Which Automakers Can Seriously Challenge Tesla?

Several major

automakers

are making big bets on the electric vehicle market. But so far, the U.S. E.V. market seems to belong to one automaker,

Tesla

, of the 246,000 new electric vehicles sold in the United States in 2019 . Nearly 194,000 were

Tesla

's of one kind or another. That is more than three times the amount sold by all other manufacturers combined. The

Tesla

Model Three sold nearly 160,000 units alone. No other vehicle from any other manufacturer came close. The next biggest seller

was the Chevrolet Bolt,

which

sold roughly 16,400 units a fraction of the Model Three's volume. Investing in

Tesla

is said to not be for the faint of heart. But as the automaker has managed to get a handle on production of its model, three introduce other models and expand its presence in China. Its stock has climbed, hitting new highs above $900 in February 2020. For years s keptics have warned of a tsunami of competitors coming for the pioneering electric car brand and starting in just a

few months and really accelerating next year and into 2018. It's just going to be swarmed with long range electric car competition. Still,

Tesla

. A Few vehicles have been released so far, but sales indicate that any one of them has failed to make a significant dent in

Tesla

's share of the E.V. market. So far, the

Tesla

killers haven't really killed

Tesla

at all, but more rivals are coming and they are being launched by massive

automakers

who have been making cars for a long time. So

who are they and how much of a chance do they have? First, it helps to look at what they're up against. Analysts and industry watchers debate the reasons why

Tesla

is so dominant in EVs. There are a few clear ones on paper. First of all,

Tesla

's have some of the best ranges available of all electric cars on the market. And

Tesla

's biggest seller, the Model 3, starts at about $39,000 , not far from the average price of a new vehicle in the US.

Tesla

's have also garnered praise for

their innovative design, both on the outside and the inside. But there are criticisms of

Tesla

, as well as a relatively small and young automaker.

Tesla

has been plagued by manufacturing difficulties,

which

has left hopeful buyers waiting a long time for reserved vehicles. Veteran competitors have even used their manufacturing experience as a selling point when marketing their own electric models, telling customers they won't have to wait for a newly unveiled vehicle.

Tesla

customers have

also complained about troubles, obtaining parts and service.

Tesla

's success seems to defy the odds in other ways. Out of the three models it currently sells to are traditional sedans in a market that has been increasingly favoring sport utility vehicles since the U.S. economy emerged from the Great Recession. Its only SUV available so far. The Model X carries a very high end price tag. But

Tesla

fans, loyalists and would be buyers are so far undeterred. The company seems to attract a lot of

hype and attention. Many industry watchers say that much of what sells

Tesla

cars is

Tesla

itself, as well as its charismatic, if often controversial leader Elon Musk. Despite gripes about long waits for service, serial production, setbacks and criticisms of the company's build, quality buyers still seem to want to be part of the

Tesla

vision. The renowned industry reviewer Consumer Reports, has both praised and criticized

Tesla

vehicles, but it says the brand seems to have something

special, no one else has been able to capture. Well, I think that's exactly it. I mean, think a lot of interest in

Tesla

more so the fact that they're looking for an electric car. So the fact that

Tesla

is the innovator is the latest thing is the latest technology. That is what is so attractive to so many people. So the question is,

which

brands can compete with

Tesla

?

Which

ones are meant to? What are potential

Tesla

buyers shopping? On the higher end where

Tesla

tends to play? There

are cars such as the Audi E Tron, the Jaguar I-Pace and the BMW i3. Porsche began delivering its long awaited Taycan to U.S. customers in December. It's expected to follow that up with at least one other model, an electric version of its Macan crossover. Mainstream electric vehicles include the Chevrolet Bolt, the Honda Clarity Electric, a couple cars from Hyundai the Kia Niro the long selling Nissan Leaf and Leaf Plus and the Volkswagen E-Golf. There are several others scheduled for release

starting in 2020 from major brands, especially in the premium segments and near the higher end of the mainstream market where

Tesla

currently competes. Ford unveiled its Mustang Mach E. in November, 2019. The company expects to begin deliveries in late 2020 and said it has already reached its order limit for a first edition version of the vehicle. Despite what some have called a muted response to its E-Tron, Audi is planning more E-Tron variants, including a midsize SUV called the Q4 E-Tron, a

high performance GT and a sport back version. BMW is expected to launch the i4 a more sport focused car for its electric i brand, whereas the i3 was more of a small city car that even elicited some derision from BMW purists. The i4 comes with 523 horsepower. BMW's Mini Cooper brand will supply the city car the Mini Cooper s e expected in early 2020. Mercedes Benz parent Daimler said in December it would delay the U.S. launch of its EQC electric crossover until 2021. About a year after its

originally intended launch time in early 2020, a more sedan like car called the EQS is also expected. Smaller luxury brands are pushing into electric vehicles in the near future as well. Jaguar is planning an electric version of its XJ sedan and Volvo is working on an electric XC40 Compact SUV as well as a high performance crossover through its sister brand Polestar. Automotive colossus Volkswagen is throwing its weight behind electric vehicles apart from its higher end products. Under Porsche,

Audi and other brands, the German giant is planning several Volkswagen branded EVs, including a crossover called the ID Crozz and a revival of the legendary VW bus called the ID Buzz. Then there are the smaller brands and startups such as Bollinger, Lordstown, Lucid and the troubled Faraday Future. Many, many such vehicles are planned, including several in a very American segment electric vehicle manufacturers so far have barely touched pickup trucks.

Tesla

introduced perhaps its most ambitious

and polarizing design yet in 2019. The cyber truck this puts the company at least technically, squarely in competition with pickups segment heavyweights such as Ford, Fiat Chrysler, and General Motors. Truck sales in the U.S. are dominated by Detroit. Ford has said it plans to release a fully electric version of its best selling F-Series full-size pickup. General Motors plans to revive its once potent Hummer brand name as an all electric vehicle. GM said at the end of January 2020, it will spend

$2.2 billion at its Detroit Hamtramck assembly plant to produce several all electric trucks and SUVs to build a new generation of electric pickup trucks, SUVs, and other EVs, beginning late just this next year,. Buzzed about startup revision is working on its own electric pickup truck. The R1 T is slated for release along with a similar sized sport utility vehicle in 2020. Rivian is promising 400 miles of range on a single charge, a wading depth of more than three feet and zero to 60

acceleration in three seconds. Ford invested $500 million in the startup in 2019 and plans to release an SUV bearing its luxury Lincoln badge that is based on technology developed by Rivian. Meanwhile,

Tesla

's cyber truck design seems to baffle some industry watchers. Some investors have called it weird, really weird. Musk defended the truck's polarizing design on a conference call after the automaker released earnings for the fourth quarter of 2019. For the cyber track. A few months

ago, we revealed th e cyber truck that went viral and we tried to build a product that is superior in every way without any preconceptions of how such a product should look. So it really just from a standpoint of what's the most bad ass futuristic armored personnel carrier that, you know, kicks the ass of any pickup truck? Basically, that's the goal. And we wanted to look like something that just came out of a sci-fi movie set from the future. On the same call, Musk said

Tesla

's

demand exceeds what the company can produce over three or four years. We've never seen actually such a level of demand at this. We've never seen anything like it. Basically. I think we will make us about as many as we can sell for many years. So sell as many as we can make. It's going to be pretty nuts. So and I think actually that the product is better than people realize, even though they don't even have enough information to realize, just the awesomeness of it. It's just

great. Industry watchers say that the move into trucks is another way for

automakers

to try to make the best of a difficult situation. Both investor excitement over

Tesla

and increasing regulatory pressure are forcing legacy

automakers

to come up with some kind of electric vehicle plan. But it is commonly thought that electric vehicles are so far still a tough sell for many buyers. EVs remain a tiny slice of the U.S. auto market and are heavily concentrated in states such as California, where

high fuel prices, government policies and incentives and perhaps a dash of culture all contribute to higher electric vehicle sales. EV demand in the U.S. market has been pretty modest through the years. Consider that it took an entire human generation for 44 alternative energy models combined to achieve one half of the market share of the Ford F-Series pickup. The best selling pickup in the United States. Around the world, it seems the healthiest electric vehicle markets are supported heavily by

government intervention. The largest car market in the world, China is also the largest market for electric vehicles.

Tesla

surprised The automotive world, by being the first foreign car company to gain permission to manufacture in the country without partnering with a Chinese firm, electric vehicle sales were growing in China until the government cut subsidies for battery electric vehicles. In June of 2019, sales began falling that next July. Just weeks later, while early electric and hybrid

vehicles were sedans and compact cars, newer models are increasingly sport utility vehicles and pickups, areas of the auto market that have grown tremendously in demand over the last decade. There are also vehicles customers are willing to pay more for compared with similarly sized passenger cars. That combination suggests

automakers

will have an easier time moving them off the lot and absorbing the high costs of electric vehicle technology. But they will still have to find a way to

challenge

the awesome brand power and cult like following

Tesla

has achieved.