Posted on 05/01/2017 2:16:41 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Tesla made headlines recently when its market capitalization nosed past both General Motors’ and Ford’s to make it the most valuable U.S. automaker. Overall U . S . auto sales are down after last year’s highs, and the Big Three (Ford, GM, and Chrysler) automakers have been turning in lackluster numbers lately. Meanwhile, Elon Musk’s company is on track to sell 100,000 cars this year, after delivering almost 80,000 last year.
So is Tesla poised to dominate Detroit’s Big Three? I seriously doubt it.
Tesla is an amazing company. Its cars have improved suspensions, new top speeds, and autonomous driving—the list goes on. The company has a generational “cool” factor that the Big Three are missing right now....
(Excerpt) Read more at fortune.com ...
Tesla’s have battery conditioning systems that are suppose to limit the the effects of fast charging for occasional road trips. I think the new Bolt has a similar system, but don’t quote me on that. Tesla’s can supercharge to about 80% in 30 to 40 minutes depending on battery size. I’ve read the BOLT doesn’t quick charge nearly as fast as Tesla’s because the charging stations have less output. EV’s that don’t have the conditioning systems, do have problems. One such problem is not charging until the battery cools down.
I love Tesla... but honestly they doomed themselves long term when they decided to build their cars in California.
What MORON would start a FACTORY in California?!?!?
As soon as Tesla’s semi begins delivery, you’ll see charging stations popping up at truck stops all along the interstates.
Also, Nikola’s new hydrogen fuel cell semi will do the same for hydrogen refueling stations.
Apple was able to break through that logjam by making an exclusive deal with AT&T in exchange for having control of the interface and the rest is history. k
If Tesla is not leading a revolution then they've done a great job of kicking all the other car manufacturers in the tush!
And yes, I know Tesla's "Market Cap" is like Apple's and emotionally driven by the same demographic. That said, Tesla has made a remarkable car company in a very few years.
Behind every advance of the human race is a germ of creation growing in the mind of some lone individual. An individual whose dreams waken him in the night while others lie contentedly asleep.
(Crawford H. Greenewalt)>
From what I gather, the big beef most Freepers have with Musk is that he gets federal money to fund some of his ventures. Also from what I read, he does a pretty decent job bringing his concepts to market and pushing the envelope with a lot of technologies. I also read that he does a pretty fair job paying back his government loans when some of those ideas make money.
I don't think it's a bad thing necessarily for government to subsidize "moon shot" projects like this. In fact, the very term "moon shot" originates from the NASA mission to get us to the moon in the 1960s - almost entirely funded by the government. Yet it paid dividends later as much of the technology we have in the high tech industry today was accelerated by the space race. I think we are a better nation for having gone to the moon, even though it did turn out to be a bunch of rocks and dust.
I'd much rather have my tax money going to innovation than to pay millions of able-bodied people to sit at home and waste their lives away. Or send billions of dollars overseas for other nonsense.
I think we need a few "strange" people like Elon Musk who are not afraid to try new things. Would be nice if he was 100% privately funded and if he is successful enough with this Tesla thing and figures out the battery thing, we may indeed have a lot of private investors beating a path to his door.
There are some in rest stops. Which is odd, since the charging time is so long.
...
I would say it’s still not a long distance car, but that will change when they perfect battery swapouts. Currently I think a stop at a Supercharger takes about 30 minutes for 170 miles of range.
Amen, brother!
Of course, the other stupidity in comparing Tesla’s market cap to GM’s is that market cap isn’t about how many assets a company owns, or even market share. It’s about profit potential. And GM has so many liabilities that yes, a car company can have vastly fewer sales and have vastly greater profit. Even all the assets in the world can’t give you much market cap if those assets are contractually obligated to be dedicated to not-very-profitable or unprofitable business pursuits.
TESLA is a snakeoil salesman’s HOAX...
a battery operated car for snobs...
the company is like a rat running on a wheel .... that gets up to mach one and flies apart...
a bottomless money sinkhole.... a pipe dream
full of blue sky and excuses...
Seems to me that Tesla is just a scheme to keep us trapped in the cities.
If your private vehicle can’t get you out of town then you are essentially a slave locked on a plantation
Anyone else see a Tesla being towed by a Ford F-350 on a flatbed? A friend of a friend has had his Tesla pose as a “trailer queen” twice and had a service person fly from CA to PA once to service the car. That’s why dealership laws were created.
An interesting article.
I'm still not very in tune with the front end on those Model 3s though.
Tell me about the demise of hydrogen powered vehicles. I see Toyota’s new hydrogen powered cars here frequently.
“I was waiting for the author to mention dealership franchise laws. Isn’t direct to consumer sales Tesla’s big obstacle? Here’s an article about it.”
That article is dated. There are now only six states where Tesla can’t sell direct.
http://www.ecowatch.com/states-cant-buy-tesla-2278638949.html
Thanks for the update.
Tesla a 300 mile car plug in and wait repeat Detroit snickers.
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