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I've been waiting for a big automaker to respond to Tesla in full. If they've managed to ignite competition in electric vehicles, then we all win, even if Tesla
by faitswulff 8y ago
I've been waiting for a big automaker to respond to Tesla in full. If they've managed to ignite competition in electric vehicles, then we all win, even if Tesla goes under.
- wmeredith 8y agoSame here. This was Tesla’s stated purpose from the outset.
- GW150914 8y agoI think it’s unlikely that the majority of Tesla’s massive stock valuation comes from people who just wanted to see the likes of Mercedes hammer the final mail into Tesla’s coffin. I think there’s even a chance that they wanted to make money! If some people are to be believed, they even expected Tesla to be “the new GE” and that cars were only the beginning. At the very least I think the idea that Tesla sought to be killed ignominiously by rivals while struggling financially was an unlikely game plan.
- zazen 8y agoThis sounds like a reasonable point to me, and I'm not sure why this and your other post in this thread are being down-voted. Elon Musk might well be OK with Tesla cratering, provided he gets to make an electric-car-shaped dent in the universe in the process. But Tesla, the still-publicly-traded company, can't plan to fail.
- GW150914 8y agoThis sounds like a reasonable point to me, and I'm not sure why this and your other post in this thread are being down-voted. In my limited experience comments critical of Tesla are immediately downvoted, but often recover after a while if they're making good points. I think people can be very defensive of Tesla and Musk, and they vote accordingly. Fortunately the community at large seems to be fair enough to override that. The real problem is that a lot of articles which are less than fulsome in their praise of Tesla are rapidly flagged to death. It’s good to see this article gaining some traction.
- dingaling 8y agoAt the outset Tesla's purpose was to build hybrids.
- neom 8y agoNot to be pedantic but... I thought Toyota got the ball rolling with the Prius and Tesla stoked the fire? (never mind, you said ignite competition) Either way, you're totally right, we all win. :)
- tonyedgecombe 8y agoNissan/Renault deserve some recognition as well.
- faitswulff 8y agoDid Toyota release a full-electric Prius? If so, I wasn't aware of it. The other thing Tesla did was make it a status symbol to have an EV, so there's that.
- wilsonnb3 8y agoThey've got a plug in hybrid version called the Prius Prime. It's only got 50 miles or so of all electric range if I'm remembering correctly.
- rch 8y agoIntroducing the Prius (or Leaf) on the economy side of the market didn't put much pressure on anyone. I don't believe the incumbents started making serious strategic adjustments until Tesla started taking sales on the high-margin side. Maybe only the timeline shifted, but that's still substantive, IMO.
- stcredzero 8y agoIf Nissan would license battery cooling technology from Tesla, the current Leaf would almost be in the same class as the Tesla Model 3. It's less stylish, slower, more "econobox," but seems only to lack the ability to rapid charge more than once a trip, due to thermal issues. (Also probably results in poorer battery longevity.)
- codeulike 8y ago
- mc32 8y agoThey’ll do well if they let engineering do the driving. If marketing gets to dictate direction, I’m afraid it’ll turn into a Frankenstinian electric monster.
- aglavine 8y agoProbably an expanding electric offer benefits Tesla at this time. It creates more demand by publicity and makes electric vehicles more mainstream
- martin_bech 8y agoEven as a Tesla stockholder and Tesla Model S owner I completely agree. However, all of these cars, are going to market late next year, and are a bit slower and with less range than the current Tesla lineup. The car that shakes up the game, is the upcomming Porsche Taycan. The first var to one up Tesla on charging speed, and the looks of the car are amazing!
- jehlakj 8y agoTime to cash out soon?
- pjc50 8y agoSlower and less range but cheaper has to be where most of the market is.
- martin_bech 8y agoThese cars I dont think will be cheaper, case in point the Jaguar I-pace. And the Model 3 is going to outsell the Nissan Leaf, so Im not sure, that cheaper is the way to go, yet.
- kenhwang 8y agoWhat's probably scary about the Taycan is it's targeting the profitable segment of Tesla's lineup. Tesla's strategy of selling more expensive cars to fund R&D for cheaper cars completely falls apart if they can't sell the more expensive cars. Interestingly, Porsche's strategy is almost opposite of Tesla's where they sell cheaper volume cars (Macan, Cayenne, Panamera) to fund R&D for their expensive cars (GT2, GT3, 918).
- martin_bech 8y agoI think there is room for both, and traditional combustion engines cars, will mostly be canabalised. But I am actively considering, replacing my Model S, with a Taycan (dependant on final price, charging options etc). The Tesla supercharging network, is a huge draw, but Porsche is pursuing something similar, with even faster charging.
- AtlasBarfed 8y agoIncumbents are hampered by: 1) lack of vertical integration in battery supply like Tesla's gigafactory 2) inability to properly design and market EVs 3) a dealer network that is at best ignorant and probably hostile to EVs 4) no supercharger network. They could use dealerships buuuut, see #3
- kurtisc 8y agoTesla buy their batteries from Panasonic.
- codeulike 8y agoTesla essentially achieved their mission (accelerate the world's transition to sustainable energy) when they announced the Model 3 and got 400,000 reservations. That started something that we are seeing being played out now, and it will continue to happen whatever happens to Tesla.