Mercedes has taken the wraps off its EQC electric car at an event in Sweden on September 4. Audi will (finally) introduce its long-awaited and oft delayed e-tron electric SUV on September 17 in San Francisco. Next Sunday, BMW will officially introduce its i-Next in Munich.
The first electric offerings from all three companies are compromise cars, built on existing chassis originally designed for cars powered by internal combustion engines and using traditional assembly line procedures. As opposed to some earlier models, these offers are serious contenders. They can conquer a niche market, but they won’t be able to become a hit on the mass market.
European emissions rules are set to tighten considerably beginning with 2020 models. If the public response to the offerings from Mercedes, Audi, and BMW are tepid, those companies face the prospect of multi-billion Euro fines from regulators.
Despite the glitzy unveiling coming this week, none of the new electric cars from German automakers will be on sale any time soon.
The German car makers are planning to invest up to $50 billion dollars in the next 3 years to bring electric cars to market. So far, their efforts have been tepid affairs that do not break new ground in terms of styling, performance, range, or technology.
Nobody is standing in long lines to reserve one as they did for the Tesla Model 3.
Reference- Cleantechnica, Handelsblatt Global