Electric Car Companies: The EV Manufacturers Leading The Charge

Basically, every power source had a problem. So how did internal combustion become the default instead of electric cars?

The answer is the Ford Motor Company and its founder. Karl Benz may have invented the car, but Henry Ford made it cheap enough for the masses by designing and building the modern assembly line. Thanks to mass production, the Ford Model T was affordable. Henry Ford also believed in paying his employees a fair wage so they could afford the gas-powered car they were tasked with building.

The Model T obliterated the top electric vehicle companies at the time. In 1912, a Model T cost $650. The equivalent electric vehicle cost $1,750. Yes, the Model T was an absolute nightmare to drive, but for a $1,100 saving, you could learn to live with it.

General Motors could have been one of the top electric car makers in the world if it had a bit more foresight. GM built one of themost influential modern all-electric vehicles, called the EV1. It was designed to be an electric vehicle from the start and included many features now found on modern EVs.

GM used advanced aerodynamics, a single-speed reduction gear, and a 16.5-18.7-kilowatt-hour lead-acid battery to drive the electric motors. The EV1 later received an updated 25.4 kWh nickel-metal hydride battery, suitable for an EPA-estimated range of 142 miles.

That range might seem silly compared to modern range figures, but remember that it was produced between 1996 and 1999.

GM only offered the EV1 as a lease, and customers loved it. But in 2002, GM decided that electrification wasn't the future after all and took EV1s back from customers. Most EV1s were crushed, but a few live on in museums and tertiary education facilities.

Naturally, conspiracy theories popped up as soon as GM started crushing EV1s. The leading theory is that GM wanted the EV1 to fail so politicians would get off its back about electric vehicles.

But it was probably just a simple case of the math not adding up. Over the years, there have been multiple examples of car companies selling cars at a loss. The most famous is the Bugatti Veyron, which sold for a million but cost roughly $6 million to make. But the Volkswagen Group allowed it because it did wonders for the brand. Bugatti-Rimac wouldn't exist today if VW didn't take that initial sales knock.

GM's knock was substantial. The lease payments were calculated on an MSRP of roughly $34,000, which is $63,000, accounting for inflation. Each unit cost $80,000 to build, which is approximately $150,000 in 2023.

Now that we have a rough outline of the history of EVs, we can dive into the manufacturers responsible for groundbreaking electric vehicles.

The original Tesla Roadster was built to get attention, but Tesla only found widespread appeal when it moved on to passenger cars. TheTesla Model Swas a revelation, offering loads of power, brisk acceleration, and between 208-265 miles of range.

It was also exceedingly pretty, comfortable, and stylish, and Tesla used it as a platform to introduce next-gen technologies like Autopilot. While Autopilot and Full Self-Driving have been the source of multiple controversies, they also provided Tesla with the shock-and-awe features needed to lure people away from legacy car companies.

这种策略完美的工作。没有其他American EV companies that can boast the customer retention that Tesla can. Several other EV manufacturers have popped up since, but none of them have a dedicated dating app where you can find a person that's as Tesla-mad as you are.

Over the years, Tesla added more models to its range, and the most popular by far is theModel Y. Earlier this year, it was the best-selling car in the world.

The next big step for Tesla is moving into commercial vehicles. TheCybertruckproject is gaining momentum, and the Tesla Semi is already making deliveries.

Other electric car companies have effectively caught up to and, in some cases, surpassed Tesla, but it still has a massive ace up its sleeve. Tesla can stop producing passenger cars today and would still be worth billions because of theSupercharger network. The first Supercharger Station was erected as soon as Model S production started. In 2012, there were six charging stations. At the time of writing, there are over 5,200 stations and 48,000 ports.

These Superchargers are arguably Tesla's most valuable asset, especially since they arebeing opened to rival automakers. One by one, makers of electric vehicles are caving and admitting that they can't compete with Tesla's NACS charge port and ease of use.

Tesla started the EV revolution, and its Supercharger network will ensure it continues.

GM may have missed the bus by not developing the EV1 further, but we must applaud it for making EVs more affordable. TheBolt EVdebuted five years after the Model S when there were only a handful of EVs to choose from. Initially, the Bolt retailed for as much as $40,000, but thanks to economies of scale, it became more affordable later on in life. A 2023 Bolt costs $26,500-$29,700 before you subtract President Biden's sweet $7,500 tax credit.

Despite anunfortunate fiery reputation, which wasn't GM's fault, the Bolt continues to sell well. After the fire issue, we thought GM would retire the Bolt EV for good, but the companyplans on building a next-gen modelusing the Ultium platform launched with its larger SUV options.

Nissan also deserves to be praised for theLeaf, launched a full year before the Tesla Model S. It's not as desirable, but it was good at being a car. It just happened to be electric. Unfortunately, it was beaten within an inch of its life with an ugly stick, and the range was poor. Still, the Leaf cost roughly $30,000 in 2012, and the Model S cost twice as much.

Technically, Rivian was the first manufacturer to launch an all-electric pickup truck, but theF-150 Lightningis a more successful product. Rivian has had production issues since theR1Twas introduced, giving Ford the upper hand in the commercial vehicles segment.

But before we delve deeper, let's get the elephant out of the room. Electric vehicles suck at towing. We've seen the electric version of theF-150 fail at this several times. Still, research has shown that electric trucks are good enough for 75% of business-related activities. Having a large battery pack on a building site is also extremely useful.

The electric pickup isn't Ford's only commercial product. TheE-Transit是完美的交付最后一英里的车辆。The maximum range of 126 miles is perfectly fine for a day's worth of package deliveries in a city. The cost of running an E-Transit is also much lower than a combustion-powered van. An electric vehicle doesn't need to be serviced as often, and a single charge costs a lot less than a tank of gas.

Lucid is here because it was the first manufacturer to break through the magical 500-mile range barrier. The Air Dream Edition received a 520-mile estimate from the EPA, while the Air Grand Touring got 514 miles. Lucid is undoubtedly on top of thelist of EVs with the most range.

Like Tesla, Lucid can stop producing cars and build an entire empire around its proprietary EV technology. When Aston Martin needed a partner to go electric,it teamed up with Lucid. That says a lot, considering it uses Mercedes-AMG-sourced power for its gas guzzlers.

Even more impressive is Lucid's partnership with Formula E. Lucid provides the motors, battery, inverter, differential, transmission, and regenerative braking system for each single-seater in this standardized racing series.

Thanks to Lucid's tech, Formula E driversno longer have to swap carsmidway during the race. These third-generation cars, powered by Lucid, can go 36-40 laps (depending on the track) without stopping. If Lucid's small 51 kWh battery can do the above, bigger ones are good enough for the school run.

Hyundai is here because it has found the secret to making fully-electric vehicles fun. Hyundai developed the world's firstelectric hyper hatchusing its famous N division, launching the sideways-happyIoniq 5 N.

The Ioniq 5 N has 601 horsepower available the moment you step on the throttle, but the 0-62 mph time of 3.4 seconds is the least impressive thing about it. Instead of building the ultimate straight-line racer, Hyundai N used various technologies toinclude some imperfections in the car. Yes, you read that right. Hyundai actually made the N purposely flawed for the sake of fun.

This car'slist of fun-inducing technologiesis long but well-considered, making the EV more attractive to performance enthusiasts who are bored with just ridiculous acceleration. The car could be faster in lieu of fun, but Hyundai went the other way, and that could motivate others to think outside the box too.

Most legacy manufacturers have been planning EVs for over a decade, yet there's still a lack of affordable models. And despite ever-increasing range figures, a large chunk of the population thinks 300-500 miles is not enough. Not to mention the undeserved reputation for catching fire. Electric vehicles are not more prone to burning. It's just that when they do, the fire is extremely tricky to put out, but fire departments across the US are receiving the right equipment.

The next big step forward is solid-state batteries, which solve all of the problems mentioned above. These batteries are smaller yet more energy dense. They're also less prone to burning and are cheaper to manufacture.

This brings us neatly to Toyota's doorstep. Toyota startedcollecting solid-state battery patents20多年前,知道也one day get into the business of manufacturing EVs. And while Toyota has remained slow off the mark, we're willing to bet that it's skipping over an entire generation of electric vehicles that will arguably be obsolete 10 years from now.