For help, advice and discussion about stuff not related to aviation. Play nice: no religion, no politics and no axe grinding please.
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By Dave W
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1629847
Whilst it cannot be denied that Musk is an extremely innovative and forward thinking techie genius , the Tesla Car Co. is something of a financial basket case which has haemorrhaged money and not turned a penny in profits since its inception . Musk may wish to 'bounce it off the wall' as much as he likes , but when all's said and done , he isn't doing much to inspire future customer confidence and if he thinks he's going to rattle the cages of the global giants , then it may be an idea to think again.

One only has to take a look at the likes of Skoda , Honda , BMW and the other big brand names whose range of products will probably end up wiping the floor with Musk's range of EV's . Not just pricewise but at every level .

They may have some novelty future value as De-Lorean type investments though .
#1629908
Dave W wrote:
Miscellaneous wrote:I've been cynical about Tesla for a while, this certainly doesn't help.


This chap has a fairly robust take on the situation.

As I said, I wouldn't be buying a Tesla if I were in the market. :lol:

Flyin'Dutch' wrote:
Paultheparaglider wrote:On a similar note, one suspects Mr Musk will be just a tad miffed when he reads that article. :wink:


I doubt it - people like Elon Musk, on the whole, are rarely influenced/touched by what others think.

Maybe so, Frank…but he may rue the day...
Flyin'Dutch' liked this
#1629977
Flyin'Dutch' wrote:
Paultheparaglider wrote:On a similar note, one suspects Mr Musk will be just a tad miffed when he reads that article. :wink:


I doubt it - people like Elon Musk, on the whole, are rarely influenced/touched by what others think.


I suspect he does care about what others think of him, Frank. His overreaction to the criticism of his submarine to help rescue the Thai boys from the cave is one such example. That doesn't mean he isn't capable of being single minded - most successful people are.

I think the Tesla cars are truly remarkable. They have moved the lot of the electric car forward spectacularly. However, visionaries and inventors rarely make good large company CEOs. The personality traits of each type tend to be very different. Unfortunately for Musk, the chances are high that the established car manufacturers will be the ultimate main beneficiaries of his vision.

Anyway, all joking aside, Musk has had a remarkable career. He might well be flawed, but describing him as a con man is almost certainly being unfair.
nallen liked this
By cockney steve
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1630060
^^^^^^^ bang on target. Musk's "business" may well crash and burn......but he's undoubtedly grabbed the sleeping tiger that's motor-manufacture, by the tail, and given it a good, hard yank. I doubt if any major IC manufacturer , or any oil company, wanted to see such a huge sea-change in the industry they'd "stitched-up and refined".

I foresee huge problems with his mammoth battery-factory, not only securing supplies of raw materials, but labour, distribution and waste-handling are also going to present huge challenges.....also, the factory needs to be very flexible to be able to convert to new systems and methodologies as new battery -technologies develop.....OTOH, there might be a fuel-cell breakthrough which renders his behemoths obsolete overnight.
interesting times.
#1631241
I'm not convinced there would be a market for a number of reasons:

1. Convenience - once you get used to charging at home then you enjoy the convenience of not needing too go to "fuel" stations. People are already working on ways of addressing the <50% of the population who don't have access to off-street parking.

2. Is there a need (and timing)? - there is an expanding charging network already in place. Plenty of capacity at service stations - helped in part by people avoiding paying 6p a mile for electricity at charging points on motorways by going to nearby free/subscription charge points and charging at home. In central Britain you are never far from a charge point of whatever speed you want. That availability will spread out.

3. Standards - why would everybody move to this as a standard? There are already 3 or 4 connector stands for rapid charge that need to be collapsed (public rapid charge points, other than Tesla) provide multiple connectors.

4. Future - how would this fit with self-driving vehicles? With automation cars could simply take themselves to an induction pad. A self driving car would need to go somewhere with attended or automated connections.

5. Cost and efficiency - what is the energy loss when compared to going direct from grid to car? What is the commercial overhead? How would this approach fit with the future where electric car batteries will be used to balance demand on the national grid? How does the solution fit with solar panels at home?
#1631249
We had an lone eccentric in this parish in the 60s who had his car running on hydrogen and tiny amounts of petrol. It was a “Heath Robinson” looking affair but Shell arrived on the scene, observed that the contraption worked, and bought the outfit never to be heard of again.
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