PLUS: Mini previews EV hatch, Audi wants another hub, and Porsche plans a 718 EV.
This week Tesla CEO Elon Musk personally delivered the first Model Y crossovers from the automaker's Berlin-Brandenburg plant, just outside the German capital, with Tesla establishing a manufacturing footprint in EV-hungry Europe. With German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on hand, the high-profile launch of the Berlin-Brandenburg gigafactory marked an important waypoint for the Austin-based EV maker just as sales of electric cars in Europe have surged, representing a rare launch of an all-new facility by an American auto brand on European soil; in recent decades, it has mostly been foreign automakers that have built new plants in the US.
The launch of Giga Berlin will allow Tesla to cater to its growing community of fans in Europe, who have previously bought vehicles produced in the US, or lately at Giga Shanghai, while facing not-insignificant wait times. At last, Tesla will be able to better serve its European customers.
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Giga Berlin will be Tesla's first plant in Europe, with the automaker now manufacturing on three continents. |
Germany's own automakers aren't asleep at the wheel. Between the time construction of Giga Berlin began and now, VW, Porsche, Mercedes, and others have all launched new EVs on their home continent and in the US, with offerings from the VW Group alone eclipsing Tesla's variety. So Tesla won't be starting production in an EV desert—quite a lot has happened when it comes to the availability of electric cars in Europe over the past two years. The list of electric models available from German automakers will increase as 2022 progresses, with a number of models targeting Tesla's best-sellers.
Read on to find out what Tesla now faces across the Atlantic and at home.
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The iX1, to be revealed in full later this year, will land in a highly contested segment. |
Speaking of the German competition, earlier this week BMW revealed the first official teaser image of the upcoming iX1. Just as its name suggests, the model will be a battery-electric SUV close to the size of the gas-engined X1. And it could be BMW's future best-seller once it debuts later this year, landing in a segment that will soon be very busy.
BMW's somewhat stylized teaser image certainly suggests an aggressive appearance, but it's likely that we're looking at a performance version of the upcoming model, judging by the boxy intakes below the headlights.
Underpinned by BMW's FAAR platform, the iX1 has been promised to offer a range of up to 272 miles the WLTP cycle, at least in Europe. This allows us to make some guesses about its battery size, but it's safe to say that the model will also have to keep enough distance from others in BMW's lineup, including the larger iX, and this goes for the price as well.
2022 is certainly a busy year for electric BMW models, and arguably the most important one since the launches of the i8 and i3.
Read on to find out what else we can expect from this upcoming model.
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You may have seen a Taycan or four in traffic by now, but you're probably still not ready to picture Porsche with electric or plug-in hybrid vehicles accounting for 80% of its annual production. That's exactly what the automaker revealed a few days ago, aiming for that target by 2030. And the Taycan is just the tip of the iceberg. Porsche announced this and much more during its annual meeting last week, detailing its electromobility strategy. |
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Just a few months after launching its first exclusive charging hub in Nuremberg, Audi reveals it will open a second pilot hub in Zurich, further evolving its concept of a premium charging network. Audi CEO Markus Duesmann made the announcement a few days ago, signaling plans to expand this charging station concept, possibly before a wider launch in Europe and elsewhere. |
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