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Mercedes Unveils First Tesla Rival In $12 Billion Attack (bloomberg.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Bloomberg: Mercedes-Benz, the world's largest maker of luxury cars, is rolling out its first in a series of battery-powered models, adding to a growing array of high-end brands targeting Tesla. The Mercedes EQC crossover starts production in the first half of next year, part of a plan to develop its EQ electric line, Daimler AG Chief Executive Officer Dieter Zetsche told reporters in Stockholm at the car's world premiere. The company intended to invest $12 billion on the electric-car push, but the spending has become "more than that," he said Tuesday, without specifying figures. "There is no alternative to betting on electric cars, and we're going all in," Zetsche said. "It is starting right now." The new EQC -- roughly the size of the brand's popular GLC SUV -- features a range of more than 280 miles and accelerates to 62 mph in as little as 5.1 seconds. The Model X has a range of 237 miles. Daimler doesn't plan to establish a dedicated electric assembly plant and will instead build the vehicles at the same sites as conventional automobiles to be able to better adjust output, Zetsche said, adding that he expects demand to mainly eat into sales of combustion cars rather than lure new customers.
Superfast acceleration is perhaps #231 on the list of must-haves for prospective buyers of this type of car. The importance things to compete on are range, charging, looks, room, quality, comfort. Especially looks... many automakers get this wrong and think that when desiging an EV, you must toss all common styling wisdom out the window (hello BMW i3, you nasty eyesore). One thing that made Teslas so popular is that they are fairly normal looking vehicles.
If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...
Electric car owners will find themselves at public charging stations infrequently. As an ICE owner, I have to refill at a gas station once a week. An electric car owner generally charges overnight at home, and only has to charge on the road occasionally when their trip is longer than 250 miles. Sure- if you're going to say "But I have a 300 mile trip every week!" then an electric car may not be for you. But you would be greatly in the minority.