Germans in the race to bring electric cars to market

https://global.handelsblatt.com/our-magazine/the-germans-are-coming-for-tesla-motors-624915?ref=MzQ4NDA1&utm_source=outbrain&utm_medium=contentmarketing&utm_campaign=outbrain-retfeb17-longlast&utm_content=The%20Germans%20Are%20Coming%20for%20Tesla%20Motors&utm_term=00c8e13c1b4dbd08a35b361af495798fcf

by Tomte • 9 years ago

76 98 9 years ago

global.handelsblatt.com

adrianN2• 9 years ago

Great news for Tesla, they are a battery company after all and only produce electric cars for advertisement.

sschueller• 9 years ago

So that would explain the low quality of their cars. Advertisement swag is always of the lowest quality. /S

MegaButts• 9 years ago

Does Tesla make better batteries than the competition? What makes their batteries any better than what LG produces?

wklauss5• 9 years ago

It's not about quality. They're comparable for all intent and purposes. The key here is quantity. They make A LOT of them and it will take other battery manufacturers a lot of capital and time to expand production. Tesla has secured itself all the batteries that they need and channels to sell surplus and old ones (energy projects, home batteries, etc...).

eb0la2• 9 years ago

Thats their "unlawful" advantage: they do know about batteries better than others, which is the biggest problem any electric car faces: good batteries.

So, why now sell the whole car at retail price instead of selling batteries at volume price?

foepys• 9 years ago

I think it's the other way around. Tesla knew that they need batteries for their cars and that the battery market is highly competitive and volatile. The only way to ensure a reliable supply chain for batteries is to build batteries themselves.

Cthulhu_4• 9 years ago

Either way they'll win - make batteries at cost for their own cars, or sell batteries with profit for other manufacturer's electric cars. They also win in goodwill. And with the supercharger network, which I'm sure they'll open up (if they aren't already) to all electric cars. How much does a charge cost there?

eb0la2• 9 years ago

I wonder why there so much focus on "carmakers" like BMW or Daimler instad of "partmakers" like Bosch that have been working in electric car parts for years, and are able to manufacture up to 60-70% of the inner components of a (electric|gasoline|diesel) car.

ccozan5• 9 years ago

Also Infineon is quite a leader of power components for electric cars.

Teoretically Bosch + Infineon could team up and produce an electric car with no help from outside.

Cthulhu_4• 9 years ago

Frontend vs backend, basically. Why is there so much attention on JS framework of the month, and so little on the classic Java back-ends that fuel them all with data (for example)?

dovdovdov• 9 years ago

race, contest, cartel...

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-07-21/audi-join...

kfk• 9 years ago

Good, but a lot of models have yet to hit production and here in Germany the only fancy electric cars you can see are Teslas...

Also, I don't think Tesla's advantage is batteries as somebody here is commenting - it's software and data. Tesla is probably the best in class when it comes to software between automakers. German automakers don't make good software and I'd argue don't take it seriously enough even (just look at status and salary of programmers in Germany vs US). Tesla is collecting data on each of their cars, German automakers don't do that yet.

Driveless cars are going to be about software and data and German automakers are weak in both categories.

The only competitive advantage I see is production scale, but how long will this last?

adrianN2• 9 years ago

The German carmakers also have practically infinite money to throw at research and development, so they could catch up quickly.

sumedh• 9 years ago

You could have said the same thing when Nokia was at its peak. Sometimes its not about the money, the top execs have to "get it" that software has to be taken seriously as well.

BjoernKW3• 9 years ago

It doesn't work that way. German automakers are hampered by their mindset not by money.

wklauss5• 9 years ago

That is not how R&D works. There's no direct correlation between money invested vs. results obtained. You need time and a long term vision.

They can start working today in hopes to catch up later but it won't be fast.

blub2• 9 years ago

Tesla is collecting data on each of their cars, German automakers don't do that yet.

This is a perfect example of how US software companies are ruining everyone's privacy. Company A gets competitive advantage through spyware and then everyone thinks they have to spy to keep up.

Almost everything that a Tesla customer does in that car is recorded and probably uploaded to the mothership. When analysing accidents they're able to reconstruct what happened to a disturbing level of detail.

headmelted• 9 years ago

"When analysing accidents they're able to reconstruct what happened to a disturbing level of detail."

I'm strongly pro-privacy on ethical grounds, but is this really a complaint you want to make?

It establishes fault in accidents and provides statistically significant information to educate both the AI and the public as to what causes road accidents and how to avoid them.

Pica_soO3• 9 years ago

No privacy in the planes cockpit to the black-box either, but i see your point.

ccozan5• 9 years ago

Re: collecting data. They will never do it. The cannot because the law does not allow it. A more stricter law is coming. For the suppliers of self driving components is a nightmare, they only can infer datapoints.

Tesla also cannot collect any data from cars driving in EU, but they gather enough data in US.

patman812• 9 years ago

Uploading of collected data is indeed deactivated by default on Tesla's cars in the EU. But you can opt-in by checking a box in the cars setting. You can also opt-in to share driving videos from the eight cameras sourounding the car, to help improve the selfdriving system.

paganel• 9 years ago

Tesla also cannot collect any data from cars driving in EU, but they gather enough data in US.

I'm a relatively recent driver (I've only gotten my license 3 years ago), but even so, from what I've read and what I've seen with my own eyes driving cross-border around several European countries I can tell you that there definitely is a "cultural" difference in driving between different areas of the globe.

More exactly, a driver in Switzerland in Germany will react and act differently on the road compared to a driver from Romania, and a driver from a smaller city will certainly drive differently compared to a driver from a big, congested city (I noticed this phenomena with my own eyes a couple of weeks ago when I went to a quieter part of my country and I didn't understand why most of the incoming drivers weren't "negotiating" more when the roads were getting narrower, like it happens in the big city where I currently live, they were just sitting in front of my car not making any maneuver, waiting for I don't know what).

Taking all this into consideration, I'm pretty sure that the differences in driving styles between Europe and the USA are big enough that Tesla's data collected in the States will be of not that much use when applied to European driving styles. Also, see this recent thread on /r/cars of car-obsessed redditors discussing about why German-like autobahns could never work in the States: https://www.reddit.com/r/cars/comments/6p30xd/would_an_ameri....

_pmf_• 9 years ago

Re: collecting data. They will never do it. The cannot because the law does not allow it.

Have you followed the news regarding German automakers and the law? As far as Germany is concerned, they are the law (as in OEM lobbyists literally writing the verbatim law texts that affect them).

BjoernKW3• 9 years ago

just look at status and salary of programmers in Germany vs US

While you do have a point you probably mean Germany vs Silicon Valley. The average developer salary in Germany isn't that much different from the average in the US as a whole.

That said, in industries where software isn't seen as the main product but merely as something that helps selling that main products programmers have a low prestige (and by extension a lower salary) but I suppose that's the same in any country. Case in point: The ridiculously low rates programmers get in the financial industry in London.

dood2• 9 years ago

The average developer salary in Germany isn't that much different from the average in the US as a whole.

I think you'd be surprised. Can't find a good source now, but last time I checked US average is roughly double Germany & UK.

The ridiculously low rates programmers get in the financial industry in London

The finance industry in London is one of the few markets outside US that are comparable with US in salary, particularly contractors - £800/day is not uncommon for finance devs.

Pica_soO3• 9 years ago

We are a after-thought, something that is fired and forgot about. But to be fair, most Car-Makers have that ingrained into there production cycle (same in the US)

KozmoNau7• 9 years ago

No BMW i3s? They're everywhere here in Copenhagen.

baybal23• 9 years ago

I don't think any "data" companies get any edge out of their data. Big data is about spending big efforts for nothing.

Data is saleable to advertising guys thought.

dispo0012• 9 years ago

I wouldn't be surprised if the Germans trained professional car trainers to drive up and down the popular crash sites.

Engineers should just engineer.

Germany will simply have towing cables in the road and make all cars self-driving, electric, 300 km/h etc

By 2022 non of them will have engines.

kensai• 9 years ago

Article is 2016, please put it on the title, this isn't exactly new news.

finchisko3• 9 years ago

Few years ago, CEO of Audi and others was making fun of Tesla and today all of them jumping on same boat as Tesla did, because of FOMO. Reminds me classical quote: "First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win." I hope Tesla wins, because they deserve it. There was no real innovation for ages, as auto companies only did minimum to keep their profits. Also we should not forget diesel gate scandal. They didn't want to invest into cleaner cars and rather cheated. I've personal aversion agains this industry, because of that.

tajen• 9 years ago

And Tesla even affords the attitude to say they don't want to claim the whole market and they're happy to let others use their ideas, because they want a world with fewer carbon. So, even if they don't win, they can claim it was their plan all along ;)

martin-adams• 9 years ago

First video of Elon I saw was him saying that. He said that if Tesla fail because others do it better as a result, then that's still worth while.

Cthulhu_4• 9 years ago

The traditional car companies will catch up with them (Apple was 5 years ahead of the competition at the time of the iPhone too for example), but by then Tesla will have over 50% of the world's battery production, and guess what all electric cars need? Batteries, and lots of them, and they will need to be replaced every 7-10 years.

Tesla right now does pretty well as a car manufacturer and the Model 3 will probably do well too, but by 2025 when the established car companies (like the German ones) have caught up, unless Tesla innovated far beyond those, it'll be a marginal car company - but a huge battery and energy company, as well as a "fuel" company with their supercharger networks.

dogma1138• 9 years ago

Tesla and Elon Musk are not the same entity. Tesla is controlled by a board of directors unlike SpaceX it's a public company. Elon Musk took the reign because he had the vision, if his ideals will eventually come to an impasse with Tesla's financial future he can be just as easily removed. Tesla opening its patents and IP was more than just sharing it was a brilliant move to prevent a future patent war in the EV space that could put Tesla at risk by claims brought forth by the car behemoths, now it's much easier to claim previous work. A single company cannot corner the market and its unrealistic for Tesla to have 50% or more of the EV market in the long term but if you think they are OK with just packing it up and going home as long as some one else picks up the tortch you really do not understand how companies work. If anything it looks like Tesla wants to evolve into being a service provider in the automotive space, batteries, charging networks, auto-pilot tech and many other technical solutions on top of having a production line. Heck I wouldn't be surprised if Tesla drops car production completely in 10 or so years if they can corner the battery manufacturing and automotive charging market.

wklauss5• 9 years ago

There was not real innovation for ages, as auto companies only did minimum to keep their profits.

I wouldn't say that. ICE has improved a lot in the last 50 years and so have other elements of a car, from structural integrity to braking systems. The ICE car we have today is an amazing machine compared to the ones we drove in the 50s or 60s.

It is true that traditional car companies have not done enough to push the electric car forward but a lot of innovation has happened, and some of it will benefit electric cars directly (regenerative braking, for example).

I'm with you, though. I hope Tesla comes out of this as a powerful car company because they deserve to be an example for the rest of the industry.

finchisko3• 9 years ago

Not only have not done enough. They effectively killed electric car, because it was cheaper to maintain status quo rather then innovate.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Who_Killed_the_Electric_Car%3F

mrkrabo• 9 years ago

There was not real innovation for ages, as auto companies only did minimum to keep their profits.

You are very, very mistaken, and anybody who's driven a few different cars can tell you that. Any car made 25 years ago was basically a coffin with wheels.

sddfd6• 9 years ago

I agree. Also, consistent, sub 1% innovation is very important, but people like to forget that and (over-)value the 10X or "disruptive" innovation everyone keeps talking about recently.

haberman3• 9 years ago

Last year, they teamed up to buy Nokia’s HERE, a digital mapping service crucial for driverless cars. Volkswagen’s Müller says he does not want to be dependent on digital services companies in the fast-growing market for self-driving technology and mobility services. “We want to be in control of our destiny,” he told Handelsblatt in June.

I can understand why they want that, but as a consumer I want a good experience. When non-software companies write software, it seems it is almost invariably inferior. I never actually enjoyed the experience of using a car stereo until I got a deck that supports CarPlay (Apple) and Android Auto (Google). These standards let you attach your phone to the stereo and let the phone run the UI. They are so much better than the software that comes on stereo decks.

Even Apple Maps, made by a good software company, is still noticeably inferior to Google Maps in my opinion. Apple has severely demoted Google Maps on its platform, presumably for the same reason as the carmakers: they don't want to be dependent on Google. So you can't use Google Maps in CarPlay, and if you click on an address in iMessage "Open in Google Maps" is not an option. For Apple I'm sure they see this as being less dependent on Google, but for me as a user it's pushing me away from their platform. I want the best maps product out there, and for me that is Google Maps. So I'm planning for my next phone to be a Google phone.

(It's almost hilarious how far Apple goes in this. If you delete the Apple Maps app from your phone, and then click an address in iMessage, "Open in Google Maps" still isn't an option. But there is an option to re-install Apple Maps. This strikes me as pretty insecure that their maps product can compete on its merits.)

EDIT: I had slightly misunderstood: HERE is an acquisition consisting of all the Navteq data. So it does have legitimately good data behind it.

Tomte3• 9 years ago

HERE is superb. In my experience it works better for (car) navigation than Apple or Google.

It goes back a long time, I've already had it on my Nokia 5800 and then on my Windows phone.

sddfd6• 9 years ago

I reguarly drive rentals from all German premium brands. All their navigation is good, but the VW/Audi navigation system stands out. It has the cleanest interface and displays exactly the information you need.

Also, the VW/Audi system that offers route changes around traffic jams is the most transparent.

Years ago, I would navigate using my smartphone. Haven't been doing that though. The only thing I am missing is voice input for addresses.

Yizahi2• 9 years ago

How is it superb if I can't even see building numbers when simply looking at the map?

wklauss5• 9 years ago

So you can't use Google Maps in CarPlay

Of course you can use Google Maps in Carplay. Just make sure you have location and background refresh enabled for the app and open it. It's that simple.

haberman3• 9 years ago

Have you tried it? I have and Google Maps doesn't actually show up on the car stereo's screen, only the phone's. But putting the app on the stereo's screen is the whole point of CarPlay.

bigiain• 9 years ago

FWIW, I've talked to a lot of people in logistics companies, and they seem to universally use HERE Map data - apparently because it's gradient information is significantly better than any of the alternatives, which can be used to optimise fuel consumption if you know the load weights and enough about the trucks to use that to provide hints to drivers about the optimal speeds to climb every hill. For long haul trucking that makes for significant fuel/money savings. (And here in Australia, pretty much everywhere that counts is at least 1000km away from everywhere else - and almost all freight moves on trucks.)

Longhanks• 9 years ago

It's understandable though that Apple might prefer customers not to use Google services as they are direct competitors. But car manufacturers do not compete on the "digital maps" market (nor are they direct competitors to Apple or Google... yet), so I really don't get why they'd prefer to reinvent the wheel. Independance is one thing, but as a customer, as you said, I want the best experience for me, not the manufacturer.

mbaha• 9 years ago

Yeah, my thoughts exactly when I read that part.

It's not news, companies go away because they make repeatedly bad changes, one after the other, thinking they're doing the best ones.

I think German automakers are simply too late for the Tech train. Don't get me wrong, they'll sell lots of cars in the near/far future, but they'll probably become a "commodities" type of industry, like Oil.

vr463• 9 years ago

Tesla has advantages but they're not making cars with broad appeal outside technocrats. The performance is great, but it's not everything. They're pretty ugly, the interiors are naff and the dashboard + software is distracting in the worst way. I don't drive often, but when I do, it's for covering long distances across Europe and I cannot imagine wanting to be in a Tesla compared to my 11-year-old Audi. The major automobile companies are starting to understand their own strengths and more competition here should help everyone raise their game.

a_bonobo• 9 years ago

How does Tesla's 'autopilot' fare with German streets? I've only seen videos from wide multi-lane US-American streets, nothing with cramped 100-year old German inner-city streets

sddfd6• 9 years ago

That is an excellent question.

If you've ever driven Berlin inner city during rush our with cyclists driving on the road, vans parking on regular traffic lane to unload (no joke), people jaywalking, etc. you'll probably find it hard to believe that any autonomous driving system should handle that in the near future.

Cthulhu_4• 9 years ago

In addition, how does it do on Germany's high-speed highways? They have a number of unlimited speed highways, great for high-performance BMW's and Audi's but probably not great for battery powered cars.

Yizahi2• 9 years ago

Tesla may not be universally pretty but just look at Prius, Leaf, i3, Zoe, Vbolt and Bvolt and trillion microcars with micro battery - they are ugly as hell, way way more ugly than Model 3.

prostoalex3• 9 years ago

The strength of Tesla's autopilot pretty much forgives their interior design sins, especially, I'd imagine, "for covering long distances across Europe". As far as interior design, while you cannot add switches or knobs, you can buy after-market accessories like center consoles and extra cupholders.

The spartan interior design is a product of range anxiety - each additional pound reduces the electric vehicle's range, so understandably manufacturers prefer the range reduction be done by customer. You see the same effect in ultracompact hybrids, which compete on EPA MPG.

geff824• 9 years ago

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Toyota Prius. Yet, German manufacturers have no competing product to offer: cars with electric components are those at the high end of the price list, totally overpriced. And when you ask the salespeople, they will tell you in all honesty to better NOT take that hybrid because of the questionably quality. Cars like the Renault ZOE, Kia Niro, Hyundai Ioniq and a lot of other types show that you can make a hybrid/electric car at reasonable prices and good reliability. The German manufacturers seem to have nothing learned from it yet. This summer, the new fully-electric Smart comes out. Range: 120km. Who needs that shit? They say "most people don't drive more than that to work every day". What a bad excuse! They had that 5 years ago. Yet people love their Teslas because they don't have to think about charging every few kilometers. Buy a regular Golf: 17.000€. Buy a plugin-hybrid Golf (one of the very few German offerings): 35.000€. Clearly a sign they try to ride a dead horse. Invest now - live off the scaling effects tomorrow! Something that seems unthinkable in a traditional shareholder-value driven industry like the German car industry, that prides themselves to be at the forefront of technology, yet don't want to stop depending on 130 year old technology. Do you know what Mercedes began to offer in the year the Renault ZOE came out? They were proud on their brand new Mercedes G AMG65 with 12 cylinders. A 32 year old car that (almost) no one needs nowadays.

Look at the (German) Audi website. They have their G-Tron initiative. Looks quite impressive, next to their E-Tron stuff. G-Tron is CNG gas... they are just using the old engines further, branding them as "green" somehow.

sddfd6• 9 years ago

Yet, German manufacturers have no competing product to offer https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audi_e-tron

I had an hybrid A3 rental just 6 weeks ago. If I could, I'd never drive something else. It's smooth in the city like you would expect from an electric car, and you can travel long distance at over 100mph and still stay arround 33mpg.

geff824• 9 years ago

See the price point again... compared to the other engines. This is not priced to sell, this is priced to showcase.

baybal23• 9 years ago

Range: 120km. Who needs that shit?

I will, if it has sane price, but most likely it wouldn't. For as long as there are countries with huge lump sum EV subsidies, there is no need for EV makers to go below ~35k.

geff824• 9 years ago

Sure. I would happily pay my 7-10k for it, but not 20-25.

simon832• 9 years ago

For me a range of 100 km would be good enough. I'm just not willing to pay 20.000€+ for that. And so I'm currently looking into a Renault Twizy, which has a range of up to 100 km, for around 8700€. Only problem I have with it is that it's a one person car, and the battery rent is 50€ per month, which is more than I currently pay for gasoline.

geff824• 9 years ago

Sharing your Opinion. If price is low, then a lower range is ok, too. It is just that for the price of the Smart you could get a real car (Renault ZOE, which in in my opinion has the same revolutionary traits as the Teslas) with large electric range for the same price. They are missing almost every opportunity.

bildung• 9 years ago

[old technology vs. electric cars]

Just a quick remark that electic cars aren't exactly new either. I have a bunch of engineering magazines from inherited my grandfather, dated to the late 1930's, where a new electic car is written about in a way that show readers are expected to already know about this development.

Edit: Wikipedia says even those magazines were 40 years late: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_electric_vehicl...

finchisko3• 9 years ago

Nothing can express, their aversion against innovation as Fiat CEO statement: "Please don't buy Fiat 500e electric car".

They only made Fiat 500 electric to fulfill regulation requirements, so they can sells more of 130 years tech, which is cheaper then investing into new clean tech . Only Tesla's success, made them finally innovate. I personally consider this attitude arrogant and would never buy product from such a company.

http://www.reuters.com/article/chrsyelr-ceo-evs-idUSL1N0O71M...

simo7• 9 years ago

If you look at the history of Fiat/Chrysler in the last years is a history of resurgence from troubled waters, probably not the right company to be the innovator in a money-loosing field at this point in time.

So I don't think their attitude is conservatorism or lack of vision, judging from the business results of the last years I bet they'll jump on the EV bandwagon as soon as it starts making money.

matt4077• 9 years ago

Well, they are paying lip-service to electric cars now. I am, however, still rather sceptical: these companies have so much baggage, it remains to be seen if they're capable of such changes.

They are, for example, extremely enamoured with whatever tech someone who is now in power masterminded 20+ years ago when he came through the ranks. If every road everywhere were to move underground, they'd still install windshield wipers, if that was the CEO's specialty at some point. Just look at their obsession with Diesels, with got quite close to sinking VW, and may still spread to others (Mercedes seems to have done much the same).

But they'd be the best windshield wipers, ever. Obviously.

The move to electric means they can throw away around half their technology. Make that 70%+ if they're also self-driving. Just the difference in weight, and where the components are mounted, means you're redesigning everything.

I'd also fear that consumers will regard "electric car" as a separate, new category, where the formerly most-regarded manufacturers are suddenly the old guard. For Tesla, or tech companies like Apple, this could be a window where they can capture mindshare.

All that at a moment where they're financially hurting from the Diesel affair, with the next (a cartel) just being reported now. With their dominant position in bot the industry and the country, they've had a decade+ of growing complacent, creating somewhat-corrupt structures, and laughing at the competition that may be eating their lunch, soon. Meanwhile, the car is no longer the status symbol it once was. In their home market, young people no longer buy cars. A 2-digit % of them doesn't even bother with a driver's license anymore. When you do use a car, the brand isn't that important anymore–both because of the loss in status, but also because cheaper foreign brands have come a long way. (Except US cars, obviously. Those are still a tasteless abomination)

(I'm German, btw)

daryas• 9 years ago

Volkswagen is investing heavily in batteries and reportedly working on its own factory. Batteries are a commodity once production is established.

I would like more info on what it takes to establish battery production for the output of millions of cars (especially in terms of resource availability and timescale for the big players). Pretty much all the articles I saw skip this point all together.

Pica_soO3• 9 years ago

Imagine you are CEO of a german car company- and you see the change coming, you want to change your whole company to adapt to that.

Now first thing you would have to break is the "Zyklus". The "Zyklus" is a 5 year period, in which a care is designed, everything is specified, prototypes are produced and tested, part-deliverers are driven in "netherland"-auctions to go to the lowest price for a specified part (like the software), assembly lines are errected (and "Sonder-maschinen" are ordered for that) and finally the car is produced.

Each of this departments is in more or less open rebellion against your intentions. And they got good arguments. Electric cars are not green currently. They are coal cars - says the marketing department.

Methanol-Cars, using re-synthesized straw is a 100 % green fuel and could re-use our existing technology not dropping our advantage says engineering. And there have been some small-scale breakthroughs there recently regarding method efficiency. Fuels are definatly a better storage then batterys. https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/BtL-Kraftstoff

All parts vital for a electric cars are easy to get at any time, except batterys, so lets avoid those and switch later, when we dont have to re-invest so much for the tech - says the "Einkauf".

Its a death by a thousand stings. The best thing they could do, is basically form completely seperate companys inside there old mother companys, that are not bound to these cycles and rules.

This is where the power-structure comes to kill you. In any feudal-hierarchical power-structure creating a new department - creates a rush of power-thirsty individuals who want to get to the top. So far so natural. These individuals, will migrate from the old-parts of your company into the new part- bringing along the experience and the mindset of the old company.

And thats it. Thats is how a dinosaur dies. Willing to change, but the body wont rearrange.

catdog• 9 years ago

Another factor is that fuel based propulsion systems are a key differentiator for them, it's complex machinery which is not simply bought from some supplier like most other components. Electric propulsion is way simpler with a lot less moving parts, "everybody" can do it. This also will result in jobs disappearing and politics, which is deeply tied to that industry does its best to delay that inevitable change. Without outside pressure you can't really fight these internal power structures because currently business is still running great.

stesch• 9 years ago

"it has no technology or business model that others can’t easily copy"

Well, Tesla even made their patents free for you to do so.

solarkraft• 9 years ago

Total bullshit. Handelsblatt is a german website. We have nothing.

The industry is slowly getting it, but I doubt it'll really get big in EVs.

Germans in the race to bring electric cars to market

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