Quote:
Originally Posted by Cortexiphan
Building a car is not just about engine. Tesla might be 10 years ahead in terms of EV engines, but they’re about 100 years behind in terms of everything else, including service&dealer network. Also, BMW don’t need to pay Tesla any big bucks to use any of the technologies they have, since Tesla’s tech is open source thanks to an idealist running the company - Elon Musk.
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I'm not even sure I buy that they are ten years ahead in tech.
People go on and on about their batteries, but the whole design is based on the fact that cylindrical cells were the easiest to produce and were the cheapest commodity off the shelf design in the early 2010s. It simply wasn't feasible to use prismatics back then. They've done some great work to keep them cool and make the most of them, and sure they've customized the chemistry in some basic ways for EVs but flat cells are easier to heat sink. Tesla have switched to those in some markets as the price and availability of prismatic cells comes down. This is ignoring that they may yet produce a great solid state battery as rumored, maybe that will happen and we will see if the competition can catch up with that.
Porsche's 800 volt tech is superior to the current Tesla vehicle power distribution, higher voltage reduces cabling thickness and weight.
I suspect that Tesla is mostly superior in range because they push their safety thresholds to the limit. They learn they can let the batteries get 2° hotter without obvious effects, or they tweak the HVAC heater/AC to be less effective to market high range. When you get it on the road in heat or cold, those tweaks fall away.
I suppose it can be considered an advantage that they have enough data to pull back the safety nets, as opposed to someone like Audi who reserves a significant chunk of the battery capacity to ensure that DC charging is consistent speed and doesn't damage the battery. Audi may not need to be so conservative, if they had more data.
I feel like there are a great many car manufacturers with some EV experience gained over the last decade, there are a lot of PHEVs out there, at least. Some auto makers will benefit from the current state of battery tech and OEM equipment from the likes of Bosch and Delphi, get a jump start and avoid tech debt.
Tesla has done some great things for the industry and put the pressure on. However, when you're the first you end up solving problems that are more to do with being first and perhaps throwing away your efforts. You make the mistakes others won't have to in the name of bringing the whole sector forward.
This article hurts me though, because BMW *is* super late to the party. For all the evolution going on they've been slow to react. All I can think is FINALLY!