Demand for Porsche Taycan prompts automaker to add 500 more jobs

[interestedinEV]

https://techcrunch.com/2019/10/02/demand-for-porsche-taycan-prompts-automaker-to-add-500-more-jobs/

Even if half of the 32,000 orders melts away, they have enough to cover most of the first year, which is good for EVs.


Demand for the all-electric Porsche Taycan sports car has prompted the German automaker to add 500 more jobs at its headquarters in Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen.

The move, which will boost jobs dedicated to the Taycan by one-third (to 2,000), is designed to give Porsche the flexibility it might need to boost production.

.....
Porsche initially targeted 20,000 Taycans for the first year of production, although at full capacity the line can produce up to 40,000 of these electric vehicles.

The company has received more than 32,000 applications for the Taycan, Haffner said.

 

[David Green]

https://techcrunch.com/2019/10/02/demand-for-porsche-taycan-prompts-automaker-to-add-500-more-jobs/

Even if half of the 32,000 orders melts away, they have enough to cover most of the first year, which is good for EVs.


Demand for the all-electric Porsche Taycan sports car has prompted the German automaker to add 500 more jobs at its headquarters in Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen.

The move, which will boost jobs dedicated to the Taycan by one-third (to 2,000), is designed to give Porsche the flexibility it might need to boost production.

.....
Porsche initially targeted 20,000 Taycans for the first year of production, although at full capacity the line can produce up to 40,000 of these electric vehicles.

The company has received more than 32,000 applications for the Taycan, Haffner said.

Interesting since you earlier predicted Taycan would flop due to price.... Now Porsche is hiring while Tesla is cutting back... hmmm....

 

[Pushmi-Pullyu]

Kudos to Porsche for its success! I think I read that they are doubling their planned production due to high demand.

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[Pushmi-Pullyu]

...Tesla is cutting back...

No, but "thanks" for your off-topic trolling, dude.

​

 

[interestedinEV]

Interesting since you earlier predicted Taycan would flop due to price.... Now Porsche is hiring while Tesla is cutting back... hmmm....

I always admit that I have known to been wrong, that my analysis may not reflect reality. I also am very fair, if there is an news item that contradicts my view point, I still will bring it up. On the other hand, in all fairness, I have never seen you admit it, when you statements have been disproved and I have done it on several occassions. Again in this case I do not know if I am wrong yet. Will the demand actually hold up when people have to actually take delivery? I would guess that Porsche has done their analysis and think it will but I do admit I am surprised at the demand.

 

[David Green]

I always admit that I have known to been wrong, that my analysis may not reflect reality. I also am very fair, if there is an news item that contradicts my view point, I still will bring it up. On the other hand, in all fairness, I have never seen you admit it, when you statements have been disproved and I have done it on several occassions. Again in this case I do not know if I am wrong yet. Will the demand actually hold up when people have to actually take delivery? I would guess that Porsche has done their analysis and think it will but I do admit I am surprised at the demand.

Clearly you have not followed me very closely as I constantly make fun of my mistakes. In General;

I AM WRONG MORE THAN I AM RIGHT
I AM WORNG MORE THAN I AM RIGHT
I AM WRONG MORE THAN I AM RIGHT
I AM WRONG MORE THAN I AM RIGHT
I AM WRONG MORE THAT I AM RIGHT

Does this clear things up?

Now, On the Taycan I have no idea what will happen when it hits the market, but I do know that Porsche has a plan based on reservations that have converted to orders. You are like most EV fans, you are still mesmerized by the reality distortion field Tesla creates. I think you are more centered than many other posters on this site, but still have a slight Tesla bias. I am on the other hand very much bearish on Tesla and more so Elon Musk. I still do not want to post things that are not true, and if I do, I will happily take corrections from you or others. This site has a Tesla bias, I posted a story a couple weeks ago about a transport full of Tesla's burning up which one forum member complained about (fake News), and @Dominic deleted, but then a week later they (insideEV) reported the same story on their news board... haha! Did I get an apology from the person who called my post fake news? or Dominic for deleting my accurate post? Nope... The world is not fair...

 

[interestedinEV]

You are like most EV fans, you are still mesmerized by the reality distortion field Tesla creates. I think you are more centered than many other posters on this site, but still have a slight Tesla bias. I am on the other hand very much bearish on Tesla and more so Elon Musk. I still do not want to post things that are not true, and if I do, I will happily take corrections from you or others. This site has a Tesla bias,................

There is more than one time that I have agreed with you wholly or partially. This is one of those times. This site has a Tesla bias and I agree with that. I try to be objective and pragmatic at all times but might have shown a slight Tesla bias on one or more occasions. I do believe that Elon is a visionary and has moved the EV ball a lot but I am not blind to his faults or the challenges facing Tesla. The difference between you and me is that I am more optimistic on Tesla's prospects than you are as I think there is still time to right the ship. And as I always say, time will tell if I was right or wrong.
And BTW, a lot of the postings here (including mine) are opinions not facts, and like the statement about opinions, "Opinions are like a*****s, everybody's got one and everyone thinks everyone else's stinks".

 

[David Green]

There is more than one time that I have agreed with you wholly or partially. This is one of those times. This site has a Tesla bias and I agree with that. I try to be objective and pragmatic at all times but might have shown a slight Tesla bias on one or more occasions. I do believe that Elon is a visionary and has moved the EV ball a lot but I am not blind to his faults or the challenges facing Tesla. The difference between you and me is that I am more optimistic on Tesla's prospects than you are as I think there is still time to right the ship. And as I always say, time will tell if I was right or wrong.
And BTW, a lot of the postings here (including mine) are opinions not facts, and like the statement about opinions, "Opinions are like a*****s, everybody's got one and everyone thinks everyone else's stinks".

I agree with you that Elon is a visionary, where I differ is that I feel he has been patted on the back enough for starting the EV movement, and I think it is now time for him to get out of the way, and let the adults in the room move things forward. I do not hop in my Audi and say WOW, sure glad Elon pushed forward on EV's, I am more impressed with the work by Audi engineers in the integration of the vehicle, fit, and finish.

Similarly I do not think of Henry Ford when I see a new assembly line, and think Wow, sure glad he developed an assembly line. I think, Wow, this is cool technology by Comau or others. Same when I drive my new diesel pickup which is impressive in its own right, I do not think of Rudolf Diesel and think how lucky we are that he developed compression ignition engines. I think Wow, those GM engineers were so clever in their design of the fuel, turbo, system to maximize the power, and drivability, all while setting a new industry benchmark in low emissions.

 

[Pushmi-Pullyu]

I agree with you that Elon is a visionary, where I differ is that I feel he has been patted on the back enough for starting the EV movement...

I have literally never seen or heard anyone claim that Elon Musk started the EV movement. Elon loves to claim credit for things he didn't do, like founding Tesla Motors, but even he doesn't go that far! Every EV fan knows, or should know, that the EV movement predates Tesla Motors by decades. It just wasn't getting anywhere before Tesla started making cars.

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[interestedinEV]

Elon did what Ford did for ICEs. Took an existing technology, mass produced it at a price people would buy in large numbers and increased the adoption of the technology. In other words created the take off point for the technology.

As an history lesson, the first crude EV in the world was developed in 1832.
https://www.energy.gov/articles/history-electric-car

This is an advertisement for an EV in US circa 1910. (If you had written to them you could received a "handsome" booklet.) There were electric Taxis in New York at the turn of the 20th Century.

Many innovators at the time took note of the electric vehicle’s high demand, exploring ways to improve the technology. For example, Ferdinand Porsche, founder of the sports car company by the same name, developed an electric car called the P1 in 1898. Around the same time, he created the world’s first hybrid electric car -- a vehicle that is powered by electricity and a gas engine. Thomas Edison, one of the world’s most prolific inventors, thought electric vehicles were the superior technology and worked to build a better electric vehicle battery. Even Henry Ford, who was friends with Edison, partnered with Edison to explore options for a low-cost electric car in 1914, according to Wired.

Yet, it was Henry Ford’s mass-produced Model T that dealt a blow to the electric car. Introduced in 1908, the Model T made gasoline-powered cars widely available and affordable. By 1912, the gasoline car cost only $650, while an electric roadster sold for $1,750. That same year, Charles Kettering introduced the electric starter, eliminating the need for the hand crank and giving rise to more gasoline-powered vehicle sales.

Other developments also contributed to the decline of the electric vehicle. By the 1920s, the U.S. had a better system of roads connecting cities, and Americans wanted to get out and explore. With the discovery of Texas crude oil, gas became cheap and readily available for rural Americans, and filling stations began popping up across the country.

In comparison, very few Americans outside of cities had electricity at that time. In the end, electric vehicles all but disappeared by 1935.

 

[David Green]

Elon did what Ford did for ICEs. Took an existing technology, mass produced it at a price people would buy in large numbers and increased the adoption of the technology. In other words created the take off point for the technology.

As an history lesson, the first crude EV in the world was developed in 1832.
https://www.energy.gov/articles/history-electric-car

This is an advertisement for an EV in US circa 1910. (If you had written to them you could received a "handsome" booklet.) There were electric Taxis in New York at the turn of the 20th Century.

Many innovators at the time took note of the electric vehicle’s high demand, exploring ways to improve the technology. For example, Ferdinand Porsche, founder of the sports car company by the same name, developed an electric car called the P1 in 1898. Around the same time, he created the world’s first hybrid electric car -- a vehicle that is powered by electricity and a gas engine. Thomas Edison, one of the world’s most prolific inventors, thought electric vehicles were the superior technology and worked to build a better electric vehicle battery. Even Henry Ford, who was friends with Edison, partnered with Edison to explore options for a low-cost electric car in 1914, according to Wired.

Yet, it was Henry Ford’s mass-produced Model T that dealt a blow to the electric car. Introduced in 1908, the Model T made gasoline-powered cars widely available and affordable. By 1912, the gasoline car cost only $650, while an electric roadster sold for $1,750. That same year, Charles Kettering introduced the electric starter, eliminating the need for the hand crank and giving rise to more gasoline-powered vehicle sales.

Other developments also contributed to the decline of the electric vehicle. By the 1920s, the U.S. had a better system of roads connecting cities, and Americans wanted to get out and explore. With the discovery of Texas crude oil, gas became cheap and readily available for rural Americans, and filling stations began popping up across the country.

In comparison, very few Americans outside of cities had electricity at that time. In the end, electric vehicles all but disappeared by 1935.

If we want to get technical, EV's still have not hit the inflection point, and I think that is years away. When you look at sales in the USA, but also the world, things have tightened up dramatically in the 2nd half of 2019, USA EV sales including plug in hybrids are down dramatically, and if the trend continues we could see a flat YOY sales in the USA, which is bad news for the EV movement. All the while ICE truck and SUV sales are up, way up in some cases.

 

[Pushmi-Pullyu]

When you look at sales in the USA, but also the world, things have tightened up dramatically in the 2nd half of 2019, USA EV sales including plug in hybrids are down dramatically...

Hmmm... maybe on Planet FUDster. Fortunately in the real world, plug-in EV sales continue to grow substantially year-on-year, both here in the U.S. and worldwide.

I think the "inflection point" -- the point in time at which EV sales start showing unbroken, strong yearly growth which averages out to an exponential curve -- will only be obvious in hindsight, but I think it happened last year.

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[interestedinEV]

I think the "inflection point" -- the point in time at which EV sales start showing unbroken, strong yearly growth which averages out to an exponential curve -- will only be obvious in hindsight,

Right. The second point is that we have to look worldwide, especially China and Europe, where EVs are growing rapidly. European and Chinese Manufacturers are in fact trying to shift their focus to EVs. The percentage of new EVs sold in Norway are as high or higher than ICEs. China is mission to push EVs to the max.

In Japan and the US, there are different dynamics that have created an aberration or more likely a blimp. In Japan, Toyota does not want to loose their HEV franchise, which they have built over the years. Nissan is mired in internal strife. in the US, the current administration has shown a clear bias towards the Oil and Gas industry. Trying to remove the California standards is one example of active governmental action that would discourage BEVs.

So looking at only the US market is only part of the picture. A lot depends today on what happens elsewhere and the impact of the environmental movement. Remember more than 100 years, EVs had a third of the automotive market, and then the market disappeared. I think (my opinion) we have reached the inflextion
point globally but may have a little bump locally.

 

[Pushmi-Pullyu]

In Japan, Toyota does not want to [lose] their HEV franchise, which they have built over the years. Nissan is mired in internal strife.

I think a more important factor in Japan is the chronic electricity shortage that they've had ever since the government mandated almost all their nuclear power plants be shut down, following the Fukushima disaster. I had some hopes that would only be temporary; but the last news I saw was that they've only re-started one or two of them. I don't know if it's still the case, but right after they shut down the reactors, some industries had to shift their operations to night-time in order to spread out (over the 24-hour day) the demand for power.

In other words, there literally isn't enough extra power in Japan's grid for charging a significant number of EVs, and sadly, the efforts to make up the difference there have been almost entirely fossil fueled.

I have a lot of respect for the way the Japanese have carefully managed their limited resources over the centuries, but here they seem to be behaving foolishly and ignoring the need for long-term planning. Japan should be busily building a series of next-generation prototype nuclear reactors for testing, and at the same time they should be funding R&D projects into making large grid-scale battery banks, so solar and wind power can be made more useful and dependable. Sadly, they're doing neither of those things.

The Japanese government is heavily subsidizing mass production of fool cell cars. Funding development of a dead-end tech shows just how badly the current political leaders are managing things.


I also consider Norway an outlier. The government there is massively subsidizing EVs, or rather massively penalizing sales of gasmobiles with taxes up to 100% of purchase price. It's great that such a large percentage of Norway's new car sales are EVs; but frankly, with that severe a penalty on gasmobile sales, the wonder is that EV sales there are still not approaching 100%.

The EU as a whole is what I consider the "normal" market; pretty much the rest of the industrialized countries have some strong influence one way or another on sales of EVs vs. gasmobiles. Of course, here in the U.S. it's the current political situation where the anti-environmental forces at the moment are ascendant. Fortunately, that's not going to last long! Certainly not past the end of 2020. (Is it too much to hope for a Democratic majority in the Senate? I'm hopeful, anyway!)

 

[David Green]

Right. The second point is that we have to look worldwide, especially China and Europe, where EVs are growing rapidly. European and Chinese Manufacturers are in fact trying to shift their focus to EVs. The percentage of new EVs sold in Norway are as high or higher than ICEs. China is mission to push EVs to the max.

In Japan and the US, there are different dynamics that have created an aberration or more likely a blimp. In Japan, Toyota does not want to loose their HEV franchise, which they have built over the years. Nissan is mired in internal strife. in the US, the current administration has shown a clear bias towards the Oil and Gas industry. Trying to remove the California standards is one example of active governmental action that would discourage BEVs.

So looking at only the US market is only part of the picture. A lot depends today on what happens elsewhere and the impact of the environmental movement. Remember more than 100 years, EVs had a third of the automotive market, and then the market disappeared. I think (my opinion) we have reached the inflextion
point globally but may have a little bump locally.

World EV sales were flat in July 2019 compared to 2018, and down in August 2019, September numbers are not in yet. InsideEV scorecard has this information at the bottom....

 

[Pushmi-Pullyu]

World EV sales were flat in July 2019 compared to 2018, and down in August 2019, September numbers are not in yet. InsideEV scorecard has this information at the bottom....

That needs to be put in the context of the overall automobile market. If the market is down this year, but PEV (Plug-in EV) sales are flat, then that's actually an increase in the percentage of sales that are PEVs.

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