Two months prior to the announcement of "gigafactory" plans that is causing nerd orgasms all over the tech and auto sphere, another of Musk's interests, SolarCity (SCTY_) announced a new program that would provide large batteries to businesses to help them lower peak demand rates.
The program, DemandLogic, announced in early December, couples the solar panel installations that SolarCity is known for with refrigerator-sized batteries that store up to a third of the solar power. Specially design software can be programmed to take advantage of that stored electricity during times of peak demand........
........In SolarCity's DemandLogic, we see a practical solution for the company's customers that also has a benefit for its sister company, which needed to expand its battery-producing operations to produce more, better and cheaper cars.
How does that fit in with Musk's third company, SpaceX? Hard to tell. As a private company, SpaceX is under little obligation to tell us anything. Musk has said in interviews that SpaceX doesn't patent its technology for fear of handing proprietary technology to two of its direct competitors, the state-run programs of Russia and China, where U.S. patents are next to impossible to enforce. But I doubt Musk would have the same concerns about sharing technology developed in SpaceX's rocketry and space travel labs with Tesla and SolarCity..........
SolarCity Gets Charge From Tesla Gigafactory - Feb 28, 2014
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The U.S. taxpayers have "invested" around a $1Billion in Musk's 3 PRIVATE businesses. Not to mention those carbon credits.
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April 2, 2014 - Tesla in China: Elon Musk’s Litmus Test "...........So, has Tesla managed to hit the right chord in China? Will Tesla’s Model S strategy break the mold of high-priced imported cars in China? And above all, for Tesla, is the “risk” worth it? Opinion is divided over whether Tesla’s China pricing is realistic or not. Andreas Graef, a Principal at A.T. Kearney Management Consulting Co. in Shanghai, believes that the current price does not factor in distribution and marketing-related costs, which a foreign brand direly needs while trying to establish a foothold in China. “Has Tesla factored in the higher cost of advertising or higher tactical MSRP [manufacturer’s suggested retail price] discounts?” he asks. (Tesla did not respond to interview requests.)......."
“We built a huge battery factory without considering where the extra capacity to charge those batteries would come from. Electricity is magic and comes from the walls.”
Wind farms are not as efficient as they claim, neither is solar.
Yet this hasn’t stopped them from slashing nuke and coal plants.
They must first address capacity on the grid before they start pez dispensing electric toys.
And even then, the only way the toys can compete is if gubbmint puts its hands in there and gives the toys a monopoly...
Tesla got a $465M loan from the government in Aug 2009 and finished paying it off last year with interest.
Ford received a $5.9 BILLION loan from the feds and plans to pay it off over 20 years. Tesla has no other government funds.
SpaceX funding has all been private to the tune of about $1.2B. SpaceX launch contracts are 2/3 private 1/3 NASA. NASA granted a $1.2B contract to SpaceX and made an advance payment of $278M. It would cost the taxpayers about $2B if NASA made those launches themselves.
Don’t know much about Solar City.
What ever happened to the idea of super capacitors??
The solution to electric cars is to develop a standard detachable battery pack, like my cordless drill, that can be replaced in a few minutes. You could go to a station, an attended could switch packs while you get coffee. The station could charge a fee and everyone is happy. No more 8 hour down times.
And is this a link to why the BLM wants the rancher Bundy gone?:
Bureau of Land Management Hiding Behind Toothless Tortoise
04/12/2014 5:06:42 AM PDT · by iontheball · 14 replies
CFP ^ | April 12, 2014 | Judi McCleod
A June 1990 study, called The Desert Tortoise in Relation to Cattle Grazing by Vernon Bostick formerly posted to the University of Arizona website (and still found through Google) should prove once and for all the incredible stupidity of the bumbling bureaucrats with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The BLM’s self-proclaimed ‘Save the Tortoise’ balderdash is killing off both the tortoise and cows:
No desert tourtoises on his scrap of land there?
How exactly do electric vehicles benefit us? Emissions? Is this a global warming thing? (I mean, climate change).