[Oldsmobile stopped]

"Nobody today is making a battery-powered vehicle that's economically viable." – Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche

What do you charge for a vehicle you're going to lose money on? If you're Mercedes-Benz and the vehicle in question is the B-Class Electric Drive, you offer it for lease for just 399 euros ($498) a month with a down payment of 8,473 euros ($10,582). If Daimler was going to price it honestly, it seems, the number would have to be a lot higher.

That's according to Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche, who spoke to reporters in Spain recently and said that, "You can reasonably say that nobody today is making a battery-powered vehicle that's economically viable in its own right. Manufacturers will not see a return within a reasonable time on the billions they're investing now." There are ways to make money in EVs, of course. Just ask Daimler, which recently sold its stake in Tesla for a cool $780 million.

Zetsche has some EV-critical company in executives like Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne, who has said his company loses over $10,000 on each Fiat 500E it sells. Other automakers – e.g., Tesla, Nissan – are much more positive about their financial bet on EVs, but no one is opening all their books to the public to prove this. Tesla, which worked with Mercedes on the B-Class ED, will have an earnings call with investors later today, so perhaps we'll learn something new in a few hours.

The B-Class ED lease deal is for 36 months, based on an MSRP of 39,151 euros ($48,895) in Europe, including the 19 percent VAT. You can read more in the press release below.

LINK

 

[JBsZ06]

No surprise there......but good to hear even Mercedes can't make money just yet with ev s.

 

[richmond2000]

I would assume the Nissan LEAF is or close to making money BUT it is by far the "volume" leader
+ I wonder HOW much is this a case of Nissan IS committed to EV BUT FCA/Daimler are NOT and want to "stick" with ICE drive and making EV's to "appease" the government

 

[mgescuro]

"Nobody today is making a battery-powered vehicle that's economically viable." – Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche

What do you charge for a vehicle you're going to lose money on? If you're Mercedes-Benz and the vehicle in question is the B-Class Electric Drive, you offer it for lease for just 399 euros ($498) a month with a down payment of 8,473 euros ($10,582). If Daimler was going to price it honestly, it seems, the number would have to be a lot higher.

Well, looking at a straight ROI for the B-Class, the B-Electric Drive folds into that, so the price is actually more favorable. The multi-billion dollar investment BMW had for the i-Series doesn't exist for Daimler. They had a partnership with Tesla to provide the technology. The B-Class exists because of its partnership with Nissan. The level of investment is far lower. But, no mistake about it, B-ED is a "compliance car."

 

[Oldsmobile stopped]

Californian state legislation is forcing feeding EV's to be sold at a huge losses soon upon car makers.

The Golden State's zero-emission requirement has a lot of clout because California is a big car market—it accounts for about 10% of all U.S. auto sales—and because 10 other states, including New York, New Jersey and Maryland, have followed its lead and enacted the same regulations. Auto makers that don't meet the minimum sales requirement could be barred from selling vehicles in the state.

Net result more huge taxpayer bailouts on the way, or Californians have to catch the trams as all the car companies get banned from selling expensive in the Golden State for to low EV numbers, as EV's get sold at a huge losses by manufacturers to make up the numbers, that Average Joe still cannot afford..

Californian Mustang 2025 owners manual.

 

[voyager]

I would not be surprised if Tesla has a hard time making money. There is influx of money on the basis of its stock market value. Operating profits is a different subject. Tesla operates at the high-end of the market, which might mask the issue to a certain extent. But what happens if that particular market gets saturated or if countries limit the fiscally favoring of EVs?

 

[voyager]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/11/05/us-teslamotors-results-idUSKBN0IP2SI20141105

(Reuters) - Tesla Motors Inc shares rose more than 7 percent in after-hours trading on Wednesday after the electric-car maker beat analysts' expectations for third-quarter results. The automaker said its quarterly loss nearly doubled from a year ago to $75 million, as manufacturing, sales and development expenses increased to meet rising demand for its Model S sedan.