Four Advantages of Manufacturing EVs I can see four distinct advantages that manufacturing EV has over manufacturing ICE vehicles. 3 motors 30 power configurations The first great advantage that EV manufacturers have is the simple and yet powerful flexibility inherent in electric motors. A four wheeled EV can have one, two, three or four motors. Multiple motors can work in tandem or allowed to power up to all four wheels independently. This gives the manufacturer the ability to offer multiple power options while only having to engineer, design and build a few motor types. An EV manufacturer could engineer and build only three motors and yet with only a little additional engineering offer up to 30 different powertrain variants. (not to say that all 30 would necessarily be optimal or offered, but it is possible) A traditional ICE manufacturer would be required to incur the cost of engineering and building many more engine sizes (horsepowers) in order to compete. Each IC engine would requiring its own manufacturing and assembly line. An EV manufacturer on the other hand enjoys the simplicity of design and great economies of scale because it is producing many units of the same few motors. The EV world is shying away from the term horsepower (for good reasons, see JB Straubel's article: Tesla All Wheel Drive (Dual Motor) Power and Torque Specifications ...) but for simplicity of explanation I will treat electric horsepower as if it were stable. An EV manufacturer could, For example, have three motor sizes 160 HP, 200 HP and 260 HP and yet be able to offer one vehicle with 160 hp, another with 360 hp, another with 520 hp, and yet another with 1040 hp, as well as many other possible powertrain variants. This inherent simplicity of being able to build only a of small number of motor types while yet being able to customize multiple powertrain outputs is a powerful advantage to EV manufacturers. Streamlined, simplified powertrain Another, more obvious, advantage EV manufacturers enjoy is working with a streamlined, simplified powertrain. A BEV has a much simpler powertrain compared to an ICE vehicle. The transmision is much simpler and more compact. Power can be placed closer to the wheel or wheels where traction is needed. And EVs do not need mufflers or other exhaust systems. This should give EV manufacturers the ability to reduce overall manufacturing costs over time. No worries about emission regulations Another big advantage EV manufactures have is not being constrained by current or future governmental emissions regulations. An EV manufacturer does not need to worry about tailoring its product-offering to fit within some government specified emissions regulation, not now, nor in the future. EV manufactures can freely design and build vehicles in any shapes sizes or configurations they desire according to market interest and demand. More profit to the manufacturer A final great advantage EV manufacturers can currently enjoy is greater revenue (and potential profit margin) on each vehicle sold. EV's can, at present, command a premium price over their ICE counterparts because buyers know that they will be spending less on fuel, maintenance and mechanical repairs. This means that instead of revenue flowing to a gasoline company, a lube shop and an auto repair shop, that revenue flows directly to the EV manufacturer, allowing for higher margins. The fact that the vehicle is electric means that it can command a $3 - $6,000 premium (or more) than its ICE counterpart. This shifts more profit from other market players and directly to the manufacturer. And, over time, as associated costs of EVs are reduced this greater potential profit margin will continue to increase or at the very least stay the same as lower cost versions of EVs are introduced. So, EV manufacturers can realize a greater gross profit margin on each vehicle sold compared to their ICE counterparts. For all these reasons it is clear to see that now is a great time to be an EV manufacturer. Perhaps this is why VW group, GM and others are joining Tesla in pushing the sustainable transportation revolution forward.
Sadly, none of the reasons you cite is why VW or GM or any other legacy auto maker is only now, and only very reluctantly, moving to join the EV revolution. The reason is increasingly stringent controls on emissions in the EU and, to a lesser extent, in the U.S. You very correctly cite many reasons why once auto makers actually start making BEVs in large numbers, they're going to find them better, more flexible, and eventually cheaper to build than gasmobiles. But auto makers have had more than a century in learning now to build gasmobiles well, and build them cost-effectively. Their success at this is pretty astonishing when you consider that the gas engine in a small economy car, a motor which has two to three hundred moving parts, can be made for as little as only a few hundred dollars! There is a "hump" to get over, with making BEVs; a hump in which auto makers will face stiff startup costs and a steep learning curve in building BEVs cost-effectively. They'll have to abandon much of the investments they've made in their expertise in building internal combustion engines. But I suspect it won't be many years before experience and the economy of scale bring the cost of building a BEV powertrain comes down to less than a gasmobile powertrain of comparable power. This is especially true if you consider just how many of the Rube Goldberg kluges added to a gas motor to prevent it from exploding, melting, overheating, or deafening the neighborhood with excessive noise. BEVs don't need water jackets for the motor, oil pumps, mufflers, catalytic converters, air filters, spark plugs, fuel injectors, timing chains, fuel pumps... the list of things they don't need, as compared to gasmobiles, is pretty long. Of course, there are certain things that BEVs do need, such as a PEM (Power Electronics Module), including the somewhat expensive inverter. But aside from the battery pack -- often cited as if it's the only reason that BEVs are more expensive than comparable gasmobiles -- there really isn't much that is required in a BEV which is expensive and isn't also found in a gasmobile. And as I think a EV supporters are by now quite aware, battery packs are dropping significantly in price every year. So, the crossover point at which BEVs will be cheaper to build than equivalent gasmobiles is coming soon! We can argue over just when that's going to happen, but it surely will be in less than a decade from now. And when it comes, it's going to be as part of an accelerating movement away from gasmobiles, towards BEVs. After many years of impatiently waiting, it's finally an exciting time to be an EV enthusiast! Up the EV revolution!
Electromagnetic devices are inherently more efficient than thermodynamic devices, which are what ICEs are. Less moving parts, simpler construction, comparatively less precision engineering (tolerances on piston rings are very close) makes it much easier to design and manufacture. Add to it the transmission requirements with ICE where linear motion is converted into rotary motion and then transmitted. So there is no question an EV, properly designed will be much easier to manufacture compared to a ICE. However, I am not sure I would There is a lot of start up costs including R & D, design, testing etc., so that initial costs are high. Yes they will decrease over time, but even with simpler products, I do not know believe that a BEV is necessarily cheaper, when you amortize the development costs. Also the reason for the premium is that it is is still a niche product, people buy it for environmental reasons and do not mind the premium, but that is the not mainstream market. The other reason is the tax subsidy, so people are paying a premium. As it gets mainstream, there will be an increasing pressure on costs as there will be many manufacturers VW, GM etc realize that the market is taking off and they need to join it or be left behind. They realize that there is a large enough population who will buy this product if other things are there and if GM and VW do not go along, others will satisfy the market. GM has had the Volt and Bolt, but have no really tried to capture a larger share of the market till Tesla Model 3 came along and gave them a wake up kick. If they really saw the profits earlier, they would have jumped on earlier.
