Will recent events prove that EVs were never really the solution and never will be?
Okay, there is no easy or snappy way to bring this topic up, at least to me, because it is serious. So let’s go straight in, while Malaysia may be seeing increased electric vehicle (EV) sales over the years, the opposite is true in countries like the U.S which have had EVs for far longer and have more experience with them.
That is no secret, we have known it for a while, however, what many are unaware of is in June, Tesla will be having a shareholder meeting which could change the EV landscape outside of Malaysia permanently and as a result, shift the market here as well. For those unaware, this meeting is important as Elon Musk is threatening to take away self driving from Tesla cars.
So what is happening here? After all, many shareholder meetings happen all the time, why is this one so important? Well, Elon Musk stated he will move his current Tesla stock to Texas and stop building AI and software for Tesla (which is the only real advantage it has) if the brand does not either give him 25 percent of Tesla shares or give him a hefty compensation package.
Moreover, we all know that Chinese EVs have already caught up and even surpassed American EVs in terms of range, battery capacity and everything in between leaving Tesla with only one real feature unique to the brand and that is its AI and software, courtesy of Musk, of course. So with him and his tech gone, what does Tesla have to offer anymore?
This is even more concerning when one remembers the piss poor build quality of Tesla models and the ridiculous price premium for different colours, features and the like all add up to the overall cost while other brands offer objectively better products for half the price or less. Even if one owns a Tesla car, this meeting could be detrimental.
On top of that, this revelation only harkens back to a few years ago when everyone was giving Japanese automaker Toyota a hard time for refusing to hop on the EV bandwagon and focus on hybrids as well as hydrogen tech. However, with this new Tesla conundrum as well as dwindling EV sales everywhere outside of Malaysia, an even bigger problem has come to light.
This problem is the question, were EVs truly never the solution? We know they do not impact the environment any less than any petrol car, this has already been proven, they are far more inconvenient than petrol cars as charging takes far longer than refuelling and they are more prone to fires, so what is the point of an EV then? What do you guys think?
