Tesla ‘killers’ that failed miserably

In 2010, the future of electric vehicles looked wide open. The terrain was rocky, but fertile; full of opportunity, if you could make it through the technical and consumer crags. 

Now, 10 years later, things look different. Established car companies like General Motors and Porsche are elbowing for their share alongside startups like Rivian and Byton. But one company is inarguably both the trailblazer and master of EVs: Elon Musk’s Tesla.

In the first half of the decade, headlines frequently predicted doom for the fledgling company. When any new all-electric vehicle idea came out, critics were quick to anoint it with the label “Tesla killer,” no matter car type, range, or level of luxury. Those labels didn’t stick, however: Tesla is still alive and well. In fact, is “affordable” sedan, the Model 3, made up an eighth of all EV sales worldwide this year. It dominates. 

As the decade comes to a close and the EV market is poised to get even more crowded in 2020 and beyond, here’s a look back at “Tesla killers” that never materialized. Better luck next decade.

Faraday Future

Image: FREDERIC J. BROWN / AFP via Getty Images

Stalling can happen to electric cars, too. 

When Faraday Future unveiled its FF91 at CES in 2017 to much , it said its luxury electric vehicle would go into production in 2018. That never happened. Instead, the EV startup  burned billions in cash, for production facilities, gone through , , and saw its (now former) CEO and hide from his Chinese debtors. Oh, and it still has yet to produce a car.

Newly instated CEO Carsten Breitfeld promises that FF91 cars will go into production and hit the road . Faraday Future *could* still pull that off if it’s able to line up new financing. But as a supposed Tesla killer of the 2010s, FF remains a failure.

Jaguar E-Type

A classic redefined. That was the hype of Jaguar’s 1960s sports car revived as an all-electric beauty. For car collectors, Jaguar had big plans to convert original models into electric machines. Instead the E-Type overhaul was scrapped just over a year after it was first announced. What happened?

Well, it wasn’t completely killed. As Electrek reported, Jaguar hopes to one day revive the E-Type as an electric vehicle. “One day,” as in not anytime soon.

With Jaguar’s electric I-Pace already delivering to customers, the E-Type seemed liked a fun side project that could lean on the established battery production behind the brand’s first all-electric SUV. 

Going electric is hard.

Fisker Karma (and EMotion)

Image: JONATHAN NACKSTRAND / AFP / GettyImages

The death of Fisker’s supercar isn’t as cut and dry as the haters would like. Yes, the Fisker Karma was going to be the luxury electric vehicle of the decade. But only 2,450 of the cars were ever made after its 2011 launch. After battery issues with the plug-in sports car led to recalls and financial problems galore (the battery supplier filed for bankruptcy and then Fisker Automotive filed as well) the company pulled the plug. 

The company is still chugging along with an all-electric SUV, the Fisker Ocean, set for unveiling in January and production starting in 2021. The luxury sedan EMotion first revealed in 2017 is delayed, so don’t expect that until well after the Ocean starts delivery. The EMotion was supposed to arrive around now.

As car designer Henrik Fisker told Mashable back in 2016, “…it is important to keep going, despite the naysayers.”

Dyson EV

The cruel mistress that is economics dashed our dreams about future EV advertisements narrated by the soothing voice of Sir James Dyson.

In 2017, the that the sleek vacuum, air filter, and other household product company was turning its attention to electric vehicles. The possibility was exciting: Dyson would be a newcomer to the EV space, but it already had brand recognition, engineering chops, and a strong aesthetic, which all could’ve potentially given Tesla a run for its money.

Unfortunately, the Dyson EV was not to be. this fall that it had put the kibosh on its EV project. It stood by the work itself, saying that the decision was “not a product failure.” Instead, the choice was an economic one: Dyson killed the project after determining that manufacturing an EV was not commercially viable. Even for a brand like Dyson, by 2019, the EV market was just too hard to crack.

Nio

Image: Visual China Group via Getty Images

Nio was flying high as the top dog in the Chinese EV scene. Then suddenly this year, things started crumbling: losses were mounting; it shut down its San Francisco office; it fired 20 percent of employees; and finally it recalled one of its electric SUVs.

One of its three cars available, the ES8 SUV, was recalled after three battery fires. Its four upcoming models now face more of a challenge just to take off. 

The company is only five years old, but has been compared to Tesla constantly. The ES8 was hailed as a more affordable Tesla Model X. Now? Not so much.

Chevy Volt

Image: Smith Collection / Gado / Getty Images

Not to be confused with the thriving all-electric Chevy Bolt, the Chevy Volt (with a v!) is done for. Despite a strong community that rallied around the plug-in hybrid that first emerged at the start of the decade, Chevy discontinued the Volt this year. General Motors sold as many as 155,000 Volts during its tenure.

Even with an internal combustion engine to quell any range anxiety, the Volt was too much of a sedan in a market where everyone wants an SUV or a luxury long-range sedan. Its all-electric sibling (cousin?), the Bolt, has enough range (about 240 miles) to keep drivers calm and snag buyers looking for a smaller vehicle. 

The confusion alone between the similarly named Bolt and Volt pretty much determined there was only space for one single-syllable EV from GM.