Thank you to everyone who attended the rally for posting really amazing pictures for the rest of us to see. Some of you people are incredible photographers by the way. I was in Germany for a few days on business (completely unrelated to the auto show) and hence missed the rally....I hope to attend next year and meet some of you there. As you may know the BMW i8 was unveiled in Frankfurt earlier in the week, and I had a chance to see the car at the Munich airport on display. I have to say that the car was much better looking in person than I anticipated in pictures / renderings where it looks pretty "toy-like". I don't own a hybrid or electric car, and like many of you had sorta waited to see how the technology will evolve before even considering one. I live in southern California, and it seems like most of my friends either drive a tesla already or are considering it for their next car. When I'm driving the GT....it seems like the tesla drivers are "seeking me out" just to challenge me on the road. I have to admit that the first couple of times I was caught off guard by this totally....but have seen a few of them turn pale when they actually see the raw speed and power of the FGT not to mention the incredible sound the car makes!
Having said this, I did have an epiphany of sorts on the flight back. Despite the early media blast against Tesla, the owners that I know (at least 8-10 friends / acquaintances) could not be happier with their cars. They keep raving about the quality, the service, and overall ownership experience. I kept thinking of the stories that one of my mentors who trained me would tell me about cardiac surgery in the 1990's. He was an expert in an operation (traditional open heart surgery) for treatment of dysrrhythmias, and as soon as a less invasive technique came out to treat the condition without surgery, his volume of that surgery went from 300 cases per year to 10 cases the following year to 0 cases for the following 10 years.....I think that the transition to hybrid / electric will be similarly quick once some of the cost issues are addressed with economies of scale.
But I'm curious to hear people's thoughts on this. I know that there are a number of people on this forum who own car dealerships (ford and other) and am wondering what the mothership is telling everyone. Regardless of oil prices, has the industry already made the quantum leap? By 2020 are the vast majority of sales expected to be hybrid / electric? I think 6 months ago the answer was much less certain to me...but I may be oblivious to some of the major challenges in making this happen.
Having said this, I did have an epiphany of sorts on the flight back. Despite the early media blast against Tesla, the owners that I know (at least 8-10 friends / acquaintances) could not be happier with their cars. They keep raving about the quality, the service, and overall ownership experience. I kept thinking of the stories that one of my mentors who trained me would tell me about cardiac surgery in the 1990's. He was an expert in an operation (traditional open heart surgery) for treatment of dysrrhythmias, and as soon as a less invasive technique came out to treat the condition without surgery, his volume of that surgery went from 300 cases per year to 10 cases the following year to 0 cases for the following 10 years.....I think that the transition to hybrid / electric will be similarly quick once some of the cost issues are addressed with economies of scale.
But I'm curious to hear people's thoughts on this. I know that there are a number of people on this forum who own car dealerships (ford and other) and am wondering what the mothership is telling everyone. Regardless of oil prices, has the industry already made the quantum leap? By 2020 are the vast majority of sales expected to be hybrid / electric? I think 6 months ago the answer was much less certain to me...but I may be oblivious to some of the major challenges in making this happen.
