Ranking of electric car manufacturers: Tesla continues to triumph as an innovation engine

Ranking of the e-car manufacturers
Tesla continues to triumph as a driver of innovation

Which automaker is ready or even capable of innovation? This question will probably decide which manufacturers will be leaders in the future. According to a study, Tesla is by far ahead. But especially from one country, several producers are on the heels of the US electrical manufacturer.

According to a study by the Center of Automotive Management (CAM), the US electric car manufacturer Tesla remains the world's most innovative manufacturer of electric cars – and is increasing its distance from the competition. The CAM in Bergisch Gladbach announced that Tesla was able to expand its lead "thanks to strong innovations in the area of ​​range and charging capacity". Volkswagen and the Chinese manufacturer BYD follow in behind. However, this is not yet reflected in the current registration figures – another car manufacturer is triumphing.

Tesla Motors (USD) 849.99

When it comes to electromobility, the innovative strength of manufacturers plays a "central role" for future economic success, explained CAM Director Stefan Bratzel. For the ranking list, the institute evaluated 32 automobile manufacturers on the basis of 291 innovations in the field of electromobility and then calculated the innovative strength using an index value.

Tesla increased by 45 to 159 index points compared to the previous year. Volkswagen is still in second place with an increase of 37 points with 123 meters – "mainly due to the high segment ranges and charging capacities of the VW ID3 as well as other innovations from Porsche (Taycan) and Audi (e-tron)," said the CAM.

Four Chinese manufacturers in the top ten

BYD from China made "a big leap" with plus 23 points and clearly overtook Hyundai. The South Korean carmaker was therefore only able to gain a "moderate" plus nine points in 2020, after high growth in the previous year, and is now in fourth place.

Renault
Renault 38.28

According to Bratzel, four Chinese automobile manufacturers, Geely, BAIC and SAIC, are among the top ten for the first time. Geely was able to "catapult himself up" from rank 15 to rank 7 – mainly thanks to innovations from Volvo and Polestar. According to CAM, however, there is some catching up to do with electrical innovations at many established automobile manufacturers – including "the German premium manufacturers Daimler and BMW, which only come in eleventh and 13th, respectively."

The established manufacturers would "have to arm themselves, since in the next few years considerable innovation dynamics are to be expected not only from Tesla, but also from newcomers in electromobility such as Lucid Motors or the Chinese manufacturers Nio and Xpeng," explained Bratzel. "If you arrive late with e-mobility, you run a high risk," he warned.

The European manufacturers' association Acea has meanwhile announced that just under 539,000 all-electric cars were newly registered in the European Union last year – with an increase of 117 percent, that was more than twice as many as in 2019. The number of plug-in hybrids tripled New registrations even: from just under 140,000 to more than 507,000 vehicles.

According to the market research institute Jato Dynamics, the French carmaker Renault was ahead of the field with its Zoe model with a total of almost 100,000 new registrations in 2020 in 23 key European markets. This was followed by the Tesla Model 3 with around 86,000 new registrations and the ID.3 from VW with 56,000, which has only been delivered since autumn.

. (tagsToTranslate) Economy (t) Tesla Motors (t) Elon Musk (t) Auto (t) Auto Industry (t) Electric Cars (t) Electromobility