The $100/kWh price was registered on e-bus batteries for the Chinese market. Although this was the lowest reported price, the volume-weighted average price did not strand too high either, setting at $105/kWh.

The recorded drop in price has been consistent, as the electric vehicle battery pack prices revolve around the $126/kWh mark for volume-weighted averages. However, when considering prices reported at cell-level, battery electric vehicle (BEV) prices were down to $100/kWh. Consequently, this show that 21% of the total price of a BEV is drawn by the battery pack.

BloombergNEF (BNEF) results on the 2020 Battery Price Survey is predicting an average battery pack price of $101/kWh by 2023 for all electric vehicle categories. This includes electric passenger vehicles, e-buses, commercial electric vehicles such as trucks, as well as stationary batteries.

The importance of $100/kWh batteries

It is obvious that as battery pack prices drop, electric vehicles will follow suit, becoming cheaper and  more affordable for the public. However, the $100/kWh marks a turning point for the electric automotive industry. It is by this point that automakers should be able to break even between combustion and electric vehicles.

In other words, by 2023 automakers should be able to build and sell both combustion and electric vehicles at the same price and with the same margin, allowing for a more balanced market.

Why Electric Car prices are dropping

Lower prices on battery packs are definitely a good sign. The main reasons for which battery packs are being sold at lower prices per kWh have to do with newer manufacturing technologies, but rather with demand.

Thus, lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxide batteries and their cobalt aluminum oxide counterparts are cheaper to the obsolete Li-Ion relatives. Lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries are expected to pull prices even lower, down to $80/kWh.

On the other hand, the constant increase of demand for battery packs also helps prices to keep on going on their descending slope.

Long-term expectations

If the $101/kWh by 2023 looks certain, even though some ups and downs may arise on the way, estimates show that by 2030 battery packs should reach a historical $58/kWh minimum. Compared to 2013, that is an 11.5-fold drop in price.

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The 49-year old Musk’s increase in wealth came along with Tesla stock breaching $500B in market value. The boost in overall market value came as investors purchased stock in the run-up to the company addition in the S&P index. However, Tesla (TSLA) has also seen an unprecedented increase in market value this year, gaining six time its value in 2020.

Despite the coronavirus outbreak which put most automotive businesses on hold or pushed them into a steep market drop, Tesla managed not escape a near-death sentence and according to number, thrived.

Tesla is ranked as world’s most valuable car company, sitting comfortably far from second place, even with production figures that are only a fraction of what other auto giants are pushing now. Although other EV stocks have risen since president-elect Joe Biden’s statements about boosting EVs as a top priority were made public during his campaign, no other company surged the way Tesla did.

One of the Joe Biden platform underpinnings features a strong push for zero emission vehicles and clean energy sources by 2030. If put into practice correctly, it could see Tesla surging even further on the stock market and increasing Elon Musk’s fortune. This would in turn create the possibility of the 49-year old businessman to become the richest person alive.

At the moment, Jeff Bezos holds the title, with an estimated net worth of $181.3 billion.

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Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, many people had to wear masks in densely industrialized because of the poor air quality.

To achieve its goal of carbon neutrality by 2060, China’s Association of Automobile Manufacturers believe that conventional internal combustion cars must be replaced by environmentally friendly alternatives no later than 2035.

Deputy secretary-general of China’s Association of Automobile Manufacturers Shi Jianhua stated that hybrid powertrains are the optimal choice. Jianhua stating that improvements in automotive electrification will help the transition to hybrid vehicles.

China hasn’t yet established a proper plan to ban fossil-fuel cars and switch entirely to hybrids and NEVs (new energy vehicles). However, there is still a decade and a half left to work towards the goal.

Shi Jianhua estimates that new-energy vehicles such as hybrids, electric cars and fuel-cell vehicles would account for half of the Chinese automotive market by 2035. This would in turn have a strong impact on reducing China’s carbon footprint.

Electric Vehicle (EV) Production in China

Currently, China is the largest emerging electric vehicle market in the world. EV manufacturers such as Tesla are already establishing production points and showrooms all around the country.

The Geely owned Polestar division of Volvo is also developing two models in the Middle Kingdom. They also have plans on starting production for a 3^rd type. Founded in 1997, Geely Auto Group is a leading automobile manufacturer based in Hangzhou.

The Percept Concept is expected to be built at a brand-new facility in China, a Polestar spokesperson declared.

Furthermore, the concept follows the Chinese carbon reduction purpose, aiming to be the lowest carbon footprint vehicle in China.

As of 2020, China accounted for half of the electric vehicle sales worldwide, and the percentage is expected to go up in years to come.

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The screening process takes into account the most relevant performance figures of the industry and generates an indicator of how performance will evolve in the future.

According to Calum MacRae, Automotive Analyst for GlobalData, Tesla has gone above the sector average in various measures. For example, Tesla is the undisputed leader in market capitalization (total market value of the company’s outstanding shares).

In terms of manufacturing capacity utilization rate, Tesla rated 90% throughout 2019, keeping the automaker at the top of GlobalData’s list.

With currently just one main distribution plant in the US and two upcoming nodes in Shanghai and Berlin, Elon Musk’s company is expected to boost its capacity dynamically in the next half decade. The boost, according to MacRae, is also a result of an observed high demand on electric vehicles.

Future Outlook for Tesla

Based on the analytic report, Tesla shows a positive outlook and emerges rather unscathed from the current covid-19 crisis. This is a sharp contrast to older, larger automakers whom have had their sales cut drastically in 2020.

The optimistic sales figures combined with the top engineering expertise and marketing techniques boost the company towards a winning position in the post-epidemic business environment.

On the same note, GlobalData set BMW, Toyota, Honda and Geely as sector leaders in manufacturing capacity utilization, while pushing Ford, Renault, Tata Motors and Nissan at the other end of the scale.

Even though it doesn’t feature the seniority of other well-established automakers, GlobalData considers key attributes featured by Tesla to keep the US-based electric vehicle manufacturer outperforming the sector for years to come.

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Ducati, Lamborghini and Bugatti are currently in uncertain waters as the upcoming November meeting of VW’s board of directors will decide their fate. The decision came as Volkswagen is also looking to double its value, reaching approximately 200 billion euros.

As two unnamed senior executives declared for Reuters, the three exotic brands may go through restructuring, selling or other procedures in order to free up cash for the mainstream production.

Herbert Diess, Chief Executive Officer of Volkswagen is reportedly looking for ways to push even more billions into research and development of electric drives, moving away from combustion units.

Diess refused to comment on the fate of the high-performance brands but admitted the need for revamping of the VW brand to make the push towards the electric and autonomous automotive era.

In terms of revenue, Lamborghini managed to sell 4,554 units in 2019 with prices ranging from $200,000 up to a few millions for special edition models.

French luxury brand Bugatti released its newest model last year, called Divo. First unit was sold for a staggering $5.8 million and was one of the 84 vehicles Bugatti sold through 2019. Motorcycle brand Ducati managed to sell little over 53,000 units in 2019.

Since Volkswagen needs to rely on its combustion cars sales revenue to boost electric vehicles and autonomous research and production, difficult decisions need to be taken in regard to funneling the most amount of cash.

Recent leaked information surfaced of a potential sale of the Bugatti brand to Croatian electric supercar brand Rimac. In exchange for Bugatti, Volkswagen would acquire a larger share in Rimac and thus push forward with their efforts towards electrification.

Currently, Volkswagen owns 15,5% of Rimac and if negotiations succeed, the share would increase to 49%.

Although it has almost twice the number of employees, Volkswagen (78 billion euros) is worth roughly 2.5 times less than its main competitor Toyota (187 billion euros). The two automakers have almost identical sale figures in 2019, with Volkswagen taking the edge (10.96 million cars vs 10.74 million cars sold by Toyota).

With these figures in mind, it becomes clear that Volkswagen needs to take radical decisions in order to raise its market value. According to VW Group’s board chairman Hans Dieter Poetsch, restructuring and listing brands for sale is the right strategy.

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