able to charge at them throughout North America.

By the end of next year, the Korean group claims that all models sold in North America will be equipped with NACS connectors. Also, from 2025, all other owners who already have an electric model of one of the Korean brands equipped with a CCS connection, will be able to order a special adapter, so that they can use Tesla chargers.

Tesla is the largest manufacturer of electric cars in the world and recently announced that it produced its 5 millionth car. The growth of production started three years ago when in just 18 months Tesla exceeded the production of two million vehicles, three million in just 11 months, and four million seven months later. All this was achieved thanks to the large capacities of Tesla’s factories, but also to the great demand. At the beginning of July, the company announced that it had built the first Cybertruck in Giga Texas and that it had received more than 1.9 million orders.

Source: Hyundai