In the video, Lutz claims everything needed for an electric car can be ordered from a catalog. This begs the question, can I order everything for a Corvette C8 drivetrain from J.C. Whitney?
This actually confirms the Sandy Munro answer that the reason Detroit can't compete with Tesla is 'management wants to stand at the end of the assembly line to put on their badge.' Instead of concentrating on value added engineering, they prefer to outsource everything and then call it theirs.
And around the 33 minute mark, he states that "the only reason Tesla has more range is because they have a bigger battery".
Bob has been out of the game too long. With the new EVs from Audi, Jaguar, and Porsche, each with a "bigger battery", we now see that there is actually much more to obtaining more range than just having a "bigger battery".
About the Model Y, he said "sales will be largely substitutional to the Model 3." I believe that will be true to a great degree, just as the Model 3 seems to have impacted sales of S and X. If I had waited a year to buy my Tesla, I'd probably be looking at a Y, instead. It doesn't really matter because they'll be selling all they can build of both 3 and Y for a long time.
It's quite obvious to me that Bob is FIRMLY out of touch with the reality of Tesla's technology or perhaps he's just in denial and can't admit it. While one *could* possibly order parts from a "catalog" to make an EV the problem is that if the car and tech are not compelling it won't sell or perform well.
Chevy did a decent job with the Bolt but that's 75% LG tech in there, not GM and how are Bolt sales doing anyhow? GM still loses a boat load of money on them
Chevy did a decent job with the Bolt but that's 75% LG tech in there, not GM and how are Bolt sales doing anyhow? GM still loses a boat load of money on them
at 27min, Lutz does complement Elon and Tesla for giving the EV style & be appealing; unlike GM, Nissan, etc that made their EVs look like cheap Econobox cars because that's what they thought those looking for an EV would want.
I bought the Model 3 because Performance. I have not been disappointed and have surprised many riders who thought electric cars were econoboxes.
I noticed that they talked a little about range but did not talk about the Supercharger network. It is the best compliment to the Tesla line of cars and unique to Tesla. They should have brought it up.
Also over the air updates should have been discussed. I think it will be a real game changer.
Bob Lutz stated what I’ve been saying for years: GM (and all others) should have gone high end with full electric. Big battery, high end vehicle. He said it at 28:00.
I found it refreshing to hear Bob Lutz’s admissions about Tesla’s success, and then it gradually went downhill from there. His hindsight is decent but his foresight is horrendous!
It doesn't take long to know why he doesn't still work for any of the big guys. He is very good at judging what they each have done, but guess not so much as what they should be doing in the future when he worked for them.
I think he is being less honest on the electrification stuff than other topics. He is consulting for one of the major US companies and said he's on the board of several battery/electrification companies. I bet he knows more than he's letting on to and its in the best interest of himself and his customers to say those things. Unless he just shows up to board meetings telling 20-year-old stories, eating chips and salsa and collecting a big paycheck.
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