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Won't this be a good thing for everyone, even Tesla?

loceng 9y ago
Elon's been saying this from the beginning, he understands that is what will happen. I imagine part of being able to move forward with big ambitions is you have to make peace with that fact - otherwise fear of the unknown, of competition, will easily overwhelm you.
- TeMPOraL 9y ago
  It's more than that. That was the whole point. Tesla was built to electrify transport. Not to be the dominant player forever, but to force other market players into this game.
deelowe 9y ago
Depends on how much they've committed to their gigafactory.
spyspy 9y ago
The article implies that the Chinese batteries will be of equal or better quality than the ones Tesla manufactures, which is a dubious assumption. Cheaper goods are a good thing for everyone, but I can't believe up front that China will be able to match the quality required for a Tesla vehicle.
- ceejayoz 9y ago
  China manages to make iPhones - it's entirely possible to make high quality goods there, if it's a priority for the folks paying the bills and they're willing to put some supply chain management into it. "Make me this as cheap as possible" being the only instruction won't get you there, of course.
  - xiaoma 9y ago
    It's not a coincidence that work is done by Foxconn and not a local partner. China has fantastic human capital. The problem is usually incentives and culture, especially for blue collar work.
gjem97 9y ago
My understanding was that the Gigafactory was conceived out of necessity as least as much as opportunism. That is necessity for a large stable source for batteries over which Tesla has quality control. Had they been able to find that elsewhere, they wouldn't necessarily be in the battery-making business. All that is to say, I think (hope) that Tesla doesn't see what is essentially a commodity business--albeit one with some innovation baked in--as a driver of their enterprise moving forward. As such I think they should welcome competition in that space.
rhino369 9y ago
Not for other battery makers like Tesla, if they overestimate demand and flood the market with cheap batteries.

Elon's been saying this from the beginning, he understands that is what will happen. I imagine part of being able to move forward with big ambitions is you have to make peace with that fact - otherwise fear of the unknown, of competition, will easily overwhelm you.

TeMPOraL 9y ago
It's more than that. That was the whole point. Tesla was built to electrify transport. Not to be the dominant player forever, but to force other market players into this game.

deelowe 9y ago

Depends on how much they've committed to their gigafactory.

spyspy 9y ago

The article implies that the Chinese batteries will be of equal or better quality than the ones Tesla manufactures, which is a dubious assumption. Cheaper goods are a good thing for everyone, but I can't believe up front that China will be able to match the quality required for a Tesla vehicle.

ceejayoz 9y ago
China manages to make iPhones - it's entirely possible to make high quality goods there, if it's a priority for the folks paying the bills and they're willing to put some supply chain management into it. "Make me this as cheap as possible" being the only instruction won't get you there, of course.
- xiaoma 9y ago
  It's not a coincidence that work is done by Foxconn and not a local partner. China has fantastic human capital. The problem is usually incentives and culture, especially for blue collar work.

gjem97 9y ago

My understanding was that the Gigafactory was conceived out of necessity as least as much as opportunism. That is necessity for a large stable source for batteries over which Tesla has quality control. Had they been able to find that elsewhere, they wouldn't necessarily be in the battery-making business. All that is to say, I think (hope) that Tesla doesn't see what is essentially a commodity business--albeit one with some innovation baked in--as a driver of their enterprise moving forward. As such I think they should welcome competition in that space.

rhino369 9y ago

Not for other battery makers like Tesla, if they overestimate demand and flood the market with cheap batteries.