January 9: The EV bandwagon

 Our future? Probably, based on on the development that is going on these days. Typical though, that this EV (electric vehicle) charging station is empty, but it shows that someone is being proactive. Could it be the government? That would be a surprise. Over a hundred years ago, when the car was in its infancy, it seemed that every day another company announced that they were entering the market with the best car solution. Jump on the bandwagon. Well, we all know how that worked out. Flash forward to today and it's almost the same thing. Companies saw the light (or Tesla) and figured they too, wanted a piece of the lucrative(?) EV market. Apart from the big car manufacturers, EV vehicle start ups are as common as The Donald's gaffes.

Let's look at a few.........

 The Faraday. A beautiful EV and like all the other candidates trying to win you over, this is one loaded with wonderful new technology and a high price tag. After much publicity and a 2018 production date, Faraday has fallen on the inevitable cash crunch problems and is unlikely to ever have Job 1 roll off the production line.

Next up........

Fisker. An old established name, but with baggage. The original and expensive Fisker failed and has been rejuvenated with, I believe, Chinese money. Not hearing much about its current sales, but Fisker is optimistic enough to show the next model in its future line. Please don't hold your breath.

And now a sportscar........

 The Rimal Concept. Sure, everyone needs more power than they know what to do with and electric power is unique. The Rimal Concept has a proposed 1088 HP motor, so with an EV's instantaneous torque, I think this one should compete with the acceleration of a top fueler. For those of you who don't know, that number is 0.2 seconds zero to sixty. Just saying, folks!

And now from Poland.......

The Varsovia. Ready to be customized to each client's peculiar tastes, such as the grille design being mimicked on the side of this preproduction example. Now before we dismiss these start ups out of hand, remember that there are many very small car companies around this blue planet, who get by making a very, very few bespoke cars each year. The Varsovia and the others, like the Rimal could be two more.

And another from China......

The Byton Concept. I love to see these new companies coming out of the Forbidden Kingdom, since they are usually well financed and have a better than a basement start up's chance to survive. And these days, the Chinese have caught up quickly with the best designs. No surprise there, as I've written in blogs over the past years. Scheduled for 2019 Chinese sales and then following up by coming to North America and Europe.

A contender from the USA.......

The Lucid Air. Lucid Motors appeared to be be further along than most and have proposed building a factory in Arizona. But guess what? They are short of cash. Surprise, surprise! Haven't any of these companies checked past history and know the huge amount of coin it takes to bring a car to production. Even an expensive and limited production car like the Lucid Air can't end up in showrooms for a paltry few hundred million dollar investment. Don't believe me? Call Elon Musk at 1-650-681-5000. He's having trouble with only a few billion dollars at his disposal.

History repeating itself? Yep, but thankfully hope springs eternal. Some or none of these cars may ever see the light of day, but undoubtedly some will sneak by. Better be quick though, since the billions needed to create a winner are held by the established brands and they don't want you in their market place.

Until next time......