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So what are people's expectations of what industry Tesla expands into next? I am curious as outside their space operations the rest is highly tied to battery te

So what are people's expectations of what industry Tesla expands into next? I am curious as outside their space operations the rest is highly tied to battery technology. Is there room for new products there?

espadrine 10y ago
A hint: SolarCity merged with Tesla.
- fosco 10y ago
  also -- room for improving solar energy generation - including proliferation of more electric appliances [electric central heat to replace gas/oil] Boats with solar panels running on wind+electric [this is a fantasy of mine that I have drawings with, alas it is unlikely I have 10 million to build my dream boat, but that does not mean I cannot make sketches :-) ]
  - WorldMaker 10y ago
    I was never as tempted to buy a boat as I was watching the electric boat on Fully Charged: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sx6uk8bLXas http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sx6uk8bLXas
TulliusCicero 10y ago
Space operations? Sounds like you're thinking of SpaceX, which is a separate company (albeit one also run by Elon Musk).
SHOwnsYou 10y ago
I hope his long game is launching solar arrays into space and beaming the power back to earth, effectively combining Tesla Motors, SolarCity, and SpaceX
- Alupis 10y ago
  Musk is actually very critical of solar power in space. He says it's very inefficient due to the lack of atmosphere to "pre-filter" the energy[1]. He believes nuclear power is the way to go in space. [1] http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/a8101/elon-musk-on-spacex-tesla-and-why-space-solar-power-must-die-13386162/ http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/a8101/elon-musk-o...
  - philipkglass 10y ago
    Neither "nuclear" nor "filter" appear in the text of that interview. Here's the paragraph: One thing we learned today: While Musk loves electric cars and spaceflight, there's one thing he hates: space solar power. "You'd have to convert photon to electron to photon back to electron. What's the conversion rate?" he says, getting riled up for the first time during his talk. "Stab that bloody thing in the heart!" He's talking about space based solar power for terrestrial consumption. Solar cells actually generate more electricity without the atmosphere filtering the solar spectrum. But in LEO they can't stay aligned with a ground receiver. Beyond LEO they face enough charged particle radiation damage that standard silicon cells degrade too quickly, so you have to use more expensive cells. And all solar power satellite schemes rely on converting solar electricity to microwave energy in space and converting back to electricity on the ground; that's the lossy "photon to electron to photon back to electron" conversion that he (rightfully, IMO) gets riled up about. As I see it, the solar power satellite concept could only sound plausible in the 1970s. That was back when both silicon and gallium arsenide solar cells were exotic and before the Space Shuttle had actually flown, so people could still use its ridiculously optimistic on-paper attributes to plan SPS construction. When it turned out that the Shuttle was not going to fly anywhere close to 50 times per year, and the costs per flight went up commensurately, that was a major setback. The falling cost of terrestrial PV modules based on crystalline silicon undermined another rationale for SPS. It made a lot more sense to think about exotic, expensive installation locations when the solar hardware itself was expensive regardless of location. The third setback, the falling cost of battery storage, is currently underway. A geosynchronous solar power satellite can deliver power even when it's night on Earth, but the relative value of that too is falling.
- 10y ago
yessql 10y ago
Mobility is planned. Getting a ride somewhere via an app by an autonomous Tesla.
Gustomaximus 10y ago
Trucks or ships for goods transfer. The later would be a huge environmental impact and potentially significant cost reductions given fuel can account for 70% of shipping cost. Combined with a skeleton crew (or unmanned) via simpler electric engines, autohelm and automation someone is sure to disrupt this area soon.

espadrine 10y ago

A hint: SolarCity merged with Tesla.

fosco 10y ago
also -- room for improving solar energy generation - including proliferation of more electric appliances [electric central heat to replace gas/oil] Boats with solar panels running on wind+electric [this is a fantasy of mine that I have drawings with, alas it is unlikely I have 10 million to build my dream boat, but that does not mean I cannot make sketches :-) ]
- WorldMaker 10y ago
  I was never as tempted to buy a boat as I was watching the electric boat on Fully Charged: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sx6uk8bLXas http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sx6uk8bLXas

TulliusCicero 10y ago

Space operations? Sounds like you're thinking of SpaceX, which is a separate company (albeit one also run by Elon Musk).

SHOwnsYou 10y ago

I hope his long game is launching solar arrays into space and beaming the power back to earth, effectively combining Tesla Motors, SolarCity, and SpaceX

Alupis 10y ago
Musk is actually very critical of solar power in space. He says it's very inefficient due to the lack of atmosphere to "pre-filter" the energy[1]. He believes nuclear power is the way to go in space. [1] http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/a8101/elon-musk-on-spacex-tesla-and-why-space-solar-power-must-die-13386162/ http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/a8101/elon-musk-o...
- philipkglass 10y ago
  Neither "nuclear" nor "filter" appear in the text of that interview. Here's the paragraph: One thing we learned today: While Musk loves electric cars and spaceflight, there's one thing he hates: space solar power. "You'd have to convert photon to electron to photon back to electron. What's the conversion rate?" he says, getting riled up for the first time during his talk. "Stab that bloody thing in the heart!" He's talking about space based solar power for terrestrial consumption. Solar cells actually generate more electricity without the atmosphere filtering the solar spectrum. But in LEO they can't stay aligned with a ground receiver. Beyond LEO they face enough charged particle radiation damage that standard silicon cells degrade too quickly, so you have to use more expensive cells. And all solar power satellite schemes rely on converting solar electricity to microwave energy in space and converting back to electricity on the ground; that's the lossy "photon to electron to photon back to electron" conversion that he (rightfully, IMO) gets riled up about. As I see it, the solar power satellite concept could only sound plausible in the 1970s. That was back when both silicon and gallium arsenide solar cells were exotic and before the Space Shuttle had actually flown, so people could still use its ridiculously optimistic on-paper attributes to plan SPS construction. When it turned out that the Shuttle was not going to fly anywhere close to 50 times per year, and the costs per flight went up commensurately, that was a major setback. The falling cost of terrestrial PV modules based on crystalline silicon undermined another rationale for SPS. It made a lot more sense to think about exotic, expensive installation locations when the solar hardware itself was expensive regardless of location. The third setback, the falling cost of battery storage, is currently underway. A geosynchronous solar power satellite can deliver power even when it's night on Earth, but the relative value of that too is falling.
10y ago

yessql 10y ago

Mobility is planned. Getting a ride somewhere via an app by an autonomous Tesla.

Gustomaximus 10y ago

Trucks or ships for goods transfer. The later would be a huge environmental impact and potentially significant cost reductions given fuel can account for 70% of shipping cost. Combined with a skeleton crew (or unmanned) via simpler electric engines, autohelm and automation someone is sure to disrupt this area soon.