The Driver - Spring 2017 TheDriver_Spring_2017_v4_singles | Page 9

“BMW have channeled enormous resources
and dollars into the BMW “i” program: to
date, although they may have produced six
hybrids, the closest to a BEV, the i3 has a
limited range.”
penetration/saturation by then to be at
only 3.4 percent.
Christian Mueller, a manager at IHS
Markit has said: “We are conservative…
Automaker planning numbers are
usually far removed from reality. A lot of
this is price negotiation. If you’re asking
for 1 million units, you get a different
price than for a more realistic 500,000.”
Mueller positions Volkswagen
Group as one such automaker. The
VW Group is projecting 2-3 million
EV sales by 2025, however IHS Markit
and Mueller specifically do not believe
that this is a reality. At this point, VW
is already complaining that it can’t
get the batteries it needs, and yet this
manufacturer has only just begun to
showcase concept EV and BEV vehicles.
So, where have pundits and analysts
gone wrong? Are they incorrect in their
prognostications – or are they merely
spouting automotive hyperbole to
generate “ink”?
The seemingly more than willing
beacon of acceptance for the EV
movement is Tesla Motors. On March 31,
2016 Tesla took what many auto experts
called a giant step to bring EVs to the
masses. It announced a new Tesla, the
smaller Model 3, which allegedly offered
greater range (345 kilometres) than its
like-priced competition and a price of
US$35,000 – by far and away its most
affordable EV yet. Orders for the new car
(production models which haven’t yet
been seen and may roll out in late 2017)
are said (by Tesla) to be pouring in.
Meanwhile, to the surprise and
pleasure of many, once mighty General
Motors and their all-EV offering, the
Chevrolet Bolt have quietly, and with
way less fanfare, managed to bring
the five-door hatchback to market
when they said they would. With a
soft launch in the state of eco-warriors
(California) in late 2016, Chevrolet
dealers in British Columbia, Ontario and
Quebec have seen pre-orders trickling
into showrooms. Coincidentally these
three Canadian provinces are the three
offering healthy “incentives” in early
2017. This “normal” looking compact
vehicle has an estimated range of 383
kilometres and, in Ontario, qualifies
for a full grant from the provincial
government of around CAD$14,000.
Suddenly, the whole EV milieu got
real!
Here’s an interesting sidebar: posit the
question which OEM has sold more EV-
type vehicles in Canada and you might
expect the response to be Toyota – and
you would be mistaken!
Nicolas Longpre, Brand Manager
for Chevrolet Canada out of General
Motors Canadian headquarters in
Oshawa, Ontario will willingly tell
anyone who will listen that Chevrolet
can easily claim that specific crown.
Industry commentator, Matthew
Klippenstein, was eager to confirm
Chevrolet’s assertions. “Out of the
30,000-odd plug-in electric vehicles
on the road in Canada, Chevy has sold
about 9,000 plug-in electric vehicles.
Almost all of them the Volt. Next up is
Tesla with about 6,000 Model Ss and
Xs. In third place is Nissan with about
5,000 Leafs.”
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