IF Tesla and Twitter boss Elon Musk gets his way, he'll be selling 20 million of his electric cars a year by 2030, writes William Scholes.
That seems an incredible target. To put it in perspective, last year a total of 66.1 million cars were sold globally. For around a third of all new cars to be wearing a Tesla badge within seven years seems a stretch, even for a man who builds space ships in his spare time.
To get anywhere close, Tesla will also need to have more model lines than at present. The big-selling Model 3 and Model Y are essentially the same car, with the Y (why indeed…) a sort of blobbier, more ungainly version of the lower-slung 3 saloon. The larger Model S saloon and falcon-doored Model X are too large and expensive to be anything more than niche players.
Musk has a track record of announcing new vehicles which then don't appear. We're still waiting for the Cybertruck, which was announced in 2019, for example… Nor does it appear to have plans for the smaller EVs it will surely need to hit the ambitious sales targets.
Still, there's no escaping the ubiquity of the Model 3 and Model Y. They are comfortably the most popular EVs among UK drivers, with the Model Y shifting 35,551 units last year and the Model 3, 19,701. The third most popular EV, the Kia e-Niro, trailed with 11,197 registrations.
And right now, it is Kia - together with its Hyundai and Genesis associates - which is probably offering Tesla the strongest competition.
Exhibit A is the Kia EV6, a strikingly modern large family electric car that is probably the best argument against anyone buying another bland Tesla Model 3 (though the Polestar 2 is in the mix too).
Where the Model 3 is a standard saloon, the EV6 is a more interesting concept. Basically a big hatchback, it has elements of both SUV - in its size and utility - and even sports coupe, with its low nose and sleek roofline.
It's simply a better, more aesthetically pleasing design than the bar-of-soap Tesla. Details like the light bar across the tailgate make the Kia stand out further.
Inside, the EV6 is a little more conventional. There's not much here to frighten anyone stepping from an old-school petrol or diesel car; for better or worse, it's certainly not as starkly minimalist as the Model 3, which pushes practically every function on to its large central touchscreen.
Kia gives you touch sensitive buttons and knobs for the heating controls, for example, while there's a pair of large curved digital displays stretching from in front of the driver to the middle of the car.
It looks great but works even better. Kia's infotainment systems have long been among the most intuitive to operate, and so it is here. The materials are of high quality too and the overall impression is more positive than the Tesla, which can have erratic fit and finish. There's a reason Kia is able to back its cars with a seven-year warranty.
The EV6 is built on a bespoke electric car platform, in a so-called skateboard format which places the batteries under a flat floor. Because there is no bulky transmission tunnel, gearbox and exhaust system to accommodate, this arrangement yields a spacious, flat-floored interior.
The EV6 shares the platform - called 'e-GMP' in tech-speak - with the Genesis GV60 (barely available in Northern Ireland) and Hyundai Ioniq 5. Where the Hyundai is all about giving its passengers an airy lounge-like cabin, Kia has opted to give the EV6 a slightly snugger, sportier environment, with a sort of faux transmission tunnel between the driver and front-seat passenger. In reality this is a large storage compartment, a sort of automotive Mary Poppins handbag between the seats.
There is still plenty of room for passengers, with a genuine three-abreast back seat. The boot holds up to 490 litres, swelling to 1,260 litres when the seats are folded. Either way, it's plenty. Rear-motor cars have a 52-litre storage compartment under the bonnet; that drops to 20-litres in dual-motor models, which is still enough to store your charging cables.
Clever touches include what Kia calls 'relaxation seats', where the front seats lift and recline to give you stretching room - handy while waiting at charging stations. There is a wireless charging pad and USB sockets in the back of the front seats. It's at once futuristic and familiar.
All EV6 variants get the same 77.4kWh battery. Like the Tesla, the EV6 range starts with a single-motor rear-wheel-drive model. The Kia is a little more expensive, at £45,245 against the £42,990 asked these days for an entry Model 3.
The Tesla is slightly longer-legged (340 miles' range v 328 miles) and quicker (0-62mph in 5.8 seconds v 7.3 seconds) but these are marginal enough differences in the real-world.
Step up from the rear-drive car (226bhp/258lb ft) to the more powerful (321bhp/446lb ft) dual-motor all-wheel-drive EV6 and you get a neck-snapping 0-62mph time of 5.2 seconds and a slightly reduced range of 314 miles. The dual-motor AWD 'long range' Model 3 (£50,990) bests the Kia here, with a range of 374 miles and a 0-60mph time of 4.2 seconds. Dual-motor EV6 models start at £51,745, rising to £57,145.
To be honest, any of those EV6 models are more than quick enough for everyday use, and each has a useful range. But for those who crave something even faster, and are prepared to sacrifice some range for extra performance, there is the 577bhp, 546lb ft AWD £62,645 GT model with its 0-62mph time of 3.5 seconds and 250-mile range. Tesla's £57,990 Model 3 Performance has 340 miles of range and an internal organ-rearranging 0-60mph time of 3.1 seconds.
Any EV6 is a lovely thing to drive, but the dual-motor all-wheel-drive models are punchy performers and showcase the EV attributes of smooth, instant acceleration and hushed refinement.
These are 2 tonne cars, but the Kia handles with an agility that would flatter a far lighter vehicle. Having so much of the weight low in the chassis is a factor, but there is also proper depth to the chassis tuning. The Kia EV6 can be hustled and engages in a way that most electric cars don't.
If you're in the market for an EV6, as well as the Tesla Model 3, Polestar 2 and Ioniq 5, other rivals of a roughly similar size and price include the Ford Mustang Mach-E, the Volkswagen ID4 and ID5, Audi Q4 e-tron and the Skoda Enyaq.
But none are as accomplished as the Kia. It's a more interesting, better designed and higher quality car than the Tesla. I wouldn't blame you if the design of either the Polestar 2 or Ioniq 5 meant you would prefer to see one of them parked on your driveway instead of the EV6. But the Kia is the better all-rounder, and the one that lingers longer in the memory. It's a superb car.
