- Oct 2, 26: Tesla sales beat expectations despite an annual decline. Tesla delivered 486,532 vehicles in the third quarter, beating expectations even as deliveries fell 2.1% from 497,099 a year earlier. That's a modest decline in a difficult year for the EV market, suggesting Tesla's auto business is holding up better than many competitors.
- June 15, 26: The Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) declined to grant Polestar authorization to sell cars under the Connected Vehicles Rules, which restricts the importation and sale of cars with connected vehicle technology linked to China starting with the upcoming model year. The Commerce Department first adopted the rule in January 2025 before the end of the Biden administration, while it has remained in effect under President Donald Trump.
- Polestar will continue selling existing Polestar 3 and Polestar 4 stock and supporting U.S. customers.
- Volvo, which produces some of Polestar's cars and is a sister brand to the automaker, said in March it would consolidate production of the Polestar 3 at its South Carolina plant instead of also building it in China.
- Dec 15, 25: Ford unveils sweeping strategy shift with $19.5B charge, canceling current F-150 Lightning, pivoting to hybrids and extended-range EVs, repurposing BlueOval City for gas-powered trucks, launching a battery energy storage business, cutting about 1,500 Kentucky jobs, and raising 2025 adjusted EBIT outlook to $7B.
- The next iteration of the F-150 Lightning will shift to an EREV architecture and be assembled at the Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in Dearborn, Mich. EREVs are essentially EVs that use an onboard gas engine as a generator to charge the vehicle's batteries.
- Sept 30, 2025: the $7,500 federal tax credit goes away.
- July 2025: Volkswagen led European EV sales, surpassing Tesla, driven by strong demand for its ID.3, ID.5, and ID.7 models. The VW ID.3 was its best-selling EV, with over 6,900 units sold that month. Meanwhile, Tesla's sales plummeted by 40% year-on-year to 8,837 units in July 2025, while competitor BYD saw a 225% surge in registrations to 13,503 units in the same period.
- July 17, 25: Uber (NYSE:UBER) said it plans to invest millions in EV maker Lucid (NASDAQ:LCID) as part of a new partnership to expand its robotaxi offerings.
- Under the deal, Lucid will supply Uber with more than 20,000 EVs over a six-year period that utilize autonomous driving technology developed by Google-backed startup Nuro. Uber and Lucid plan to launch the robotaxi service next year.
- July 1, 25: Xpeng (XPEV) delivered 34,611 cars in June, its eighth-straight month of delivering more than 30,000 cars amid a fierce price war in China.
- BYD remained the market giant, with its passenger car sales edging higher in June to 377,628 vehicles.
- China’s electric car price war has only intensified in recent weeks, drawing government criticism for “involution,” or excessive, non-productive competition.
- Xpeng’s U.S.-listed rivals, which target a more premium segment of China’s car market, saw more modest sales momentum.
- Geely-backed Zeekr (ZK) reported 16,702 car deliveries in June, down 11.7% from the prior month and 16.9% year over year.
- Nio (NIO) reported 24,925 car deliveries in June, a slight increase from May, thanks to growth across its premium “Nio” brand and lower-priced Onvo and Firefly brands. Li Auto (LI) reported 36,279 vehicle deliveries in June, a 11.2% drop from May.
- Hong Kong-listed Xiaomi reported deliveries of over 25,000 electric cars in June, a slight decrease from the previous month.
- Leapmotor, which has partnered with Stellantis, the owner of Chrysler and Jeep, for the overseas market, also maintained steady growth in June with record deliveries of 48,006 cars for the month. Aito, which uses Huawei technology for the car’s entertainment and driver-assist system, reported 44,685 car deliveries for last month.
- Tesla: Deliveries of Model 3 and Model Y vehicles made in its Shanghai factory, including both China sales and exports to Europe and other markets, rose 16.1% from May to 71,599 units, data from the China Passenger Car Association showed on Wednesday.
- Apr 2, 25: Lucid Group (LCID) production and delivery totals for Q1: co produced 2,212 vehicles, plus over 600 additional vehicles in transit to Saudi Arabia for final assembly. Co delivered 3,109 vehicles in Q1.
- ------------- 2024
- Dec 17, 24; Australia: EV sales reach new highs in Australia, making up nearly 10% of car market. The latest annual state of EVs report, released by the Electric Vehicle Council, noted a 150% increase in sales compared with 2022, to the current sales share of 9.5% of new light vehicle sales – with about 110,000 estimated to have been sold in 2024.
The Tesla Model Y was the most popular new electric vehicle in Australia in 2024, representing 16,697 – or 20% of all EV sales. This was closely followed by the Tesla Model 3, with 14,053 sales, and Chinese manufacturer BYD’s Seal, with 5,308.
- Dec 9, 24: Jaguar's new electric vehicles may cost around £150,000 (€181,000), higher than the previously expected £100,000 (€121,000). The company plans a £1.5bn (€1.81bn) investment in development and may need to sell 30,000 units annually to break even.
- Dec 2, 24: Tesla’s vice president of artificial intelligence software tweeted on Saturday night that version 13 of Tesla’s “Full Self-Driving” driver-assistance software has started rolling out to some customers.
- Oct 15, 24: California, Colorado and Washington continue to make up the largest share of new EV purchases—at as high as 27%. But in Republican bastions including Mississippi, Arkansas and West Virginia, the figure is under 3%, according to the Alliance for Automotive Innovation.
- Aug 27, 24: US awards $521 million in grants to boost EV charging network. The Energy Department and Federal Highway Administration said $321 million will be allocated for 41 community projects that expand EV charging infrastructure, while $200 million will fund 10 corridor fast-charging projects.
- Aug 26, 24: Canada to impose 100% tariff on Chinese-made EVs, including Teslas. Canada also announces 25% tariff on Chinese steel. Announcement follows similar move from United States.
- Aug 20, 24: European Union slashes planned tariff on Tesla's China-made EV imports by more than half, to 9%. LOWER DUTIES FOR BYD, GEELY, SAIC: The Commission said the three companies it had sampled would each receive slightly lower provisional duties than indicated in July. Chinese electric vehicle giant BYD would face a rate of 17.0% from 17.4% levied in July, Geely 19.3% versus 19.9% and SAIC 36.3% from 37.6%.
- July 25, 24: Japan's Honda Motor will close a factory in China and halt vehicle production at another plant, the automaker said on Thursday, as it seeks to start producing more electric vehicles amid heavy competition from Chinese brands.
- July 17, 24: Chinese electric carmaker BYD will introduce three more models to the Vietnamese market this October and plans to expand its dealerships to 100 in 2026, Chief Operations Officer of BYD Vietnam Vo Minh Luc said on Thursday.
- July 10, 24: Just 19 of China’s 137 current electric car brands will be profitable by the end of the decade, leaving the rest to exit the industry, consolidate or battle for a minor market share, according to consultancy Alixpartners.
- June 13, 24: A new global trade war could be brewing after the European Commission said it will provisionally impose tariffs of up to 38.1% on Chinese electric vehicle imports starting July, in addition to the bloc's existing 10% duties. The decision followed the EU's anti-subsidy investigation into Chinese EVs that looked into whether extra tariffs were warranted. Tesla (TSLA), which produces EVs at its Gigafactory in Shanghai, may be subject to an individually calculated duty rate. Beijing urged the EU to "immediately correct its wrong practices" and continue bilateral talks, warning that it would "take all necessary measures to defend the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies."
- June 13, 24: Tesla (TSLA) shareholders during Annual Meeting approve incorporation moving from Delaware to Texas; approve CEO Elon Musk's $56 bln pay package.
- June 12, 24: The EU is expected to announce new tariffs on Chinese made EVs this week, according to multiple reports. BMW's all-electric Mini made in China is set to be hit by the highest EV tariff of 38.1% under the EU's provisional plans.
- June 11, 24: GM trims 2024 EV sales forecast amid slower-than-expected demand. GM Chief Financial Officer Paul Jacobson said the company now expects production of 200,000 to 250,000 EVs this year, down from a previously announced range of 200,000 to 300,000.
- June 4, 24: Ford Motor (F) started mass production of the new all-electric Ford Explorer at its first dedicated electric vehicle (EV) facility in Europe following a $2 billion investment.
- May 24: Tesla archrival BYD (BYDDF) launched cheap, new hybrid electric vehicles capable of traveling 1,300 miles without recharging or refueling — opening a new front in the EV wars. That is roughly double the typical 500-700 miles delivered by the longest-range hybrid cars sold in the U.S. market today.
- May 10, 24: General Motors will end production of its gasoline-powered Chevrolet Malibu car later this year in order to produce new electric vehicles. GM has sold more than 10 million Malibus since 1964 worldwide and will end production in November. The Detroit automaker is investing $390 million at its Kansas assembly plant to build next-generation Chevrolet Bolt EVs.
- Apr 3, 24: Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi said it has received more than 100,000 orders for its first car - a sporty electric vehicle called the SU7 - as it began deliveries.
- March 24: The Chinese electric-vehicle maker BYD sold more than 526,000 fully electric vehicles in the fourth quarter; overtook Tesla as the top global seller of electric vehicles on a quarterly basis.
- March 24: Fisker gets delisted from the NYSE. Cuts its EV prices up to $24,000. Extreme's base price drops from $63,937 to $39,937; the entry-level Sport and mid-tier Ultra now start at $27,437 and $37,437.
- March 24: Rivian owners now have access to the Tesla Supercharger network and will start receiving NACS DC adapters in April.
- Jan 24: For the first time ever, the Tesla Model Y was officially the best-selling car overall in the world in 2023, with 1.23 million units sold. This is the first time an EV took the #1 spot in global sales. Model Y production started only 4 years ago.
- ------------- 2023
- Dec 23: Biden to Limit Chinese Role in U.S. EV Market (source: WSJ). An EV tax credit, part of the Inflation Reduction Act, aims to decrease reliance on Chinese suppliers by restricting the credit for EVs with battery materials from "foreign entities of concern." The Biden Administration hopes the tax credit will encourage auto-supply chain development and cut the cord from China.
- Dec 23: Electric vehicles and hybrids grow to a record-high 18% of U.S. light-duty vehicle sales (EIA). In the US, 16% of all light-duty vehicle sales came from battery EVs (BEV). Hybrid and plug-in hybrid sales contributed to bringing that figure up to a 17.7% record high. Notably, the average transaction price for BEVs decreased by 5% in the third quarter to $50,283, making them more competitively priced compared to the overall industry average for light-duty vehicles. However, BEV sales are still primarily concentrated in the luxury vehicle market, comprising 34% of total luxury vehicle sales but less than 2% in the non-luxury segment.
- May 23: The Tesla Model Y was the world's best-selling vehicle in Q1, according to data compiled by industry analyst JATO Dynamics for Motor1. The Model Y had 267,200 sales in Q1, according to data from 53 markets and estimates for the rest of the world. The result comes as Tesla has cut Model Y prices early in 2023.
- Apr 18, 23: Germany's Volkswagen said it plans to introduce 10 more electric vehicle models by 2026 and it remained committed to China, where established foreign brands are losing ground to nimble local rivals (source)
- Apr 14. 23: Lucid Group (LCID) announces Q1 production and delivery totals. Co says it produced 2,314 vehicles during Q1 at its manufacturing facility in Arizona and delivered 1,406 vehicles during the same period.
- March 1, 2023: Tesla investor day; the company did not announce any new vehicle specific details; plans to reduce production costs by as much as 50%; Cybertruck coming later this year; company will offer Texas residents unlimited overnight charging for $30/month starting in July.
- Feb 2023: GM CEO Mary Barra says the carmaker this year will move past its Big 3 rivals and seek to close the gap on Tesla in EVs. By 2025, GM is estimated to build 1 million electric vehicles. (source)
- ------------- 2022
- Sep 2022: Sales of all-electric vehicles (also known as battery electric vehicles, or BEVs) in western Europe totaled 812,000 during the first eight months of 2022, Schmidt Automotive Research finds. Total new passenger car sales reached 6.46 million units in the same period. The firm projects all-electric or BEV sales of 1.4 million to 1.5 million units in the region for the full year, up from 1.2 million in 2021, and making up one in seven overall new car sales in 2022.
- Aug 2022: Lucid Group introduced Sapphire, Lucid's new ultra-high-performance brand, led by the new Lucid Air Sapphire - the world's first fully electric luxury super-sports sedan.
- 5 Apr 2022: Rivian Automotive (RIVN) produced 2,553 vehicles and delivered 1,227 during Q1; believes to be well-positioned to meet 25,000 annual production guidance.
- 28 Feb 2022: Lucid Motors USA (LCID) signs agreements for a full production factory in Saudi Arabia. The agreements are expected to accelerate Saudi Arabia's strategic goal to transform and diversify its economy through the development of sustainable energy and transportation. Lucid estimates that the location of Lucid's first international manufacturing plant in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia may result in up to $3.4 billion of value to Lucid over 15 years, and the facility will enable Lucid to address growing demand for Lucid's products.
- ------------- 2021
- 28 Dec 2021: Kandi Technologies (KNDI) announced that its wholly owned subsidiary Jiangxi Province Huiyi New Energy Co. Ltd entered mass production of its lithium iron phosphate battery.
- 28 Sept 2021: Ford Motor (F) to invest $11.4 bln to develop electric vehicle campuses, creating 11K new jobs. Ford is announcing plans to bring electric vehicles at scale to American customers with two new massive, environmentally and technologically advanced campuses in Tennessee and Kentucky that will produce the next generation of electric F-Series trucks and the batteries to power future electric Ford and Lincoln vehicles.
- 22 Sept 2021: Ford Motor (F) and startup Redwood Materials said on Wednesday they are partnering to form a "closed loop" or circular supply chain for electric vehicle batteries, from raw materials to recycling.
- 16 Sept 2021: Ford Motor (F) begins pre-production of all-electric F-150 Lightning truck. Ford confirmed construction of the Rouge Electric Vehicle Center a year ago as part of an initial $700 million investment in the historic Ford Rouge Center, creating a manufacturing home for the F-150 Lightning. Now Ford's pre-production F-150 Lightning trucks are leaving the factory for real-world testing, with the truck available to customers next spring.
- 1 Sep 2021: Xpeng (XPEV) reports August deliveries increased 172% yr/yr. In August, XPeng delivered 7,214 Smart EVs, representing a 172% increase year-over-year. Deliveries in August consisted of 6,165 P7s, the Company's sports smart sedan, and 1,049 G3s, its smart compact SUV. 2021 year-to-date deliveries reached 45,992 vehicles, representing a 334% increase year-over-year. P7 deliveries continued to strengthen, achieving a record month in August and a 209% increase year-over-year.
- 1 Sep 2021: NIO reports August deliveries increased 48.3% yr/yr. NIO delivered 5,880 vehicles in August 2021, representing a 48.3% year-over-year growth. While the Company's new order reached an all-time high in August driven by the increasing demand, the vehicle production, especially the manufacturing of the ES6 and EC6, was materially disrupted by supply chain constraints resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic in certain areas in China and Malaysia. The deliveries consisted of 1,738 ES8s, the Company's six-seater or seven-seater flagship premium smart electric SUV, 2,342 ES6s, the Company's five-seater high-performance premium smart electric SUV, and 1,800 EC6s, the Company's five-seater premium smart electric coupe SUV. As of August 31, 2021, cumulative deliveries of the ES8, ES6 and EC6 reached 131,408 vehicles.
- 1 Sep 2021: Li Auto (LI) reports August deliveries increased 248% yr/yr. Co announced that the Company delivered 9,433 Li ONEs in August 2021, increasing 248.0% year over year and 9.8% month over month, breaking the Company's monthly delivery record again. Total deliveries in the first eight months of 2021 and cumulative deliveries of Li ONEs reached 48,176 and 81,773 respectively.
- 5 Aug 2021: Ford Motor (F) confirms that it expects to be well positioned to have fully electric vehicles account for 40 to 50% of its US sales by 2030.
- 15 July 2021: The EU unveiled plans to effectively ban the sale of new gasoline-powered cars by 2035.
- July 2021: Chinese companies posted record sales of electric cars. Li Auto Inc. (NASDAQ: LI) sold over 8,589 cars in July, showing a 251% year-over-year growth. Similarly, XPeng Inc. (NYSE: XPEV) also managed to deliver more than 8,000 cars in the same month.
- 17 May 2021: Canoo (GOEV) opened its reservations and is taking preorders: Starting today, the lifestyle vehicle, MPDV and pickup truck can be reserved in the United States, with a $100 deposit per vehicle at www.canoo.com/reservations. The Lifestyle Vehicle will be the first vehicle to market in 2022, and has targeted pricing starting from $34,750 -$49,950i for Delivery, Base and Premium models, before incentives, or optional equipment. Deliveries for the Pickup Truck and scaled production for MPDV are scheduled to begin as early as 2023.
- 15 May 2021: Ford (F) hosts an event to reveal the all-electric F-150 Lightning. The automaker says the F-150 Lightning will bring stunning innovation, technologies and capabilities to the popular F-Series, without sacrificing power, payload and towing capability. Production of the F-150 Lightning begins next spring at the company's Ford Rouge Electric Vehicle Center.
- 26 Jan 2021: CarParts.com (PRTS) Announced its launch of a new dedicated shopping hub for the hybrid, plug-in hybrid, and electric vehicle community; the hub will also feature news, guides, blog content, and maintenance insight for the community.
- ------------- 2020
- In 2020, Europe replaced China as the biggest market of EVs. Europe registered over 1.4 million new electric cars in 2020, followed by China with 1.2 million. Overall, global electric car sales rose in 2020, despite the pandemic-related restrictions. In the U.S., consumers spent over $120 billion on electric car purchases in 2020, presenting a 50% growth from 2019.
- Dec 2020, Tesla: Despite the impact of the pandemic, Tesla produced and delivered half a million EVs in 2020. It ended the year by finally getting included in the S&P 500 Index after five profitable quarters. Deliveries of Model Y that is being produced in Shanghai's Gigafactory are expected to begin shortly. Tesla Cybertruck, Semi, and Roadster are due to be launched this year. Tesla's revenue increased 45.3 percent to $8.77 billion in Q3 2020. Its non-GAAP net income increased 155.5 percent YoY to $874 million, while its EPS rose 105.4% from last year's $0.76.
- 19 Nov 2020: General Motors (GM) announced more aggressive plans to pivot toward electric cars as it accelerates efforts to challenge Tesla (TSLA). GM stock rose. The No. 1 U.S. automaker now plans to spend $27 billion on electric cars and autonomous vehicles through 2025, up from a prior target of $20 billion. Also by 2025, GM plans to launch 30 electric cars around the world, with two-thirds of them available in the U.S. Previously, it planned at least 20 new models by 2023.
- The Lyriq, Cadillac's first all-electric vehicle, which will arrive in Q1 2022, nine months ahead of its prior schedule.
- 19 Nov 2020: GM will develop two electric cars for Honda (HMC) using the Ultium platform and anticipates others will want to license the new proprietary battery technology. The Ultium will allow electric cars to go 400 miles on a single charge, GM has said. That would top Tesla's projected range of 322 miles for its Model 3 sedan.
- 16 Nov 2020: Lordstown Motors (RIDE) released updates on commercial, operational, and strategic developments; as a highlight among those updates, co indicated that it remains on track to begin production of its full-size, all-electric pickup truck, the Lordstown Endurance, in September 2021, with full production ramping through 2022. Co has received approx. 50,000 non-binding production reservations from commercial fleets for the Lordstown Endurance.
- 2 Nov 2020: NIO reports October deliveries increased 100% yr/yr. NIO delivered 5,055 vehicles in October 2020, a new monthly record representing a strong 100.1% year-over-year growth. The deliveries consisted of 2,695 ES6s, the Company's 5-seater high-performance premium smart electric SUV, 1,477 ES8s, the Company's 6-seater and 7-seater flagship premium smart electric SUV, and 883 EC6s, the Company's 5-seater premium electric coupe SUV. NIO delivered 31,430 vehicles in 2020 in total, representing an increase of 111.4% year-over-year. As of October 31, 2020, cumulative deliveries of the ES8, ES6 and EC6 reached 63,343 vehicles.
- 2 Nov 2020: Li Auto (LI) reports deliveries of 3,692 Li ONEs in October, representing a steady increase compared to September.
- 2 Nov 2020: Xpeng Inc (XPEV) reports October deliveries increased 229% yr/yr to 3040 vehicles. XPeng delivered a total of 3,040 Smart EVs in October 2020, consisting of 2,104 P7s, the Company's smart sports sedan, and 936 G3s, its smart compact SUV. The Company's October deliveries represented a 229% increase year-over-year. As of October 31, 2020, year-to-date deliveries of the Company's Smart EVs reached 17,117 units, representing a 64% increase year-over-year.
- 10/26/20: DiamondPeak Holdings Corp (DPHC) completes business combination with Lordstown Motors; starts trading on the Nasdaq under ticker symbol "RIDE".
- 10/10/20: Renault (OTC:RNSDF) is expected to unveil a new electric SUV concept alongside the production version of the Dacia Spring next week. The French automaker is charging in late with a strong electrification push.
- August 2020: The Lucid Air is slated to be revealed on Sept. 9, 2020. Lucid expects to achieve a driving range of about 500 miles per charge.
- August 2020: The Nikkei Asian Review reported that Panasonic (6752.Japan) will invest another $100 million in its joint-venture Tesla (TSLA) Gigafactory in Nevada. The report says plant capacity will rise about 10%, to 39 gigawatt-hours year. A 39 gigawatt-hour a year plant can make 39,000,000 kilowatt-hours of batteries, or enough to power 400,000 to 500,000 EVs.
- August 2020: Nikola (NKLA) is designing a pickup truck called Badger to get 600 miles of range through a combination of a battery pack and a hydrogen fuel cell to power its electric motors. It’s a little like having a portable generator on board.
- When trying to compare the efficiency of battery power versus gasoline engines, the discussion around miles per gallon gets a little strange. The EPA is the entity converting values for U.S. drivers, and the agency decided that about 34 kilowatt-hours of energy is the same as a gallon of gas. So an EV that goes 100 miles using 34 kWh gets about 100 miles per gallon.
- June 2020: Volkswagen (OTCPK:VWAGY) is scheduled to start taking binding orders for its "first edition" ID.3 electric car at a list price of €40K ($45.5K). The German automaker expects to start making some European deliveries in September and sending out full-featured ID.3s by the end of the year as the company's broad goal to be a mass EV producer accelerates. EV buzz is picking up in general after Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) crossed the $1,000 per share threshold and Nikola (NASDAQ:NKLA) soared in its public debut. Investors also have been putting a charge into EV-related stocks like Electrameccanica Vehicles (NASDAQ:SOLO), Arcimoto (NASDAQ:FUV), Workhorse Group (NASDAQ:WKHS), Kandi Technologies (NASDAQ:KNDI) and Nio (NYSE:NIO), Aptiv (NYSE:APTV), Delphi Technologies (NYSE:DLPH) and to name a few. Of course, chipmakers like Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA), Maxim Integrated Products (NASDAQ:MXIM), NXP Semiconductors (NASDAQ:NXPI) and TE Connectivity (NYSE:TEL) also benefit from the increased focus on EVs.
- ------------- 2019
- September 2019: Michigan-based Rivian Automotive landed an order from Amazon to purchase as many as 100,000 electric delivery vans over the next decade, with the first ones showing up on the road in 2021.
- Jan 7, 2019 Shanghai: Tesla (TSLA) broke ground on its Chinese Gigafactory where it plans to mass-produce Model 3 and Model Y electric vehicles. "We think with the resources here we can build the Shanghai Gigafactory in record time and we’re looking forward to hopefully having some initial production of the Model 3 towards the end of this year and achieving volume production next year," Elon Musk stated at the event. The local Gigafactory is the first wholly-owned car plant in China operated by a foreign company.
- ------------- 2018
- Jan 2018: Tesla (TSLA) has started to roll out its all-electric Model 3 vehicles, while Volvo last year announced plans to phase out gas-only cars and launch new electric and hybrid vehicles in 2019.
- ------------- 2017
- Dec 2017: Panasonic is considering jointly developing batteries for electric vehicles with Toyota (NYSE:TM), a move that would cement its position as the world's leading producer of automotive batteries. Panasonic (OTCPK:PCRFF) already supplies lithium-ion assemblies for Toyota's hybrid vehicles, but has also carved out a name for itself as the major battery supplier to Tesla (TSLA).
- July 2017: Toyota (NYSE:TM) is working on an electric car with improved driving range and a fast-charging battery. The Japanese automaker is expected to build the new EV on a new platform and use solid-state batteries that can be recharged in minutes. The new model could arrive as early as 2022. Other automakers such as BMW are also working on developing all-solid-state batteries, eyeing mass production in the next 10 years.
- ------------- 2015
- March 2015: Mercedes is launching its first plug-in hybrid-electric midsize sedan, the C350e, in U.S. dealerships in September 2015, according to reports. Chatter on the street suggests that the German auto-making powerhouse plans to deeply undercut Tesla stickers, with a price around $42,000 before $5,250 worth of federal and state incentives. The 85 kWh Tesla starts at twice that level. And the brash young automaker will not have a competitive product until at least 2017. Mercedes can undercut the pricing because it has a lot more experience at mass production and sourcing; will make the car in low-cost Alabama instead of high-cost California; and it can subsidize the vehicle with its other vehicles, just to gain market share. The market for electrics is growing dramatically; this is just the start.
