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Why would this be doable for Tesla but not every other car manufacturer?

sytelus 8y ago
Incumbent car manufacturers are actually lightyears behind in experience that Tesla provides. Just look at their dealership model that is design to robe user at every step in the process. From tech perspective, majority of Toyota line up still doesn't even have good smartphone connection story in 2019. Honda still have bare minimum driver-assist. Toyota Sequoia hasn't been literally updated for years and a giant car like this doesn't have basic safety features that one would expect in 2019. Keep in mind these are the biggest, wealthiest and most powerful car manufacturers in the world for who money in not an issue. They have perhaps 10X more people working on improving designs than Tesla but at the end of year nothing really comes out. If you look at model differences between 2018 vs 2019 for large majority of incumbent manufacturers, you will see no difference or something tragically trivial such as offering new shade of color. You may think what the hell their design staff of thousands of people did this entire year? Tesla's main strength is design, courage and agility. Everything from door handles to dashboard is made to delight the user. They are tech company that became car company, they move fast and they deeply care about delighting users. Ideas don't boggle down in bureaucracy. Model-3 is upgraded even before year was over. Model-3 is designed for million mile life. No incumbent manufacturer would dare go in this territory. The difference is same as incumbent software giant vs new startup.
- jcfrei 8y ago
  The reason incumbent car manufacturers seem lightyears behind is probably because they run a sustainable business model. While the Tesla experience seems superior it doesn't yet appear capable of turning a profit. I really doubt that lack of ingenuity on the incumbent side is the reason for the gap you describe.
pbreit 8y ago
No baggage, aggressive leadership, better talent.
- Cthulhu_ 8y ago
  Potential for lower cost as well, the part count of an electric car is lower than a petrol car. (no combustion engine, no gears, and I'm sure they can simplify the electronics as well due to not having as much legacy baggage as other car manufacturers). However, to achieve that they still need to reduce the cost of batteries by at least half. Reducing battery price has always been one of their goals though, hence the megafactory.

Incumbent car manufacturers are actually lightyears behind in experience that Tesla provides. Just look at their dealership model that is design to robe user at every step in the process. From tech perspective, majority of Toyota line up still doesn't even have good smartphone connection story in 2019. Honda still have bare minimum driver-assist. Toyota Sequoia hasn't been literally updated for years and a giant car like this doesn't have basic safety features that one would expect in 2019. Keep in mind these are the biggest, wealthiest and most powerful car manufacturers in the world for who money in not an issue. They have perhaps 10X more people working on improving designs than Tesla but at the end of year nothing really comes out. If you look at model differences between 2018 vs 2019 for large majority of incumbent manufacturers, you will see no difference or something tragically trivial such as offering new shade of color. You may think what the hell their design staff of thousands of people did this entire year? Tesla's main strength is design, courage and agility. Everything from door handles to dashboard is made to delight the user. They are tech company that became car company, they move fast and they deeply care about delighting users. Ideas don't boggle down in bureaucracy. Model-3 is upgraded even before year was over. Model-3 is designed for million mile life. No incumbent manufacturer would dare go in this territory. The difference is same as incumbent software giant vs new startup.

jcfrei 8y ago
The reason incumbent car manufacturers seem lightyears behind is probably because they run a sustainable business model. While the Tesla experience seems superior it doesn't yet appear capable of turning a profit. I really doubt that lack of ingenuity on the incumbent side is the reason for the gap you describe.

pbreit 8y ago

No baggage, aggressive leadership, better talent.

Cthulhu_ 8y ago
Potential for lower cost as well, the part count of an electric car is lower than a petrol car. (no combustion engine, no gears, and I'm sure they can simplify the electronics as well due to not having as much legacy baggage as other car manufacturers). However, to achieve that they still need to reduce the cost of batteries by at least half. Reducing battery price has always been one of their goals though, hence the megafactory.