In my opinion, if AutoCAD Electrical is truly aiming to beat the competitor's such as Eplan, something different is required.
Firstly, the basics are required to be enabled to reduce work time - currently this is not close in my experience. Eplan utilises automatic connecting wires, Data Portal has an ever-growing up-to-date schematic, 3D model and information on 1000s of products. Most importantly, they're all recent products and accurate, unlike the AutoCAD Electrical library. For me, this is the single reason I originally moved from AutoCAD Electrical to Eplan, ease of use: parts are super easy to find and simply import with ALL the information available for schematic, 3D models, data sheets etc... The UI of auto connecting wires, cables are easy to assign, integrated 3D panel layout environment, reporting is far more powerful. If these were the same, I would never have moved originally.
Secondly, for me a product differentiator needs to be present from Eplan to make the people decide that AutoCAD Electrical is now the power house in the ECAD market. When all of the points from item 1 are addressed, I would focus on doing the same as Eagle and Fusion 360 - integrate it into that platform. I think Fusion 360 and Eagle has been an amazing new differentiator and the same for AutoCAD Electrical would surely bring a whole host of new interest, I know I certainly would be! 1 environment where you design the mechanical, electrical and electronic design and it's fully fluid. I think that is a product nobody truly offers, and where they do (Solidworks to a degree with Altium and Solidworks Electrical), if the functionality was close to Eplan on the Electrical side - business would move.
Everybody I have spoken to who has used Solidworks Electrical, AutoCAD Electrical and Eplan always says Eplan has by far the best UI, is the fastest and simply just works. BUT, AutoCAD has some GREAT features that Eplan doesn't in the sketching world - hence that integration to fusion would simply offer that start-to-finish M/E/ECAD solution which would be so powerful, I'm sure even diehard Eplan users would be looking to move over.
Wrap-up: -
1. UI needs to be improved to match that similar of Eplan (wire connectivity, IEC standard structuring etc...)
2. Data Portal equivalent is a must, this is the largest time saver by far
3. Reporting needs to match that of Eplan - cable schedules, forms fully configurable, creating project templates for structures, reports, macros. Simple setup and re-use is key!
4. Integration into Fusion 360 would be Autodesk's product differentiator for real-time 3D cabinet and cable routing with a navigator to see what's been placed from the ECAD into the MCAD
