While American electric carmaker Tesla Motor Corporation is still looking at how to ramp up its production for its upcoming Tesla Model 3 slated for release late next year, the Chevrolet Bolt will be making it to the market before the end of the year, giving it a clear headstart.
Although it would seem that it would be a head-to-head competition between Tesla and Chevrolet in the electric sedan segment, with the Nissan Leaf as the third competitor but miles behind, it seems that the complexion of the market is about to change after the Paris Motor Show 2016 this week.
German carmaker, Volkswagen, has just unveiled on September 27 a new long-range electric car that could easily rival the Tesla Model 3 and the Chevrolet Bolt and likely beat anyone of them to the draw if they don’t deliver their promises.
Volkswagen’s new electric car called the I.D., is expected to cost less than $30,000, which would make it far cheaper than the Tesla Model 3 and the Chevrolet Bolt. It will have much longer range, and it could go up to about 375 miles on a single charge as explained by Volkswagen during the Paris Motor Show 2016, details CNN Money.
As a matter of comparison, the Chevrolet Bolt, which goes on sale at the end of this year, has a starting price of $37,500, before U.S. government tax breaks, and a driving range of 238 miles. The Tesla Model 3 is expected to go on sale in late 2017 with a starting price of $35,000 and a driving range of 215 miles.
It should be noted, however, that Volkswagen has yet to announce what kind of method or methods it used in calculating the range of I.D. or electric cars in general.
Maximizing interior space
Because the Volkswagen I.D. does not have a bulky internal combustion engine, designers were able to maximize the interior space in the electric car.
While the I.D. is about the same size as a Volkswagen Golf compact car on the outside, it is as roomy inside as the mid-sized VW Passat, according to the German carmaker.
The concept car VW unveiled in Paris, with super-thin blue tires and a light-up VW insignia, conveys some idea of what the I.D. will ultimately look like.
Volkswagen executives said the I.D. will cost roughly the same as a well-equipped VW Golf diesel. That puts the car’s price at a little less than $30,000 in the U.S., before government tax breaks.
Jurgen Stockmann, Volkswagen Group board member, said that when the I.D. goes on sale it won’t be self-driving. It will be loaded with all of the hardware necessary to convert it to an autonomous vehicle, though, such as sensors and various computers. He added that full self-driving capability will come later with software updates that can be downloaded wirelessly.
Converting Model 3 to Model S orders
In light of its production challenge, Tesla Motors has been actively trying to convert some of its 400,000 Model 3 reservations to Model S orders.
The American electric carmaker has been reaching out to Tesla Model 3 reservation holders after it unveiled a new lower-priced Model S 60 to try to convince them to change their reservation into an order, notes Electrek.
According to a Tesla analyst, Bard Erickson of Pacific Crest, the method could not only be working, but he estimates that as many as a third of Tesla’s Model S orders are coming from Model 3 reservation holders.
He explained that Tesla is tracking to the low end of its previously stated delivery target of 80,000 to 90,000 units for 2016. The electric car manufacturer is using various discounting mechanisms to do so.
Meanwhile, Tesla Motor Corporation may have shot itself in the foot with its recent strategy to cushion the long wait of prospective buyers for the Tesla Model 3.
While it has openly announced that it intends to deliver the Tesla Model 3 to showroom in the United States in the second half of next year, the company recently initiated a short-term lease plan for its other electric vehicles.
Interestingly, the short-term that Tesla shall be offering is for a period of two years so if it starts now, it would end up around the second half of 2018.