Audi CEO Ruper Stadler taking time with EVs, refuses to feel 'euphoria for electric vehicles'
How do electric cars make you feel? We won't give you explicit details of just what sort of sensations standing next to the Audi e-tron Spyder at CES inspired in us, but let's just say they were very good ones. However, the CEO who stepped out of that very car, Rupert Stadler, is refusing to be swept in by all the EV excitement. The company is working on a battery-powered R8 supercar that will come toward the end of next year and plenty of other electric and hybrid models are in development, but Stadler is taking the slow road to adoption, saying:
We are still in the early phase with the electric vehicle, in terms of commercialization and whether the cars will be sold or leased, or will just be a collector's car... We should not overplay euphoria for electric vehicles.
Overplaying euphoria is something that consumer electronics companies have evolved to an art form, whipping up a frenzy among fans, inspiring pre-release camp-outs on a regular basis. We haven't seen anyone camping at a car dealership since... ever. Maybe there's a lesson to be learned there.
