RIVALS MAKING E-CARS
Tesla in for a jolt?
A high-end Tesla Model S can go from 0 to 60 in 2.8 seconds — but that doesn’t mean rivals can’t gain ground on the electric-car maker.
Mercedes-Benz on Tuesday unveiled its first fully electric car — the latest in a crop of battery-powered models from big, traditional manufacturers looking to challenge Elon Musk’s pioneering company.
The German luxury automaker said its battery-powered SUV, called the EQC, will hit the streets in 2020 — the first of as many as 10 electric Mercedes models to hit the road by 2022.
Investors, fearful of a possible rival, pushed Tesla shares down 4.2 percent on Tuesday, to $288.95, a nearly three-month low.
While the EQC looks like it’s aimed at Tesla’s Model X SUV, the specs on paper may disappoint some driving enthusiasts.
The EQC’s range on a single charge is just 200 miles, versus as fast as 295 miles for the Model X. It goes from 0 to 60 in 5 seconds, versus 4.7 seconds for the Model X. And the EQC’s top speed is capped at 111 mph, versus 130 mph for the Model X.
Nevertheless, Wall Street is increasingly worried that Tesla is about to face a bru- tally competitive landscape.
Goldman Sachs on Tuesday resumed its coverage of Tesla, slapping the carmaker with a “sell” rating — less than a month after suspending coverage to help Musk explore taking the company private.
In a note to clients, analyst David Tamberrino reinstated his August price target of $210 for Tesla — a 30percent drop from its current price — citing increasing competition in the electric-vehicle space.
Later this month, BMW, Audi and Volvo are all slated to unveil their own electric models.
Tesla has had virtually no competition up to now, enabling it to persuade early adopters to pay a premium for its pioneering cars.
Mercedes CEO Dieter Zetsche said on Tuesday he hopes electric cars will make up 15 to 25 percent of total sales by 2025.
Tesla is a rival to the Germans as it has been “very successful in the price bracket they were addressing,” Zetsche said.
Consumers are beginning to adopt electric cars on a larger scale, driven by regulations that are making their diesel-guzzling variants more expensive and electric cars cheaper and easier to own.