Which road will take the automobile industry ?

  • Will the environment win against automobiles ?
  • Will electric cars become more available ?
  • Will traditional automobiles survive ?

More and more laws limit conventional engines because of their environmental impact

California plans to ban the sale of new gasoline-powered cars statewide by 2035, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Wednesday, in a sweeping move aimed at accelerating the state’s efforts to combat global warming amid a deadly and record-breaking wildfire season. In an executive order, Governor Newsom directed California’s regulators to develop a plan that would require automakers to sell steadily more zero-emissions passenger vehicles in the state, such as battery-powered or hydrogen-powered cars and pickup trucks, until they make up 100 percent of new auto sales in just 15 years.

The greatest traffic jam in Los Angeles, California. source

Transportation remains 40 percent of the state's greenhouse gases

Ramping up sales of emissions-free vehicles in California will be an enormous challenge over a relatively short period of time, experts said. Last year, only 8 percent of the nearly two million passenger vehicles sold statewide were battery-electric or plug-in hybrid vehicles. Transportation remains California’s largest source of planet-warming emissions, accounting for roughly 40 percent of the state’s greenhouse gases from human activity.

In addition to setting new standards for automakers in the state, California will also likely need to increase financial incentives for people to afford electric vehicles and significantly expand its charging infrastructure, said Don Anair, deputy director of the clean vehicles program at the Union of Concerned Scientists, an advocacy group.

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The market of electric cars is skyrocketing and they could become more available


Elon Musk Promises to Make a $25,000 Tesla (in 3 Years)

Tesla said it was working on advances that would lower the cost of batteries and increase their capacity to store energy. Tesla is working on cheaper, more powerful batteries for its electric cars, but many of the required innovations are still works in progress, its chief executive, Elon Musk, said Tuesday at a much anticipated presentation at the company’s California factory. The advances could ultimately cut battery costs more than 50 percent and increase the distance Tesla’s vehicles can travel by nearly as much. That would set the stage for the company to make a “compelling” $25,000 electric vehicle three years from now, Mr. Musk said, speaking to a parking lot full of Tesla owners in their vehicles, honking in approval.

But Mr. Musk, who has a reputation for promising game-changing innovations that often take far longer than expected or never arrive, said the company had not yet made the advances needed to get to that point.


The cost of batteries typically is the single biggest expense in producing such cars.

With battery prices dropping, the market for electric cars is growing faster than expected, and other companies are working hard to catch up to and beat Tesla.

The company has easily dominated the business of selling electric vehicles. Mr. Musk said on Tuesday that Tesla would increase car deliveries 30 to 40 percent this year, despite its being the “most difficult year of Tesla’s existence.”

via GIPHY

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The traditional industry remains a pillar of the economy and is in the greatest milestone of its history

Defying the pandemic, the German carmaker began producing a new S-Class, one of its biggest moneymakers. The S-Class dominates the high end of the luxury car market and is Mercedes’s most profitable vehicle. The latest version, the first complete redesign in seven years, is crucial for the company as it recovers from a sharp drop in sales that pushed the company into the red during the first six months of 2020. Cynics may regard the S-Class, which will have a base price north of $100,000 in the United States, as a land yacht for plutocrats, a discordant display of wealth amid rising unemployment and sagging growth.

Presentation of the new 2020 mercedes Class S. Source

“There is so much at stake for the economy”, Winfried Kretschmann, prime minister of Baden-Württemberg.

Mr. Kretschmann’s support is notable because he is a member of the Green party, which has often been critical of carmakers. But he praised Daimler’s efforts to make transportation more sustainable.

“Our goal is to decouple economic growth from CO2 growth”, Mr. Källenius

Mercedes is betting that its ability to deliver a smooth ride, creature comforts and meticulous workmanship, as epitomized by the S-Class, will allow it to ultimately triumph. While Tesla cars are widely admired and even coveted, some customers have complained that their cars were delivered with chipped paint, large gaps between body panels and other defects.

But investors are skeptical that the traditional carmakers will be able to make the transition to electric vehicles. The stock market values Tesla at almost 10 times as much as Daimler. In effect, investors are betting that Tesla will someday become the Toyota of electric vehicles, while placing almost no value on Daimler’s electric future.

As Mr. Källenius acknowledged, the pandemic could disrupt the world economy and the car business in ways that no one can predict. Sales of electric vehicles have continued to grow in Europe in recent months, while sales of cars with combustion engines plummeted, hinting at a shift in customer preferences.

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