Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) has practically had the market for pavement-scorching, long-range electric vehicles (EVs) all to itself.
But that’s all about to change…
EV appreciators and aficionados will soon have a wider variety of options to compare the Model S sedan and its sport-utility sibling, the Model X, with.
And those options will be coming from well-established luxury brands that will be able to take advantage of tax breaks as they start to run out the segment’s dominant brand.
And if there’s a target on Tesla’s back, it might be Jaguar and Porsche (OTC: POAHY) that has Elon Musk’s company most firmly in their sights…
Jaguar I-Pace
Having debuted last week at the 2018 Geneva Motor Show, Jaguar’s new I-Pace is shaping up to be the world’s first legitimate Tesla-fighter. Its a premium, battery-electric crossover with a range of up to 240 miles. And it can hit 60 miles per hour in under five seconds with top speeds reaching 124 mph.
For now, the I-Pace will be offered with only one battery option: a 90-kilowatt-hour unit. It will be able to be charged with the combined charging system (CCS) DC fast chargers, which will take the new electric luxury model from empty to 80% in about 40 minutes.
The SUV will pack 394 horsepower and 512 pound-feet of torque in its standard two-motor, all-wheel-drive (awd) configuration.
On the inside, the I-Pace will feature a sleek redesigned infotainment system with two touchscreens on the center console and a head-up display that projects information, like directions and the vehicle’s speed, onto the windshield.
Over time, Jaguar says the I-Pace will gather data about the owner’s driving habits and interior preferences and will also use artificial intelligence (AI) to adjust settings automatically.
Owners will be able to connect their Amazon Alexa devices to the car, so they’ll be able to ask for information like charge levels before diving. And the I-Pace will be Jaguar’s first model to receive wireless updates, similar to how Tesla updates its vehicles.
A svelte 483 pounds lighter than Tesla’s Model X, the I-Pace also comes with a skinnier price tag: $69,500. That’s 10 grand less than the Tesla SUV and the same price as an entry-level Model S sedan.
Since Tesla’s access to $7,500 federal tax incentives will start winding down this year, the Jag and other new plug-in competitors will have the upper hand with the price advantage.
The I-Pace is more stylish than the Model X, too. But coming from Jaguar, that’s to be expected.
Styling has always been the hallmark of the British carmaker — all the way back to the iconic E-Type sports cars from the 1960s. And Jags are undoubtedly some of the most beautiful cars on the road:
But for years, Jaguar had been disappointing its customers with cars laden with quality problems and lacking key features that consumers demanded.
So, how did Jaguar go from a laughable luxury carmaker to Tesla’s biggest threat?
Ford tried its best to keep the Jag above water but was consecutively missing the mark. It couldn’t keep up with the likes of Mercedes-Benz and BMW, which were adding awd transmissions, advanced diesel engines, and new crossover utilities to their lineups.
So naturally, Jaguar’s sales plummeted.
By early 2008, Ford begrudgingly decided to sell Jaguar and its Land Rover cousin to India’s Tata Motors (NYSE: TTM) for a mere $2.3 billion — half of what it paid to acquire them years earlier.
And throughout the economic crisis that would hit later that year, Ratan Tata — then-chairman of the Indian conglomerate Tata Group — helped to make the acquisition prosper over the long run.
Although Land Rover’s luxury SUVs were well-suited to changing market tastes, making the bounce back fairly painless, there was a lot of painful work to be done with Jaguar’s then-current lineup.
By 2013, Jaguar’s product-reinvestment strategy began to pay off. Sales jumped to nearly 77,000 as new products hit showrooms, like the F-Type sports car and the XE — an entry-level Jag worthy of the brand.
But the big breakthrough came with the debut of the Jaguar F-Pace, the carmaker’s first SUV. The SUV collected many awards, including 2017’s World Car of the Year, and finally positioned Jaguar at the heart of the luxury vehicle market.
The smaller E-Pace, starting at $38,600, is launching now. And the newly revealed I-Pace, which will go on sale this fall, is the beginning of a new electrification strategy from the company.
With the I-Pace, Jaguar will become the first-ever global automaker to enter the premium EVs space, which was created by Tesla.
Despite the two models’ similarities and being the only two options in the sector at the moment, Jaguar is definitely a serious contender.
And although Jaguar has been shy about talking up its comparisons to Tesla, the I-Pace definitely looks set to give the “original” luxury electric car-maker its first big competitive challenge…
Porsche Mission E Series
Porsche also seems to have it out for Tesla.
Having already shown its Mission E sedan as a potential rival to the Model S, the German automaker revealed its Mission E Cross Turismo electric crossover concept car to the Geneva Motor Show.
Unveiled days after Jaguar’s I-Pace, it looks like Europe’s premium brands want a piece of the Model X’s reasonably small — but growing — hunk of metal.
But unlike the I-Pace and Model X, the Mission E Cross Turismo is only a concept vehicle:
But Porsche has already made it clear that it intends to dive headfirst into the realm of battery-electric vehicles, claiming the crossover will reach production.
All Mission E vehicles, including the future Cross Turismo, will be capable of 800-volt charging that offers 248 mi. of range in a scant 15 minutes — a marked improvement from Tesla’s 480-volt supercharger systems.
But Porsche doesn’t want to only provide the hardware allowing the Mission E vehicles to charge more quickly — it also wants to host the technology that feeds them.
During the Cross Turismo’s debut presentation, president and CEO of Porsche North American, Klaus Zellmer, said the company wanted to equip all dealerships with the 800-volt DC fast chargers.
And even though most of the customers’ charging will take place at home, the DC fast chargers do provide Mission E owners with a place to charge their vehicles within a matter of minutes.
It’s nice to have the option of ultra-fast charging, especially if 800-volt taps become commonplace.
The Mission E crossover uses a 440-kilowatt lithium-ion system and a pair of permanent synchronous electric motors, which can toss the Cross Turismo from zero to 60 in 3.5 seconds.
Besides having awd, the vehicle also makes use of all-wheel steering and has an air suspension that can provide added ground clearance at will.
And although Porsche refers to the concept as a “crossover utility” vehicle, the Cross Turismo is essentially a high-riding and more production-friendly version of the Mission E concept sedan.
At 194.8 inches, it’s longer and has wheel-arch cladding and fog lamps that further differentiate it from its Mission E sibling.
Not skimping on tech, Porsche gave the concept vehicle features like a head-up display, wireless charging dock, and digital connectivity through smartphone applications.
There’s also a driver display that consists of three round instruments screens and eye-tracking functionality, which bring the particular display that the driver is focusing on into the foreground.
Even though we don’t know if or when Porsche is planning to bring its Mission E series into production, one thing is certain: If the German automaker decides to move ahead with its Mission E series, it’ll be another big contender for Tesla…
The Bottom Line
Tesla may have created a new automotive segment and single-handedly made the electric car cool with blistering performance, high technology, and sleek futuristic designs, but the next few years will bring new competition from the old guard.
Other luxury automakers, like Mercedes-Benz and BMW, are rumored to be increasing their investments in EVs over the coming years, too — setting the stage for a battle for supremacy in the high-end EV market.
That’s all for now.
Until next time,
John Peterson
Pro Trader Today