> The next generation of Tesla superchargers goes live in 4 days and will work with actual cars on the road.

350 kW chargers are already rolling out on the Ionity, Fastned, and Electrify America networks. They use the CCS standard. They already work with cars on the road:

https://insideevs.com/first-ionity-350-kw-chargers-denmark/

https://fastned.nl/nl/blog/post/everything-you-ve-always-wan...

https://insideevs.com/here-are-the-350-kw-nad-150-kw-abb-cha...

Why is Tesla so far behind?

I don't know of a single car that you can buy that takes 350kW. In fact I don't know of a single car that you can buy that charges at higher rates than the Teslas. And you keep doubling down on charging rates as if that was the single metric by which to compare manufacturers and conveniently ignore all the other stuff I've pointed out.

> I don't know of a single car that you can buy that takes 350kW.

Volkswagen knows. They'll sell you a Porsche Taycan. Then they'll sell you an Audi e-tron GT:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMEdiq2xTbQ

And then they'll sell you a Porsche Macan:

https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/porsche-macan-electric-on...

Better planning, bigger scale.

Meanwhile Tesla is still losing money. They were down $1 billion in 2018:

https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1121240_tesla-turned-pr...

When will Tesla's technology be profitable? The closure of the retail stores doesn't inspire confidence.

Researched each of those models -- none of them are actually available for purchase currently as best I can tell.

you can make a 1000KWH car, and still be much less efficient than a 250KWH car. Range and speed is what matters not KWH. Aerodynamic, efficiency of enerygy conversion, etc.. comes into play.

> Number of models is irrelevant

No it's not. Right now, there just is no EV "family car".

I would love to buy a model 3, but with that ridiculous trunk there's just no way I could fit my kids stuff in there.

All the EVs currently being built (or announced) are just commuter cars. Sedans and small SUVs are great for driving to work on your own, but I think it'll be really awkward to go on a skiing trip with a family of 4 in a Model 3 or in a Nissan Leaf or whatever.

(technically there's the Nissan eNV, but that car is hideous)

Maybe Volkswagen will be the company that finally builds a practical EV...

Maybe you need a VW bus. Lots of room. One for home: https://www.autoblog.com/2018/07/19/volkswagen-id-buzz-crozz...

And one for work: https://jalopnik.com/the-volkswagen-i-d-buzz-cargo-is-the-fu...

And a dune buggy for the weekends: https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1121245_volkswagen-conf...

You're ignoring my point. Having different models is obviously great for different uses. Hence S/X/3/Y/etc. Number of models is irrelevant when it's a bunch of different versions of a VW Golf like you get with VW/Audi/Skoda/Seat/etc.

The current MQB system isn't just used for VW Golf and Audi A3.

The system scales from small compact cars like the Audi A1 or the VW Polo to big family cars like the VW Touran or Skoda Superb or even SUVs like Skoda Kodiaq.

If their strategy works out, and they can introduce a system like that for EVs, they can start introducing multiple new models per year.

> Number of models is irrelevant when it's a bunch of different versions of a VW Golf

It isn't a bunch of Golfs. It's hatchbacks, crossovers, and buses built on the same modular platform:

http://newsroom.vw.com/vehicles/future-cars/official-the-vw-...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQut6ks3nSY

You quoted 27 different models. That's not 27 different types of car, it's all those duplications over a few model types. And when they're all in the market we'll all be happy. Until then it's just a promise.

You might as well say the same thing about the entire car industry. It's a silly perspective.

The MEB platform can be adapted to hatchbacks, sedans, crossovers, vans, and even dune buggies. That's what will give Volkswagen economies of scale Tesla doesn't have.

It isn't just a promise. It's the mass market arm of their EV strategy.

Debating against things people haven't actually said is not productive. I think having common platforms is an advantage, hence why the Model Y is reportedly heavily based on the 3. That's what all the manufacturers do. I was specifically talking about your claim that number of models was an advantage that VW had. In EVs they currently have almost no models and ship almost no cars. They've announced a platform and somehow to you that's them being ahead of Tesla who is already at a ~400k cars/year rate. I hope VW and all the others get their act together and ship millions of EVs every year. If they end up crushing Tesla that's no problem for me either. But this argument of yours that VW is somehow ahead in EVs without actually selling any significant amount of EVs is just ridiculous. It's just a promise until they ship.

> I think having common platforms is an advantage

Yes, an Volkswagen advantage has.

> that number of models was an advantage that VW had

It is. Their MEB modular platform allows them to target every segment across multiple brands while maintaining economies of scale in manufacturing. They're good at it:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen_Group_MLB_platform

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen_Group_MQB_platform

As I say, better planning and bigger scale.