Is Tesla the Only Major EV Maker Able To Get Strong Sales Without Subsidies?

China cut subsidies on electric cars which caused a 46% drop in October 2019 electric car sales versus October 2018. Global electric car sales were down 28%. The rest of the world had a 3% increase in electric car sales in October, 2019.

China electric car sales were ~65,000 in October 2019 (down from 77,000 in Sept 2019), down 46% on October 2018. Electric car market share in China for October was 3.5%, and 5.5% YTD.

China Using Less Carrot and More Stick to Get Rid of Polluting Cars for EV

China is still phasing in the elimination of combustion engine cars by about 2030.

China unveiled a comprehensive set of emission rules and delayed a credit-score program tied to the production of electric cars, giving automakers more time to prepare for the phasing out of fossil-fuel powered vehicles in the world’s largest auto market.

Under the so-called cap-and-trade policy, automakers must obtain a new-energy vehicle score — which is linked to the production of various types of zero- and low-emission vehicles — of at least 10 percent starting in 2019, rising to 12 percent in 2020, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said on its website. The rule applies to carmakers that manufacture or import more than 30,000 traditional vehicles annually, and those who fail to comply must buy credits or face fines.

China may extend its high level ‘New Energy Vehicle’ targets to 2035. Updated targets would be::
2025: 20% of sales (already established)
2030: 40% of sales
2035: 60% of sales
Not finalized yet, but would be huge for EVs.

Overall China car sales of all kinds of vehicles was down.

6 thoughts on “Is Tesla the Only Major EV Maker Able To Get Strong Sales Without Subsidies?”

  1. In a theoretical sense, but it’s not like fiduciary duty is actually enforced by the legal system, or else our corporate world would be radically different.

  2. Elon may well want competition.

    Tesla inc. is a corporation that is legally obliged to do its best for its shareholders. As such TSLA is not allowed to want competition, except in unusual (though not unknown) edge cases where competition actually increases profits.

    And as we’ve seen, sometimes what Elon wants and what Tesla is legally supposed to do are not quite the same, and Elon gets his wrist slapped.

  3. Basically yes. Volkswagen Group will be the only other auto company to have put up enough investment to compete without subsidies in the next 5 years.

  4. Mandatory EV sales target maybe worse than subsidies for ICE. I think the prices for EV will trend lower mostly because the price for batteries is also trending lower.

  5. Per Elon, Tesla _wants_ competition. They want the automotive industry to electrify and eliminate fossil fuel ICE cars.

    Fantastic if Ford, GM, Toyota or any of the others actually invest the cash into R&D and production of batteries.

  6. They probably are momentarily, but battery makers everywhere are heading for below $100/kw batteries and carmakers are getting better at building electric cars.

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