Electric Vehicles (EVs) are of course going to take over from petrol and diesel cars. But not any time soon. The market just isn't there yet; the quality is at best mixed; they're expensive to buy; charging them (unless you have a drive) is a right royal pain – as are the networks and the charging speed is still on average way too slow. But these will all improve as the technology develops, improves and standardises.
But the fact is that whilst all the traditional car manufacturers are now involved in electric and with the raft of new players now in the industry, only three actually make any money from them – Tesla, BYD and Li Auto. With researchers reckoning they need to sell at least 400,000 a year to be profitable, which is a lot of cars.
If your market is new and under developed, it can take far, far longer and way, way more money to educate and grow it than you may think. So make sure your commitment is total and your pockets are very deep. For example: Polestar started in 2017, has some lovely branding and advertising, makes nice looking EVs but they lose $25K on every one sold. That was $323million in Q3 2024 alone. Ouch. Very ouch.
— Know your audience
