> I'm honestly hoping they fold soon so someone can use the momentum they created as they seem intent on squandering it and their tech.
Tesla folding would be the worse thing that could possible happen for EV adoption. No other successful car company is fully committed or deeply invested in EVs. GM and Nissan are making compliance cars that permit them to continue to make the same shitty ICE cars while still meeting fleet emissions standards.
I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that if the Trump administration keeps it's momentum then those compliance rules would vanish and GM would just fold up shop on the Bolt and possibly even the Volt.
Tesla kicking competitors in the nuts on performance while showing everyone that EVs are viable business model is the only thing pushing the rest of the automotive industry forward.
If Tesla went under then we'd see GM saying "See, EVs just aren't viable with the technology we have today."
> GM and Nissan are making compliance cars that permit them to continue to make the same shitty ICE cars while still meeting fleet emissions standards.
I don't know about GM, but that's incorrect about Nissan (at least in Japan). Nissan has bet big on EV and is bending over backwards to get people to buy them. They built a national recharging infrastructure with Mitsubishi. They offer unlimited charging for $30 per month and even had a promotion where they gave you free unlimited charging for 2 years! If loan money from them to buy a car, they even give you a rate on their EV that's slightly more than half of the rate they offer on their ICE cars.
They are probably doing almost nothing in the US, admittedly (I don't know, as I don't live there). But here in Japan, they are definitely and obviously all in on EV. It will be interesting to see what happens when Toyota and Mazda's joint venture starts producing EV cars (which I think is supposed to be in 2020). At the moment Toyota is crushing everybody (nearly twice as many cars as the nearest competitor) thanks to Prius sales. Once they offer an EV car, things will get interesting in Japan.
Tesla folding would be the worse thing that could possible happen for EV adoption. No other successful car company is fully committed or deeply invested in EVs. GM and Nissan are making compliance cars that permit them to continue to make the same shitty ICE cars while still meeting fleet emissions standards.
I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that if the Trump administration keeps it's momentum then those compliance rules would vanish and GM would just fold up shop on the Bolt and possibly even the Volt.
Tesla kicking competitors in the nuts on performance while showing everyone that EVs are viable business model is the only thing pushing the rest of the automotive industry forward.
If Tesla went under then we'd see GM saying "See, EVs just aren't viable with the technology we have today."