The reduced-spec Tesla and the three-motor Audi are both rooted in the Chinese market, but they have made different choices.

Due to the epidemic, the Geneva Motor Show was cancelled. Audi then chose to launch its new electric car, the e-tron Sportback, online. As a high-performance version of the e-tron, driven by three motors, it can accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in just 4.5 seconds. Although the price has not yet been announced, judging from the model positioning, Tesla Model X is undoubtedly one of its most important competitors.

Judging from the currently known configuration, as the world's first three-motor electric vehicle to be mass-produced, the e-tron Sportback should have enough confidence. After all, the biggest highlight of the Model X is the pair of gull-wing doors.

Also at the Geneva Motor Show last year, Audi announced that it would become the world's number one electric car manufacturer. Since then, with the release of several powerful models, it has become clear that Audi was not just talking big.

In fact, when the Audi e-tron, a high-end electric car with traditional luxury style, went into mass production, it gave people a new perception and true understanding of luxury electric cars - why bother with Tesla's simple interior and reduced configuration?

It is foreseeable that when the e-tron Sportback enters the market, Model X will face unprecedented challenges in the high-performance SUV market.

Tesla's hubris

Tesla is the most popular company in the current electric car market. Since the fourth quarter of 2019, the company's stock price has risen like a rocket. Tesla's market value has exceeded 160 billion US dollars, ranking second in the automotive industry, only lower than Toyota, but has already overtaken European giants such as Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Audi.

But what does this mean? Perhaps it only means that the bubble in Tesla’s stock price is a bit too big. As Nobel Prize winner in economics Robert Shiller recently said: US stocks are at least 40% overvalued.

It should be noted that Tesla delivered 367,500 vehicles in 2019, accounting for less than 0.5% of global sales. Even if the production is increased by 500,000 as scheduled in 2020, it will still account for less than 1% of global car sales. With such a low market share, it is difficult to maintain its position as the second largest automaker for a long time.

At the same time, as a company, Tesla is still in the red, and in the short term, it does not have the ability to make large-scale and sustained profits. On the one hand, it is constrained by the delivery volume, and on the other hand, it is lacking in supply chain building and global layout.

These are just considerations from Tesla's own perspective. If the entire external environment is taken into account, the challenges Tesla faces will be even greater.

So far, Musk, the disruptor of the automotive industry, has successfully slapped those who once questioned him and the technical route of electric vehicles, and Tesla has also gained a certain first-mover advantage in the industry. However, the reason why Tesla has gained this advantage is largely because traditional leading automakers are concerned about the replacement effect of electric vehicles on fuel vehicles and have not really bet on electric vehicle technology or promoted it hard.

With the advancement of electric vehicle strategies by luxury car companies such as BBA, Tesla has bid farewell to its former blue ocean market and ushered in real competitors, such as Audi, the pioneer of China's luxury car market.

Although Audi did not enter the electric vehicle field early, with the hot sales of its first pure electric vehicle, the e-tron, Chinese people seem to have a more comprehensive understanding of luxury electric vehicles - it turns out that electric vehicles can also have a luxurious and outstanding style and comfortable and casual driving pleasure?

Although Tesla has temporarily taken the lead globally, for China, Tesla's simple interior style and bench-like rear seats show that it is too arrogant to understand the Chinese market and is naturally too lazy to give Chinese users the best answer when choosing electric vehicles. Weakness and ignorance have never been obstacles to survival, but arrogance is. Tesla, which often reduces its configuration, will sooner or later suffer the consequences.

Musk, who was puffing smoke in the live broadcast room, seemed unaware of this. Tesla would be even less likely to listen to the voices of users and understand the unique expression of Chinese people's car-buying culture.

In China, cars are not simply a means of transportation, but a symbol of identity and status. The appearance of the car, the luxury of the interior, and the reputation among friends are all very important. In this regard, Audi, which is well versed in China's national conditions, is undoubtedly a good teacher. This is also the key factor in the Audi brand's reputation in China for decades. At Audi's German headquarters, there is a team that specializes in studying the driving habits and styles of the Chinese people and using them to innovate products. The only country that enjoys the same treatment is the United States.

ABB remains strong

Ultimately, competition in the electric vehicle field still depends on the competition of systems and strengths. Only by letting the market speak and meeting the needs from the commanding heights of consumption can we become the real king. From this perspective, the real king of the electric vehicle field in the future will most likely come from ABB and other luxury car companies.

Therefore, for Audi, the only real rivals in the future will be BMW and Mercedes-Benz, traditional luxury car companies. Judging from the data released at this stage, Audi's leading advantages in power performance and battery technology are still quite obvious. From the perspective of product matrix, Audi also has advantages.

Judging from the range and charging time of BBA's first pure electric vehicles, Mercedes-Benz's EQC has a range of 450km, BMW iX3 has only 400km, but Audi e-tron has a range of 525km. The comparison is obvious.

In terms of charging efficiency, the Mercedes-Benz EQC only has 110kW fast charging technology, which is significantly inferior to Audi's 150kW fast charging technology. While Audi can charge 80% in half an hour, Mercedes-Benz takes 40 minutes.

From the perspective of energy storage units, the Audi e-tron reaches 95kWh, which is ahead of the Mercedes-Benz EQC (80kWh) and the BMW iX3 (70kWh).

For luxury car consumers, car safety performance is undoubtedly one of the most important factors in their purchase decisions. In this regard, Audi has also taken the lead in the industry. Among them, the Audi e-tron became the first electric car to receive the 2019 IIHS Top Safety Pick+ rating, allowing Audi's advantages in the traditional car field to be smoothly transferred to the electric car field.

According to the electric vehicle plans of various countries, by 2025, 20-25% of the world's vehicles will be electrified, which is likely to be achieved. This means that the production capacity of electric vehicles will be implemented with only 20 million units, and how to achieve mass production here becomes a key factor.

Currently, Audi has four major electric platforms covering all models. In addition, Audi also has the inherent advantage of global factory manufacturing, which can bring about extremely huge synergy effects in technology and resources, helping the Audi brand to continue to maintain its leading edge in the global pure electric vehicle market.

It can be seen that no matter in terms of performance, safety or production capacity, Audi is superior in the new track of electric cars among the BBA giants. This is also the confidence and strength behind Audi's high-profile statement to become the world's number one electric car.

Audi in China

"Audi wants to be the world's number one electric car." Industry insiders believe that the reason why Audi is so confident is closely related to its strong technical strength and powerful supply chain advantages, which are also advantages that new forces such as Tesla cannot match. Even in the field of pure electric vehicle professional technology, Audi has already achieved considerable advantages.

For high-end Chinese consumers, the arrival of Audi e-tron means that Tesla no longer has the advantage of being the only one of its kind. Electric vehicles can also have luxurious attributes, refreshing the public's perception of electric vehicles.

For example, in terms of driving range, which is of great concern to consumers, Audi e-tron's energy recovery technology allows us to say goodbye to "range anxiety". It is understood that this energy recovery technology can contribute an additional 30% of driving range for each journey.

In terms of charging efficiency, Audi is the leader in the industry. The e-tron not only provides multiple ways of fast charging, DC/AC charging, and home charging, but also has a fast charging function that can charge up to 80% in less than 30 minutes. Compared with the efficiency of Tesla's super charging station, which can only charge 50% in 30 minutes, Audi's advantage is even more obvious.

In general, whether it is the ultra-long battery life or the extremely high charging efficiency, whether it is the luxurious and high-end interior, the high-tech configuration or the outstanding design concept, the Audi e-tron has everything that a luxury high-end electric car should have, and even achieves near perfection. If you take into account the endorsement of the Audi brand, it is not difficult to understand why the e-tron can be a latecomer in China and become a well-deserved hit.

For any car company, if they want to lead the world, the Chinese market is undoubtedly the most critical factor. If they cannot gain a firm foothold in China, the world's largest market, there is no way they can lead the world.

According to data, Audi released two pure electric SUVs, the e-tron and Q2L e-tron, and a number of new energy models in 2019, indicating that Audi is moving towards electrification in China. Starting this year, Audi will also launch a number of models in China, including the e-tron (domestic), e-tron Sportback, Audi Q4 e-tron, and Audi e-tron GT, to gradually improve the Audi brand's pure electric model lineup, thereby covering all levels of market segments and meeting the personalized needs of different consumers.

From this point of view, Tesla is not optimistic at present. In 2019, Tesla only delivered 43,000 vehicles in China, accounting for just over 10% of its global sales of 367,500 vehicles. However, looking at global auto giants such as Toyota and Volkswagen, their sales targets in the Chinese market are all moving towards 50%.

As a luxury brand that has been deeply involved in the Chinese market for 30 years, Audi is well aware of the importance of the Chinese market. As early as 2018, Audi transferred many China-related businesses from its headquarters in Ingolstadt to Audi China and proposed the brand strategy of "In China, for China" to improve its rapid response to the Chinese market.

Obviously, Tesla, which has just built a factory in China, is still in a state of ignorance about all this. In addition to being busy earning money from Chinese users, Musk does not seem to care about other issues, such as reducing configuration. Although the factory is in China, Tesla has never really respected domestic consumers because of its arrogance. In the future, this will surely become Tesla's Achilles heel. If you don't believe it, let time prove it all.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.