Featured Tesla exec tells it like it is

not sure what he means by 'viscerally appealing', but the other carmakers are market based. they try to build what the market demands.
to try to change the market to fit your vision may be admirable, but it's not traditional. he may be disappointed, but i think the other carmakers are succeeding just fine.

 

Along these lines, I got an email from Plug-In America talking about the legislative lobby "fight" they plan to expand EV's to states beyond California and a few other states (in their approx words).

I've been trying to say >50% of plug-ins are being sold in CA at this point. Up to now there has seemed to be resistance of plug-in advocates to admit this.

As far as mid-course review, the only thing I am aware of is a review if the 52.5 MPG CAFE is on track (probably not...will be interesting to see what they do...extend deadline if they are smart).

 

Dear competitor, please validate our strategy.

I was talking to my next door neighbor yesterday who told me she just got a raise which brought her back to what she was making in 2009. Produce a $25-30k car for her and she would be interested. At $35k, not. (Yet when she bought recently, she opted for the 25-27 MPG range and not the 40 MPG plus that she could have had for her 40 mile commute.) It is people like her you have to convince to get sales where Tesla wishes. When manufacturing costs fall to where such cars can be sold at a profit ...

 

Salaries for the masses are not any where todays' worker can go out and buy a Tesla.

DBCassidy

 

Will be interesting to see how Tesla sales go for the Model III. By the time it comes out it, we should have at least the Bolt and the next generation Leaf as competition.

Right now Tesla is the cool kid in town who sells to the luxury/top 1-5 percenters for potentially healthy profit margins. The Model III market will open Tesla to many more buyers, but the potential profit margins will be much slimmer.

 

Mr. O'Connell is certainly full of himself.

 

Tesla seems to be implying the 200-mi Bolt and Leaf are also small vol vehicles.

 

When push comes to shove, Toyota will roll up their sleeves and play hard with their own EV. Don't let Hydrogen fool you, Toyota is researching EV just in case.

Also, the day I want an EV, which would not be anytime soon, my money will go to Toyota if they have an EV vehicle to buy. If not I will go buy their Hydrogen.

 

Or, Toyota tells Fremont to stop fighting Fuel Cell Electric Cars,
Tesla CEO Elon Musk: Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicles Are "Mind-Boggingly Stupid" | Inside EVs

 

No not what they are saying. They are saying anyone getting electric cars out there are their friends in making the world a better place. They are happy to have them even if tesla makes lower profits. This tesla strategy might not be best for shareholders, but they want more plug-in cars sold.

I don't think tesla is going after your neighbor, but the gen II volt is in that price range, the bolt and gen II leaf promise to be there too. Remember for now there are tax credits.

He said they are stupid. Tesla supported toyota's drive to get california car owners to pay for the hydrogen infrastructure. Its a matter of public record. It is toyota that went and get zev credits inflated and removed fueling credits from tesla. No way a fair minded individual could see tesla controling carbs action. That's CFCP making it an unlevel playing field. They have good reason to be scared.

Telsa simply is saying fcv are stupid for now. Do the test. They won't do well, when reporters seem to act as if a car like the mirai could hurt sales of the model S or model 3. There is no volume for fcv. I think toyota won't even lease 200 in the US this year. You posted a 2 year old article. At that time Bob Carter was claiming 5000-10,000 toyota fcv/year (worldwide). Now they think they will get to 3000 in 2017. Mr. Carter did no favors to expectations hyping the mirai back then.

 

I hope Toyota does come out with their own BEV someday.
Sad to say, they have likely lost this customer forever, but their are lots of other customers.

 

hey, carmakers make what people want to buy. if they don't, we call them mitsubishi. that's business, it keeps people employed.

 

Toyota has leased all 700 cars that they planned on leasing for 2015. No shortage of people wanting one!







Merge.

Mitsubishi actually does well, just not in the USA.

 

Toyota is well aware of both what's at play and what's at stake.

Motor & Controller advancement is beneficial to all electric-propelled vehicles. Those devices need to be efficient. They need to be cost-effective too. Fuel-Cell, Plug-In Hybrid, Hybrid, and EV all have something to gain from whatever is focused on currently.

Don't be dragged into an pointless this/that argument. The technologies will co-exist.

 

I read what he is saying as automakers are making crap electric cars and polluting public interest. It is the same thing with hybrids. Honda did the IMA thing, and it sucked, and batteries needed to be replaced, and you couldn't creep without the engine turning on, etc, etc. Then talk to people about "those fancy new hybrid cars" and they tell you stories of these crappy Honda IMA hybrids. In my opinion building crap cars does actually hurt the new market. Cars like the Leaf are pretty crap compared to a Tesla. So when people buy a bunch of Leaf's and get limited range, and Tennessee build quality problems and so on they complain like Americans like to do. Complain to their neighbours, to their coworkers, to their families and so on. And each of them will now have a "this person I know with a BEV has had a bad experience. Batteries bad..."

When a low income person's $35K car has a problem or can't get them from Point A to Point B, they treat it as the end of the world and everyone they know, will know about it.

 

The Prius is a crap car compared to the Tesla. It is also a completely inappropriate comparison.
As for your hammering on the Leaf, every single Leaf owner I know is thrilled with their Leaf.
One of the local dealers is only getting three 2016 30kWh models next March or April. All three have already been purchased by people with leases on Leafs that are running out.

I agree with you that word of mouth can have a big impact on a new technology's acceptance in the market.
The word of mouth for EVs has been pretty darn good, if not outstanding.

 

Again I am comparing the expectations from toyota when Mr. Musk made that quote These much higher expecatations were still being promoted less than 2 years ago.
Toyota targets 5,000 to 10,000 fuel cell sales a year
Toyota Projects 5000 to 10,000 Annual Sales for FCV Hydrogen Car

In context the 3000 cars world wide in 2017 falls far short of the expectations. I don't think california would have passed the bigger fueling susbsidies if they only expected 100-200 cars this year. Why not plan and build it smatter for 2016, instaed of rushing it for these hyundai tucsons and mirai. Now musk just says wait and look at volume and progress in 3 years.

Will toyota get 3000 sold in 2017, sure why not. It is indeed stupid to think those are competition to tesla which will sell 50,000 this year, and probably 100,000 in 2017, before the rapid growth the model III will bring. People were acting as if toyota would be outselling tesla by 2017. Instead tesla was able to keep with plan (x delayed, but only 10% less vehicles than optimistic 55,000 in 2017) while Toyota won't make nearly as many as they said. Why not? I would say both there wasn't demand for 5000-10,000 this year, the infrastructure is not as good as Toyota was claiming, and the cars cost more to produce. I don't think those problems will be wiped out in 2020. I hope toyota's cost comes down for the cars, but infrastructure will still be a problem as others were predicting, and the cost of the fuel will still be high, or be subsidized limiting infrastructure expansion.

I have no problem with the new lowered numbers, they seem much more realistic, until you get to that 30,000 in 2020. I'll go on record and predict they do less than half, but hope they make the breakthroughs they are claiming to drop drive train costs 80%. That part seems much more feasible than getting volume up that fast.

 

You have to compare like the rest of the idiots out there. BEVs are a niche market, therefore it includes the Leaf and Tesla in the same "class" when shopping for a BEV.

What it seems like Tesla is saying is that we know we can make an awesome car that appeals to the masses filled with tech, safety, and luxury. Why are we the only ones doing it?

All the other offerings, like the Leaf, are not in the same class, not even close. Why? The fit and finish of a car is pretty cheap. A $30K car versus a $80K car doesn't mean the $80K car has $50K more stuff in it. A few dollars more, a few thousand dollars of markup. Very common. Just like how the navigation upgrade in cars is like $4k when we all know it is a $20 piece of electronics with some software.

And I own a Leaf!

It is an awesome car. However most people have no idea what it is. They might have heard of a Tesla because it is on the news so much. But a Leaf? Is that a different version of a Tesla??? I've got about 15k miles on mine now, petrol free.

 

I don't think GM could make a Telsa for $100k ...GM would have have to eliminate dealers as step#1, right? Is Tesla saying, in order to make our cars cheaper, we need customers for our battery plant? Tesla wants to see large incentives for EV to make it work, so they want to see large EV push from autos. It could be a sign of worry. But it all depends on Congress.