“Thank you, Elon Musk, for showing German car managers the ropes“ – commentary

Tesla CEO Elon Musk was highly influential in shifting the strategy of German carmakers away from the combustion engine, in particular Volkswagen’s announcement this week that its next generation of conventional cars will be its last, Martin Seiwert writes in a commentary for the WirtschaftsWoche. “Exactly a decade ago, the Roadster, Tesla’s first model, opened the eyes of car drivers and of the car industry. Soldered laptop batteries are enough to fuel a cool and very fast e-car – that was new,” Seiwert writes. Although German carmakers already had an idea that a sea change was around the corner, they chose to use diesel as a “bridge technology” for years, repeatedly voicing doubts about Tesla’s ability to produce on an industrial scale, he writes. Now, VW is following suit, “and other carmakers will follow,” he writes.

Read the commentary in German here.

See the CLEW dossier The Energiewende and German carmakers for more information.