For carmakers, innovative strength in electromobility plays a central role in future economic success. The Center of Automotive Management (CAM) has assessed the innovation strength of 32 car manufacturers on the basis of 291 innovations in the field of electromobility. The top innovator in the technology field of battery electric vehicles, abbreviated BEV, remains Tesla by a wide margin.
The direct runners-up are Volkswagen in second place, the Chinese manufacturer BYD in third place and the Hyundai Group in fourth place. In addition to BYD, Geely, BAIC and SAIC also made it into the top 10 of the most innovative BEV carmakers, making four Chinese carmakers for the first time.
Tesla way ahead at the top
The innovation strength of a car manufacturer is calculated by means of an index value. The CAM Institute evaluates the innovations of electric mobility (in series production) in the areas of range, consumption and charging performance with regard to the improvement of customer benefit. According to this, the Californian industry leader Tesla increases its lead by 45 index points thanks to strong innovations in the areas of range and charging performance and now has a BEV innovation strength of 159 index points.
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The group of followers also already includes Renault in 5th place still just ahead of General Motors. "The established car manufacturers have to brace themselves, as in the next few years a considerable innovation dynamic can be expected not only from Tesla, but also from newcomers to electromobility such as Lucid Motors or the Chinese manufacturers Nio and Xpeng. Those who are too late in e-mobility are taking a high risk," says study director Stefan Bratzel.
Electric vehicles sold in 2020: VW is making headway
Current evaluations of battery-electric sales (preliminary) in a global group comparison show the following picture: Tesla will remain the market leader in electromobility by a clear margin with around 500,000 vehicles in 2020. The Chinese market, where Tesla sold 135,000 vehicles last year, is becoming increasingly important. According to CAM forecasts, the SAIC Group will come in second with around 250,000 battery electric vehicles. The Volkswagen Group is making a big leap forward and, after ranking sixth in the previous year, will enter the top three of the best-selling carmakers for the first time with 231,600 pure electric vehicles sold in 2020. The main drivers are the volume models VW ID.3 and VW E-Golf as well as the premium models Audi E-tron and Porsche Taycan. (nhp/mfo)
