Featured Tesla exec tells it like it is

really? they cost too much for the front, but it's worth it to buckle your kid in back?

 

Interesting point - but that makes sense.
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No its not cost. The front door tops slope down with the windshield which slopes for better aerodynamics and styling. You technically can't make a graceful door open with that slope without some big ugly intrusions into or out of the cabin. The delorean has a different shapped door opening. The bmw i3 has a similar problem for falcon wing as the model X and uses scissor doors, but front sissor, rear gull wing might clash.

The people in the front seat can get in and out and buckle themselves. The people in the middle or back seat may need assistance. Or the rear is for cargo, and you may want to arange or lift from the sides instead of just the back.

 

i wonder if it would have made any difference at all if they had just gone with 4 'regular' doors.

 

Yes of course it would. They would be shipping for at least half a year.

The car would not be as iconic and cool, but it would be less expensive to make, and ASP for tesla would be higher, and engineers would have moved onto the next project (model 3) which may get delayed because of this.

From a corporate point of view, it would have been better to do a normal SUV/cross over with a sliding door or two. From the point of view of those on the wait list, most would have liked getting the SUV sooner. For those buying in 2017 though, they probably will like the falcon doors.

 

they look great. i rarely use my rear doors,and wouldn't pay extra for them. i wonder how many people would, and how much. on a two door? perfect.

 

Sure the doors clear the car next to you, but one still has to squeeze their fat a$$ between the cars.

 

I had this bad experience on monday in the prius. Another Prius parked right next to my drivers door, maybe 6" away, no way I could squeeze through (yep bad parking job by SUV on their drivers side, but really). Its a PITA getting in from the passengers side with that strange bridge in between. I reclined the passenger seat to make it easier ;-) The friends I went to lunch with were laughing at me, claiming prius karma to be blocked in by anouther prius.

Anyway - there are work arounds if one door can open. Their are two gull wing doors. The challenge is always going to be blocked drivers side regular door. On the gull wing, you don't have the width of the door impinging on you, but I still wouldn't have been able to get in.

 

So what about the first run of Tesla's who's electric motors are failing at 60,000 miles......which comes out to be 2/3 of the Tesla's on the road......

 

Green Car reports:
"Since Consumer Reports dropped the Tesla Model S from its list of recommended buys due to a "worse-than-average overall problem rate", the barbs between the company's supporters and detractors have only sharpened."

This is why Toyota will succeed with Hydrogen, it's hard to compete against years of experience in buildIng cars!

 

Little late to the party - already asked and answered.
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Sure lets look at how much better the Lexus LS is doing versus the Tesla model S in the US
Tesla Model S Sales Figures - GOOD CAR BAD CAR

First full year 2013
Model 2013, 2014 2015 (est)
TMS 18,195, 16,550, 25,000
LLS 10,727, 8,559, 7,400

Oops the experienced Lexus competitors sales are decreasing as the model S is increasing (2014 sales manufacturing constraints went to europe) We can add estimated 2016 mirai sales estimate of 1000 cars, with at most 18,000 in 2020 (toyota optimistic estimate with all the non japanese ones going to california). Now how do these numbers say that hydrogen is going to win? Model X has over 20,000 pre orders, and pent up demand is high for the model 3.

 

And 97% of Model S owners say their next car will be a Model S.
For hybrids I believe it is about 50%.

You are correct though, it is hard to compete against companies that have been building cars for many decades. And if any of those companies had build something similar to the Model S before Tesla had, Tesla would be a footnote in automotive history.

But, for whatever reason, they didn't, and Tesla is now here to stay. How big Tesla gets is up to the big guys. So far, it looks like Toyota wants Tesla to get really, really big

 

more power to them. i just hope musk's ego doesn't get in the way, they continue to have positive cash flow and they don't 'steve jobs' him.

 

Oops .... the line is getting longer - even as we speak -
Tesla Motors Inc (TSLA) Model X Pre-Orders Cross 30,000 Units
And unlike hydrogen cars where anyone can fictitiously sigh up, including their dogs, it takes $5,000 minimum from real people to get in the long Model X line line.
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Tesla has strongly negative cash flow, but that will probably reverse next year when the X is in full production and gigafactory spending slows. It is expensive doing R&D on model III and gigafactory, while paying to get model X in production. Stock price is high enough so they issue new stock or convertible bonds without much dilution, if R&D investment stays high. If the stock tanks it is more of a problem.

Jobs had already pushed woz out of apple, making it easy to push him out. Easy but a dumb move. I don't think that is a problem with tesla. Musk's ego may become a problem for shareholders in the future, but it will make sure tesla make high quality plug-in cars.

 

Lexus LS current GEN has been out for some time, the new GEN is coming soon, lets see what happens with sales numbers then....

 

This data is very likely over estimated, and with building such a highly complicated vehicle that even Tesla admitted is a difficult car to build, we are likely see a few build quality defects within the first year of delivery.

 

They aren't failing but they aren't right, they make too much noise. These are repaired or replaced. This is a noise, not a safety or performance issue., which explains the high owner satisfation even with the defect. Your numbers are wrong 2/3 of tesla's with 60,000 miles on them have had this issue. Most tesla's are less than 2 years old, with the oldest model S's only 3 years old, as you can tell by the stats, which makes most have 30,000 or less miles on them. Is a noisy part that is replaced a reliability issue? That depends on how you count. The dashboard squeeks of my prius were anoying, but don't make the car unreliable. My satisfaction is poor with the dealer though, as my complaints were met with grunts. Luckily this board showed me I could disassemble and add electrical tape to mute those squeeks.

More troubling is the seatbelt recall which is a safety issue, but all of these are being recalled before there have been any injuries. This is typical of proactive tesla. All the older automakers have had safety issues that they have dragged their feet on.

I do agree we are likely to see some falcon wing issues in the next 5 years, but if tesla handles them like the drive units, that won't hurt sales. People would rather have a falcon wing door that occasionally needs in waranty service, than have sliding doors that work every time, but not as well. Its a cool factor, but as I had said before it would have been better to be shipping model X's than getting the doors to work, so going falcon wing is one of the few management mistakes in Tesla.

 

i hope the next 'common man' model is devoid of any 23rd century devices.