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119 Comments
- mantis108, on 05/10/2009, -1/+62Elon needs to brush up on his public speaking, he stumbles a lot when he tries to explain Tesla's unique value proposition.
- ThatEbayer, on 05/10/2009, -2/+29of course he says this... he is the CEO and is in the hole with investors.
- cunningcoder, on 05/10/2009, -2/+24Who would have thought that the CEO of a company would say their product is better... Wow, times are changing.
/s - inactive, on 05/10/2009, -12/+34Come on federal government, give Tesla the loan to build a full production plant!
- diggydougie, on 05/10/2009, -0/+12You would think he would have the speech polished by now.
- inactive, on 05/10/2009, -0/+10Well, you see, the- the- the other day I was... was talking to this guy abo- well, see he's this, this guy who....
- inactive, on 05/10/2009, -3/+12worst interview ever
- SpeedSteamBoat, on 05/10/2009, -3/+11BREAKING: Microsoft CEO Says PCs Trump Macs! [VIDEO]
Honestly, I see what this guy is saying, but the title is stupid. Of course he's going to say his company is taking the best route. Furthermore, I don't see him actually saying that "Electric Cars Trump Plug-In Hybrids." It sounded more like he was explaining why his company isn't pursuing plug-in hybrid technology, and actually stated very clearly that he hopes plug-ins succeed. All he really said is that plug-ins aren't a permanent solution, so Tesla isn't interested. Why would they be? They don't appeal to a broad enough market to have to worry about selling the most practical vehicles. They're trying to innovate, not become the worlds largest automaker. - mauigreen, on 05/10/2009, -7/+15Tesla = proof that green cars can still look great
- mmittimm, on 05/10/2009, -2/+10You = full of snappy catchphrases
- chronopublish, on 05/10/2009, -2/+10Tesla's the only company that has an electric vehicle in production - they deserve the DOE loans more than anyone else for that reason alone.
They restructured once as a result of having to transition from an R&D company to one that actually services and delivers vehicles. None of the other companies out there have ever made it out of the R&D phase so no restructuring necessary. - Cyberdactyl, on 05/11/2009, -0/+7Elon is one of those brilliant individuals that is conceptualizing a myriad of complex problems and issues as he speaks. He brain is constantly playing a flow chart gambit as to which path to take in his explanation.
- NiftyG, on 05/10/2009, -3/+9Here's his technical point:
He compares a Tesla 200 mile pure electric pack vs a Volt 40 mile plug-in hybrid pack. The 40 mile pack has to be recharged 5 times as much as the 200 mile pack to go the same number of miles. Recharging a battery degrades it, so you're degrading the 40 mile batteries 5 times more quickly. You also draw more power per cell per mile on the smaller pack, which again hits the pack harder.
To compensate for this added wear and tear, you need to make the 40 mile pack heavier per watt/hour than the 200 mile pack. Add in the additional weight for the gasoline engine, generator, and fuel system required for a plug-in hybrid, and the efficiency goes down even further.
So, basically, if you want to go electric, then go all in because it's much more efficient than hedging your bets with a hybrid. - NiftyG, on 05/10/2009, -1/+7A hybrid such as the Prius costs $25K, it is not a plug-in.
The Volt, which is a plug-in, is projected to cost $35-40K.
The Tesla Model S electric car is projected to cost about $50K. - hadees, on 05/10/2009, -3/+8I think electric cars are important i'm not sure Tesla is the best company to be dumping money into. They fire a lot of works and restructured like twice already. They have cool cars but their business doesn't inspire confidence.
- notoneofus, on 05/10/2009, -0/+5From Wikipedia: "The Roadster shares less than 10% of its components with the Lotus Elise; shared components are confined to the windshield, air bags, tires, some dashboard parts, and suspension components."
Lotus supplied the platform, Tesla pretty much completely redesigned it, and Lotus helps assemble the cars. Hardly as simple as just retrofitting. - Ironspork, on 05/10/2009, -1/+6The next vehicle Tesla is working on will be a 50k sedan. That's competing with some of the high end BMW's and Audi's. If they keep up the trend of price dropping, we'll see a 25k electric car.
The Tesla roadster is a pilot to prove that electric works. Getting it ready for consumers all over will take some work. Without early adopters going and buying the pilot, there won't be capital to push the technology and drop the price for the layman. Read a little and you can find when gas cars were only for the rich. - davidg11, on 05/10/2009, -3/+7Oh, and our all electric car is $100,000 and a plug in hybrid is $25,000..did I not mention that?
And just wait till you have to change out the batteries! - DeepFreezed, on 05/10/2009, -1/+5for a CEO he needs to go get some lessons in sentence construction. gave me a head ache listening to stop and start talk. he took 4 mins to say something that could have been said in 1 min.
- bobburn1, on 05/10/2009, -0/+4Since when did it become news for a CEO to knock his competition?
- greevar, on 05/10/2009, -1/+4Tesla comes right out and says why the roadsters are $100,000. The money is for R&D to produce a more affordable EV for the general public, which is on it's way if you have been keeping up on digg.
http://digg.com/d1nF43 - nurbsenvi, on 05/11/2009, -0/+3This comment = You
You = Fail
Fail = This comment. - nurbsenvi, on 05/11/2009, -1/+4Bugatti Veyron :
At full throttle, it uses more than 115 L/100 km (2.46 mpg-imp; 2.05 mpg-US), which would empty its 100 L (22 imp gal; 26 US gal) fuel tank in just 12 minutes - scamper22, on 05/10/2009, -1/+4come on TheKillManjaro, get Tesla to go public and then you and all your green friends can dump their life savings into it and finance the production plant!
- trendygamer, on 05/10/2009, -1/+4That right there is the electric car's dirty little secret:
http://www.freep.com/article/20090412/BUSINESS01/9 ...
From the article:
"When a Chevrolet Volt is plugged into a 240-volt outlet, it will use about 3.3 kilowatts of power, or about the same amount of power as a dishwasher or air conditioner.
Most people are already familiar with what can happen when thousands of air conditioners are plugged in and running at the same time during the summer: brownouts."
If electric cars are going to take over (and I'd love to see it happen), we need cheap, safe, plentiful energy. Nuclear power anybody? - kingpreetham, on 05/11/2009, -2/+5I am not ready to drive a vehicle that cannot go more than 40 miles and takes 8 hours to charge. Also, from a previous top gear test, if pushed hard, it will not go more than 10 miles. If it is true, the Tesla is BS and are swindling their investors caching in on public stupidity and hatred for oil.
- greevar, on 05/10/2009, -0/+2He's not the PR guy, he's the CEO.
- nurbsenvi, on 05/11/2009, -1/+3Oh, and our hybrid will do 0-60mph in 11seconds where else the Tesla will do it in 4.5seconds.
Why are you even comparing them? - PrometheusBorn, on 05/11/2009, -0/+2I like his points. He is clearly more of a creator than a speaker, and that's just fine with me.
Maybe they can get Steve jobs to do a keynote for them. - ucccft, on 05/11/2009, -0/+2WOW! i did't know he could't speak english.
- PrometheusBorn, on 05/11/2009, -0/+2I have no idea. I know this John Galt guy, though... he had some great fictional ideas about how to make some pretty green cars.
- fadingsignal, on 05/10/2009, -0/+2Ack, I had to stop the video half way in. His stuttering and jumbled phrasing was too much to take. I can sympathize though, it seems like his brain is moving too fast for his mouth.
- morrisfire, on 05/11/2009, -1/+3You are a ***** idiot.
In topgear's test, the car ran out after 55 miles of hard track racing. A normal sports car will run out of gas after a similar distance. Topgear even did a test where a ferarri or something got 3 mpg or so. - andrewh7, on 05/10/2009, -1/+3They chose this guy to go on tv and talk? Is this company retarded? If they screw up something as basic as choosing a PR guy that can actually speak, how can anyone trust them to build, market, and sell a new car?
- seks03, on 05/10/2009, -1/+3Fora's video system sucks balls
- Mike17102, on 05/11/2009, -0/+2Cross country? That thing cant even cross a ***** county!
- Brassbud, on 05/10/2009, -1/+3Yikes, that was almost unbearable. Tesla won't go anywhere unless it gets a better marketing face than that.
I don't like Tesla, I don't think they are fielding practical designs for average consumers and I think they bitch and whine way too much for a company that doesn't have any credibility to begin with. I also don't like the CEO using all the media/marketing speak like "plug-in hybrid" and "extended range EV" (I don't like anyone using these ambiguous terms). He claims he is being technical, but then he tries to pass off the Volt as less of an EV than Tesla's offerings, which just isn't true (Mind you, I'm not defending GM or the Volt).
From a technical perspective, GM decided to include a generator in the Volt (their Electric Vehicle), where as Tesla did not. Are there draw backs to this? Of course, like anything. However, from a technical and practical standpoint, gasoline is a better way to store energy than batteries right now. This is really the design philosophy difference between the vehicles, and I think it is disingenuous for Tesla to make people think the Volt is any less of an EV than their designs. - greevar, on 05/11/2009, -0/+1If you can prove that, I will concede.
- diggydougie, on 05/11/2009, -0/+1Hi greevar.
If most people drove electric cars the dynamic would change. With all of those cars being charged overnight the nighttime would become the new peak time. Just like with biodiesel. Sure biodiesel is great now when you can go to your neighborhood burger joint and get free fuel. But if everyone went the biodiesel route there would not be enough fry juice to go around, and we are right back to expensive fuel. - fasda, on 05/11/2009, -0/+1thats only 87 mph honda civics go faster and get similar gas mileage as a hybrid
- depro9, on 05/11/2009, -0/+1***** YOUR WAR OIL!
- rheaume, on 05/11/2009, -0/+1Why not just build it from scratch then?
- diggydougie, on 05/11/2009, -0/+1That only works with solar panels. Just think about the inefficiencies of charging the batteries and then releasing the power back to the grid. You get a high conversion loss each way. That's OK with solar power since it's free power* to begin with, but not a good idea with coal fired plants.
*not really free. The panels cost about as much as the energy they produce over their lifetime is worth. Again, the people who make them know what they are worth and make sure they cost that amount. - stevelectric, on 05/13/2009, -0/+1Tesla has already applied for $200 in "Economic Stimulus" money, that won't help you to be able to buy one though:
http://www.flixya.com/post/stevelectric/1347434/Th ... - Schmich, on 05/10/2009, -0/+1Chairman of Nissan-Renault: "Hybrid cars are like mermaids. When you want a fish you get a woman, and when you want a woman you get a fish."
- Swarms, on 05/11/2009, -0/+1The Fisker Karma needs to be refueled once a year if you drive under 50 miles a day, the batteries may be supplied by EnerDel, and they have a full production plant in Indiana. Oh, and it does 0-60 in 5.8. June 2010.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fisker_Karma - Swarms, on 05/11/2009, -0/+1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fisker_Karma
- Demos27, on 05/11/2009, -0/+1Wow, thanks for telling us the obvious...
- jbuberel, on 05/10/2009, -0/+1They chose him because he is the CEO, and he is the CEO because he invested $37M of is own money making him the COB. He later replaced the previous CEO with himself.
- trisweb, on 05/10/2009, -0/+1Someone needed to remove the coughing man from the audience.
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