Presented at the Mondial de l’automobile in Paris, the new electric models that will be marketed in the coming months illustrate the forced march to the power between the manufacturers. A small manufacturer in california is there to remind them that the alternative could quickly overwhelm them. In the past year, with the Model S, Tesla has indeed outperformed, in France as in Europe, the sales of the tenors from the top of the range – the Audi A8, Mercedes S-Class or BMW 7 Series. And with the presentation to the World of Paris of the Tesla Model 3 – which occurs on the segment of the Audi A4, Mercedes C Class and BMW 3 Series –, this time is the category of the road top of the range which is put under tension. “Despite their low share in current sales, manufacturers are rushing into the production of these electric vehicles, notes the consulting firm Oliver Wyman. Not less than thirty-five new electric models are advertised in 2019 to counter Tesla. “
New standards
But it is mainly the pollution standards imposed by the european Union which are pushing automakers to invest in electric vehicles. In 2024, they will have to reach an average level of emissions of 95 g/km of CO2 for the whole of their ranges. Beyond that, they must pay fines of 95 euros per gram of CO2 in excess on each vehicle registered in the year. And this is only the beginning, because the Council of the european Union has recently made a decision to a new 35% reduction in CO2 emissions in 2030.
According to the boss of PSA, Carlos Tavares, the fines imposed on the manufacturers could weaken financially some of them : “If a european car maker missed targets [for lower CO2], and was brought to its knees by fines, it could not be acquired by another large european manufacturer, because of the rules…
