Posts by m-fine
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Not looking like a regular old hatchback. Tesla is selling a brand name and an image, a unique looking car, performance, and other features beyond just range. Also, unlike an eGolf where you actually have to buy it, the Model 3 has so far sold nothing more than a fully refundable deposit.
The Tesla event and pre-order wasn't really about selling cars. They are rapidly burning through cash and this event was more about selling the company to investors so they can raise the funds they need. Big numbers and news stories are more valuable than hard sales right now. Tire kickers are more than welcome!Tesla should have required a $5K deposit, to weed out tire kickers. But even if only 20% of those pre-orders are real, it's still a big deal.
Myself, I'd take a 200-mile e-Golf at the Tesla 3 price.
When a company with a wildly successful brand name and positive public image is burning through over a billion dollars per year more than they bring in, it is perfectly reasonable to question the feasibility of their business model. When their top selling product is still 18+ months away, all deposits are 100% refundable, and there are competitors planning to enter the market, it is only reasonable to question if the market interest will turn into actual sales or not.
The fact is, Tesla does not have the money to last the next 18 months and deliver the model 3 and supercharger stations they have promised. They need to get investors to bet on their future success or they won't even have a chance to try. Their tech is nothing special, and the more established and experienced auto makers are poised to pounce when market acceptance and profitable price points coincide.
I believe the tax breaks to the buyer go away when Tesla hits a certain sales volume.
The other auto companies have not been lazy with electric tech. Most have been doing hydrogen fuel, electric and other alternative fuel research for many years. The reality is that there is still no ground breaking tech in any electric cars. The lithium ion batteries are decades old, and the electric motors even older. The digital management is new and flashy but nothing proprietary or special.
The problem has and continues to be cost. As expensive as they are, Tesla is selling the Model S at a huge loss. Other companies are not competing with them because it would be financialy stupid to do so.
The other auto companies have not been lazy with electric tech. Most have been doing hydrogen fuel, electric and other alternative fuel research for many years. The reality is that there is still no ground breaking tech in any electric cars. The lithium ion batteries are decades old, and the electric motors even older. The digital management is new and flashy but nothing proprietary or special.
The problem has and continues to be cost. As expensive as they are, Tesla is selling the Model S at a huge loss. Other companies are not competing with them because it would be financialy stupid to do so.
There is a huge difference between software and cars. With software, the cost to make another copy is darn near nil. The cost to make another model S is over $100,000. Who knows what the Model 3 costs will be. With software it is OK to lose a lot of money while building a user base since you can run at very high profit margins once you are established. With cars, the profit margins, if any, are limited.
Musk will not be able to sell $35k-$45K Model 3's at a loss for 10 years and then suddenly start charging $70-$90K for them in hopes of becoming profitable. Tesla will need to get the cost to produce down below the selling price and they will need to keep the selling price low enough to have high volumes. They have no experience as a low cost high volume manufacturer, so I am certainly not betting on their success or longevity just yet.
Anyone can put 90 kvh worth of batteries into a car. Tesla can't do anything that the other car companies cannot also do if they choose. The problem is the cost of that range is higher than what consumers are willing to pay right now. Tesla is OK with losing a billion here and there, while "all other car makers" would prefer not to.
You mean the government spent $11.2 billion of taxpayer money on a kickback to the UAW as a thank you for their years of support every campaign season.
Also, just because they wasted money in one place does not make it OK to waste more everywhere else.
Lithium ion battery tech was developed four decades ago and they have been commercially available for more than 25 years. The "gains" in storage capacity for electric cars can pretty much be summarized by "find more room to put more batteries." Not exactly a world changing technological leap.
The gains in capacity per volume came from battery advancement research at MIT, UT, Japan and elsewhere that had no connection to the electric car industry.
If you think that is something that should be subsidized or that we all are benefiting from, I need to STRONGLY disagree.
LOL, uh NO! Set down the Kool Aid and come back to reality for a bit.
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