• Ilovethebomb@lemm.ee
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    19 hours ago

    Tesla was a long way ahead of the competition for a very long time, to the point where they were the only option for a vehicle that was genuinely a replacement for a combustion vehicle.

    Without them, I very much doubt EV market share would be anywhere near what it is today.

      • Ilovethebomb@lemm.ee
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        3 hours ago

        It has been, but the leaf was very much a “second car” for a very long time. They had relatively short range, an air cooled battery, and as a result couldn’t be charged particularly fast. The battery would also overheat if you tried to charge it multiple times.

        Tesla, on the water, had a water cooled battery pack, and could be fast charged multiple times per day, and much faster than other vehicles, meaning a road trip was actually possible.

        • jabjoe@feddit.uk
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          58 minutes ago

          The Leaf was cheap. It introduced many to EVs. They are super common third or fourth hand now. It was aimed at the other end of the market than the Tesla.

    • k0e3@lemmy.ca
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      18 hours ago

      I’m not sure how it even managed to get so big when the EV1 was so beloved but supposedly killed by the automotive industry.

      • caffinatedone@lemmy.world
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        8 hours ago

        The EV1 was too far ahead of its time. The tech wasn’t there and to even accomplish what they did cost far more than they could hope to sell it for. An estimate that each EV1 cost GM around $100k to make in the early 90’s (so around $200k in today’s dollars).

        Battery tech has progressed massively since then and makes all of this possible now (even if it’s still expensive).