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Tesla is trying to make cars to compete with other makers’ non-electric cars. Other makers are trying to make cars to compete with Tesla, without competing wit
by kylecordes 7y ago
Tesla is trying to make cars to compete with other makers’ non-electric cars.
Other makers are trying to make cars to compete with Tesla, without competing with their own non-electric cars.
Currently, it is probably impossible to achieve a good profit margin on a mass-market electric car. Battery costs are too high this early in the manufacturing process. Tesla is willing to operate at the bare edge of fiscal viability while they scale… maybe even below viability. Other makers would have to take a gigantic drop in profit to compete with that.
- CydeWeys 7y agoSometimes it's worth taking some temporary losses to get a new foothold in a growing market.
- solarkraft 7y agoModel 3 is estimated to be "solidly profitable": https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17542864 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17542864 Tesla operates at no profit, but not because they couldn't with the hardware, but rather because they still need to scale. The old manufacturers wouldn't even need to do much of that.