“We are better than Tesla” says Geely chief engineer – report
Its American competitor may outperform its products, but a chief engineer at Geely remains unimpressed with Tesla's hardware.
The chief engineer of Geely's electric vehicle department has said he is unimpressed with Tesla's products.
According to Malaysian auto news website paultan.org, Kent Bovellan – who heads the Chinese company's Sustainable Experience Architecture (SEA) program – said he believes electric vehicles (EVs) from Tesla are inferior to those from Geely.
"We are better than Tesla when it comes to the mechanical architecture," Mr Bovellan told journalists.
"They are very skilled in the software part, but in terms of mechanical architecture, we are better. We have a more cost-efficient solution and beat them in more or less everything, except for performance."
Tesla recently began deliveries of its Model S Plaid in North America, which claims a 0-100km/h time of 2.1 seconds – just behind the hypercar Nevera from Rimac, with a claimed 1.97 seconds for the same sprint.
By comparison, Geely's first model to use the SEA platform, the Lynk & Co Zero EV, claims a 0-100 in under four seconds.
As well as Lynk & Co, the Chinese car giant also owns Volvo, Polestar, Lotus, Proton, Zeekr, and a number of other brands specific to Asian markets. Its SEA platform is expected to underpin new models offered by many of its companies.
"We are not impressed by Tesla," Mr Bovellan continued.
"I like that they are going the right way with an electric architecture, we’re going the same way as well. They are one of the first to introduce core systems, but mechanically, nope, never. That, we do better."
MORE: Everything Geely
MORE: Everything Tesla
0
