Inside Tesla
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Inside Tesla
Last edited by SquidInk on 08-20-2012 08:46 AM, edited 1 time in total.
For if it profit, none dare call it Treason.
http://autos.yahoo.com/blogs/motoramic/ ... 19627.html
If Tesla starts to gain momentum, you can bet the lawsuits will fly, and the politicians will be paid to craft legislation to prohibit some aspect of their operation.
I can see it now:
I like Elon Musk, and Tesla.If you want to buy a new car or truck in the United States, you have the choice of going to a dealership in person or not buying at all. For the first time, one automaker — electric vehicle maker Tesla — will attempt to short-circuit dealers by selling its cars directly to consumers over the Internet. It's controversial, risky and already under fire from traditional dealers, but Tesla's model could spark bigger changes.
The store above in Denver is one of 14 Tesla has opened in the United States and 25 worldwide, with another eight to 10 set to open in North America before the end of the year. While the company has focused on meeting production targets of its electric Model S sedan, it's also been adding stores like these — owned by the factory, usually located in malls or central shopping districts closer to Urban Outfitters than other car dealerships.
It's a key part of Tesla's overall business: Instead of building cars and selling them to dealers who hawk them to shoppers, Tesla wants to build only cars customers order — eliminating part of the auto industry's massive overhead costs in inventory. By selling its cars directly, Tesla's executives believe they can make their customers happy, and eventually sell more cars for less money.
"Free market capitalism"? Not possible. Not even a pretense beyond the world of political sound bites.There's a reason America's 17,500 dealer franchises have an impenetrable hold on where you buy a new vehicle. Over seven decades, new-car dealers have built a protective web of state and federal laws that give them a legal shield against automakers and their own competitive urges unique in American business.
Starting in the late 1930s, auto dealers successfully lobbied state capitols to even the field with manufacturers, who were prone to canceling franchises without warning, making it costly for an automaker to pare back franchises once granted. In modern times, those rules are what prevent automakers from going the route of Apple or Amazon; it's illegal in several states to sell new vehicles over the Internet or for an automaker to own a dealership.
Much as those rules protect dealers, they also make dealers immune to some of the consumer pressures other businesses face. More customers file complaints about auto dealers with consumer protection agencies than any other business, according to the Consumer Federation of America. While new-car dealers do face tougher standards than used-car lots, buying a new car can often be a painful process even when no rules are broken.
If Tesla starts to gain momentum, you can bet the lawsuits will fly, and the politicians will be paid to craft legislation to prohibit some aspect of their operation.
I can see it now:
Heroic FBI thwarts Al-Qaeda plot to blow up something you care about using bombs welded to electric vehicles. The vehicles were purchased on the internet! Using bitcoins!!!
Addendums to the Patriot Act are being written by our phenomenal and patriotic leaders in congress as we speak.
For if it profit, none dare call it Treason.
http://www.autoblog.com/2012/09/07/tesl ... k-q-and-a/
Every Model S needs to be exactly right, and I am literally personally looking at every car at this point.
For if it profit, none dare call it Treason.
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/20 ... rialist#p1
On the assumption that people will be living on earth for some time, Musk is cooking up plans for something he calls the Hyperloop. He won’t share specifics but says it’s some sort of tube capable of taking someone from downtown San Francisco to Los Angeles in 30 minutes. He calls it a “fifth mode of transportation”—the previous four being train, plane, automobile, and boat. “What you want is something that never crashes, that’s at least twice as fast as a plane, that’s solar powered and that leaves right when you arrive, so there is no waiting for a specific departure time,” Musk says. His friends claim he’s had a Hyperloop technological breakthrough over the summer. “I’d like to talk to the governor and president about it,” Musk continues. “Because the billion bullet train they’re proposing in California would be the slowest bullet train in the world at the highest cost per mile. They’re going for records in all the wrong ways.” The cost of the SF-LA Hyperloop would be in the billion range, he says.
For if it profit, none dare call it Treason.
You make a good point, Kbot. Here's what they say:
I like the mobile option - seems even more disruptive.
It'll be interesting to see how all of this develops - and how long it takes for the prices to fall.
The Roadster requires much less routine service than a car with a traditional internal combustion engine. It does not need regular oil changes or exhaust system work. Roadsters have fewer breakable moving parts, no spark plugs, pistons, hoses, belts or clutches to replace. Zero tailpipe emission means no smog checks. Tesla recommends a standard service and diagnostic inspection once a year or every 12,000 miles (whichever comes first). Have the Mobile Service Team come to you or bring your Roadster into a Service Center.
[...]
Tesla currently has Service Centers and/or Service Rangers in the following locations: Chicago, Copenhagen, Dania Beach, Denver, Eindhoven, Hong Kong, Los Angeles, Menlo Park, Milan, Munich, Newport Beach, New York, Oslo, Paris, Seattle, Sydney, Tokyo, Toronto, Washington DC, West London, Zurich.
I like the mobile option - seems even more disruptive.
It'll be interesting to see how all of this develops - and how long it takes for the prices to fall.
For if it profit, none dare call it Treason.
YES! I want this! I don't even know what it is but I picture a system like the old mailing tube systems... vaccum sucks you up and deposits you at your destination. Awesome.SquidInk wrote: http://www.businessweek.com/articles/20 ... rialist#p1
http://www.engadget.com/2012/09/24/tesla-supercharger/
Futurism. Altruism. Hard-core business.At Tesla's event, CEO Elon Musk has finally taken the wraps off of its Superchargers which it has already set up at six locations in California, pictured in the map after the break. The company plans installations on "high traffic corridors across the US" over the next year, with units heading to Europe and Asia in the second half of 2013. According to Musk, the solar powered systems will put more power back into the grid than the cars use while driving. Oh, and for you Model S owners? You will always be able to charge at any of the stations for free. According to Musk, the economies of scale developed while building the Model S have helped it get costs down on the chargers, although he did not offer specifics.
Last edited by SquidInk on 09-25-2012 01:10 PM, edited 1 time in total.
For if it profit, none dare call it Treason.
On the assumption that people will be living on earth for some time, Musk is cooking up plans for something he calls the Hyperloop. He won’t share specifics but says it’s some sort of tube capable of taking someone from downtown San Francisco to Los Angeles in 30 minutes. He calls it a “fifth mode of transportation”—the previous four being train, plane, automobile, and boat. “What you want is something that never crashes, that’s at least twice as fast as a plane, that’s solar powered and that leaves right when you arrive, so there is no waiting for a specific departure time,” Musk says. His friends claim he’s had a Hyperloop technological breakthrough over the summer. “I’d like to talk to the governor and president about it,” Musk continues. “Because the billion bullet train they’re proposing in California would be the slowest bullet train in the world at the highest cost per mile. They’re going for records in all the wrong ways.” The cost of the SF-LA Hyperloop would be in the billion range, he says.
Fan wrote: YES! I want this! I don't even know what it is but I picture a system like the old mailing tube systems... vaccum sucks you up and deposits you at your destination. Awesome.
Maybe this was the reference.
~4:45: Cost for the 'global backbone' line (London to New York via India, Beijing, the Bering Sea and Alaska) was estimated at $1 trillion. China is moving ahead with patents.
http://costofwar.com/
Last edited by SquidInk on 10-01-2012 01:44 PM, edited 1 time in total.
For if it profit, none dare call it Treason.
http://www.motortrend.com/features/cons ... interview/
Pretty amazing.It's been a monster year for Elon Musk. He bet most of his own money on two of the riskiest businesses imaginable -- space and automobiles - and from the looks of it, it's finally starting to pay off. In the same year he sent his SpaceX Dragon rocket to the International Space Station and back, he also released one of the world's most impressive new luxury cars -- the Tesla Model S - which won our 2013 Motor Trend Car of the Year award. We caught up with Musk shortly after he learned of the honor to ask him a few questions about his feelings, what the award means for Tesla, and where the fledging American car company goes from here.
For if it profit, none dare call it Treason.