Posted on 04/21/2016 11:06:58 AM PDT by jazusamo
As it continues to defy common sense and the laws of economics with its lofty stock price, Tesla has again shown it has little corporate competence in the ability to deliver a consistently functional product that satisfies customers.
The latest evidence comes in the recently rolled out Model X, which is allegedly an SUV, but looks like just another car. Retailing at a price only the extremely wealthy can afford ($138,000), the all-electric follow-up to the similarly troubled Model S automobile has stumbled out of the gate. The problems were outlined in a Consumer Reports article posted online Tuesday, which spurred a number of similar follow-up stories in other media, and temporarily caused Teslas stock to dip. Long-time followers of the company know that is only a temporary condition, however.
Nonetheless those who actually own a Model X as opposed to those who own a certificate of stock in the company registered their displeasure with their new vehicles. Among the problems cited were the failure of its DeLorean-style falcon wing doors to close; sensors in the doors that didnt detect overhangs and thus caused collisions; windows that dont close properly; frozen infotainment screens; and various other maladies.
Tesla message boards are already swelling with complaints from Model X owners regarding balky doors, interior trim-piece tolerances, paint-spray quality, malfunctioning second-row seats, sheet-metal panel gaps, and climate control issues,Consumer Reports reported.
The magazine conceded that such problems are expected from a brand-new model, which Tesla claimed are not widespread. The companys excellent customer service was said to mitigate some of the customers frustrations.
But that only goes so far. The Wall Street Journal reported the experience of a California financial adviser, Brad Ledwith, who loved his new Model X that he received less than a month ago for a few days at least, until the falcon-wing doors broke. He was told it would be two weeks before they could be scheduled because Teslas service center was overbooked with repair appointments.
I think to myself, I am willing to concede a couple of things, but it is just Im leasing this car for $1,350 per month, Ledwith told the newspaper. If it is out two weeks, that costs $700.
Then there was the Model X owner who reported that its AutoPilot hands-free driving feature failed when a roads shoulder ended, requiring the driver to take control. AndConsumer Reports noted a design problem with the SUVs long, curved windshield, which gives a double-vision effect on headlights, taillights and streetlights. An owner interviewed reported that the vehicles heating system was inadequate also.
It would be easy to dismiss all the Model X flaws as beta problems that will be worked out, except many of them were predictable and even forecast by auto industry experts.
The Model X appears to be unbuildable with those automatic gull-wing doors, which everyone in the industry always said were not going to work, said former General Motors vice chairman Bob Lutz on CNBC last year.
The SUV rollout follows similar reports of complaints and glitches with Teslas introductory all-electric vehicle, the Model S. After Consumer Reports issued glowing reviews for performance and comfort in 2013 and then again in 2015, reality bit when the actual customer feedback was weighed in . After the magazine received 1,400 survey responses, the resultsshowed that Model Ss were likely to involve a worse-than-average overall problem rate that affect reliability. Issues cited included problems with the drive train, power equipment, charging equipment, the giant iPad-like center console, and body and sunroof squeaks, rattles, and leaks.
This extensive data allows us to forecast that owning a Tesla will likely mean worse than average reliability, a decline from last years average prediction, said Consumer Reports head of automotive testing, Jake Fisher, last year. As a result the Model S will not receive the recommended designation.
The experiences with the Models S and X foreshadow a likely problematic introduction of what is supposed to be Teslas broadest appeal vehicle yet: the affordable electric Model 3, to be introduced in late 2017 or 2018. With more than 300,000 pre-orders taken with $1,000 deposits, the Model 3 is supposed to expand Tesla from niche manufacturer to producer for the masses.
As reported previously by NLPC, one area where Tesla and CEOElon Musk have shown great competence is in convincing governments at all levels to award them billions of dollars in subsidies, grants and loans . Without all the taxpayer investment there is no green energy industry, as Steve Moore explains in the current issue of The Weekly Standard.
Current battery costs for a Tesla and other electric vehicles are roughly $325 per kilowatt-hour (kWh), Moore wrote, citing researchers from the Journal of Economic Perspectives. How does that cost fare against standard gasoline in the tank? At a battery cost of $325 per kWh, the authors wrote, the price of oil would need to exceed $350 per barrel before the electric vehicle was cheaper to operate.
Which goes to show that regardless of whether your luxury electric vehicle has doors that work or dont, or an infotainment system that freezes or functions, what youre running on is the fuel of taxpayer subsidies.
Paul Chesser is an associate fellow for the National Legal and Policy Center and publishes CarolinaPlottHound.com , an aggregator of North Carolina news.
When you read the article, you see that they ALREADY HAVE these problems.
The taxpayers are paying for everything.
I have a gripe with taxpayers subsidizing anybody's vehicle purchase, or solar panel installation for that matter.
... and can be used only once.
Only insofar as your mortgage interest tax deduction is taxpayer funded.
The interest is real. Great place to put $1000 if you like electric cars (many do), have the cash to invest in first dibs (i would if I had $1k to spare), and plan to spend around $35k on a sedan in a couple years.
The number of electric cars in Atlanta is amazing.
33 posts before someone noticed the glaring absurdity in the article.
With your correct numbers, the electric breaks even with gas at 1000 recharges (half that when gas goes back up to $4/gal). Methinks EV will prove even cheaper, all things considered.
Anybody know how many they plan to make a year?
$300,000,000 in cash just laying around.
Why, you could just live well and turn out 5000 cars a year because of technical difficulties.
Well, there's a big difference in a tax deduction and a tax credit.
Yeah, conservative or not, I don’t look to political lawyers for technology news.
Here is why Tesla always was doomed to fail. Because the other auto manufacturers are not going to sit idly by while Musk siphons off even a tiny portion of their market share. They big boys have been perfecting coachbuilding for decades, and the lack of build quality obviously is one of Tesla’s chief failings. But the traditional manufacturers can build an equivalent or even superior all-electric or hybrid technology powerplant in a fraction of the time it will take Tesla to work the bugs out of its coachbuilding. Telsa cannot survive (unless they switch to building electric razors, then they stand a chance).
BMW alone already is selling more hybrid cars annually than Tesla’s combined sales. It’s just a matter of time until there’s no one driving Teslas except Leonardo DiCrapio and Ed Begley Junior.
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