Zetsche: There's No Money In The EV Stand

And never have been. Still, I heard about this new battery technology. ..

@thelaine Right next to the carburetor that let's cars get a 100mpg

@Lie2me And there are these things called "horses" that they used to use, right up until World War II. If we'd only developed that technology a little farther with genetic modification….

@Rod Panhard If they had only seen the recycling (glue) and renewable energy (methane) potential...

@Lie2me Would you happen to know if Norm's Saab is parked nearby? I was always under the impression it was parked near the Ark of the Covenant.

@28-Cars-Later Norm's Saab is at Area 51, producing gasoline for the federal government.

@28-Cars-Later That would make his Buick *the* Ark of the Covenant *shudder*

@28-Cars-Later It's being inspected by top men.

@28-Cars-Later The Papal Enclave approves.

If a car can't function as your primary vehicle it's basically worthless. Kind of like investing in time-shares, if you can't live in a real estate investment, it's worthless

A lot of aviation companies just let the jet engine technology slip by too, just like an eel. They might as well close up shop and repurpose their tooling into the manufacturing of aluminum siding.

@Lie2me Maybe it's worthless to you, Lie2me, but there are millions of families with 2+ vehicles who are fine with an EV as one of them. It all depends on how you use your vehicles. I mean, if EVs were truly worthless, then why is Tesla worth so much more than 'mighty' GM?

@VoGo There are millions of families with boats and RVs too, want to talk about their happiest day? (Hint, it's the day they unload them at a fraction of what they paid) As far as Tesla having more "value" then GM, ever hear of the "Tulip Frenzy"?

@Lie2me But this is different, Lie2me, My family has 3 cars: - a minivan for the nanny to use during the week, and for family trips and weekend use - a commuter car for me - a commuter car for my wife. If my wife or I have a commute of less than 30 miles each way, then a Leaf or similar is a much smarter choice than a typical ICE sedan or CUV. I don't understand your strident opposition to other people making good choices for themselves.

@Lie2me Ha, ha... you forgot the "/sarcasm"

@VoGo "why is Tesla worth so much more than ‘mighty’ GM?" It's not. If you're talking about the share price alone, that's wild stock market specualtion. By conventional standards which most stocks are judged, theirs should be doing very poorly. The fact that some major shareholders recently cashed out at the same time should signal to the rest that the boat ride is about to end.

@danio3834 Yeah, think "Tulips"

@danio3834 Danio, GM is worth $20B. Tesla is worth $29B. That would be more. If you think the market is wrong, then buy GM shares, short Tesla and make millions. Nothing is stopping you.

@danio3834 "GM is worth $20B. Tesla is worth $29B. That would be more." You're pulling numbers out of your butt. GM's market cap is ~50B. BTW, I do own GM, and I have shorted Tesla.

@danio3834 Danio, You're right. I don't know what happened there - I was researching GM's market cap yesterday and saw $20B - I must have misread it. Nevermind.

@danio3834 GM Market cap 49.37B - Google Finance

@Lie2me ??? So, every household with more than one car, has a bunch of worthless vehicles piled up in their driveway? Man, I never knew I was supposed to feel sorry for Jay Leno before......

@stuki No one made any such argument. My only point was that for many households with multiple vehicles, it makes sense to consider an EV. That doesn't make ICE cars worthless, and says nothing about your feelings for Jay Leno.

@stuki Every house with vehicles of limited use has a bunch of worthless vehicles piled up in their driveway... Ask the guy with a boat and/or RV parked in his driveway

Ecar tech is moving so fast that there isn't much to being "technologically behind." Parts suppliers will disrupt subsystems currently engineered at great expense by the final assembly car maker many times over, before (if ever) things settle down. Noone knows if the most cost effective batteries a few years from know will have dense storage but low discharge rates, or vice versa; requiring completely different approaches. Or even if that matters and I'm just babbling about what will turn out to be irrelevant nonsense. It's still largely a wildcatting business. Fueled by waaaay too easy access to credit, leading to what is fairly certainly a substantial net destruction of value. As well as to an unusual and unsustainable relative advantage for greenfield players vis-a-vis established makes. At some point things will become more normal, and perhaps there are long term profitable niches for the stuff large enough make sense for a company of Daimler's size to pursue. But that's seemingly not yet.

@stuki I agree, EVs are tanking

EV technology has been with us for over a century. Every automaker could build one if it wanted to. The problem with EVs is with the batteries. If there is going to be a battery breakthrough, then it will come from a research lab, not from a manufacturing company. If that breakthrough ever happens, then every automaker will be able to build them quite easily. There's no need to be early because the ramp up time would be nominal.