4 ms·

SpaceX and Tesla Working on Ventilators

20 points by mmhsieh 7y ago

clouddrover 7y ago
So Musk has gone from saying the "coronavirus panic is dumb" (https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1236029449042198528 https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1236029449042198528) to now making ventilators. Going from zero to manufacturing medical grade equipment is non-trivial. Even once you have the equipment there are going to be staffing shortages in hospitals. Patients on ventilators need to be constantly monitored. You don't just plug them in and leave them. Musk's downplaying of the seriousness of COVID-19 hasn't helped anyone.
- tpmx 7y ago
  That tweet really didn't age well. Is this going to be another Thai cave submarine episode?
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
- romland 7y ago
  I had not seen this quote before. Reading what you said; my initial thought was on the emphasis, the panic IS dumb. So, I clicked in and verified that he actually had said exactly those words and read the next 2-3 responses. I felt that, yeah, he is referring to the panic. It's something I've repeatedly said the last two weeks: Personally, I am not afraid of the virus. I am afraid of people's response. I say this as one of the unfortunate bastards with a condition that puts me in a risk group. I am also no fan of Musk, per-se (well, not more than you would have admiration for any person that are able to accomplish things). Whether he's capable of making a difference around ventilators in the short term -- let's just say I am as skeptical as the next guy. Likewise, I should probably have read the entirety of the Twitter thread before replying.
  - clouddrover 7y ago
    In a memo to employees Musk said, "The risk of death from C19 is vastly less than the risk of death from driving your car home": https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/ryanmac/elon-musk-spacex-employees-car-crash-coronavirus https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/ryanmac/elon-musk-space... Italy's deaths from coronavirus have already exceeded their annual deaths from car accidents: https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_traffic-related_death_rate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_traffic-r... Without the work that hospitals are doing and without the measures to limit exposure the death rate would be even higher. Musk's perspective on COVID-19 is ignorant and frankly stupid.
    - senectus1 7y ago
      yeah but hang on... if you add to that factor that 70-90+ age brackets... how does that then add up?
new_realist 7y ago
Just like Elon was going to rescue the Thai cave boys, fix Flint’s water supply, etc. Musk’s PR strategy is to inject himself into every trending topic. This, after Musk has made several incredibly irresponsible factual misrepresentations of the current outbreak, comparing it to the common cold and suggesting that car accidents will kill more people this year than this virus. I wouldn’t be surprised if this ventilator play is an exemption which keeps his workforce at work, working on things he wants to work on, like cars and rockets, all the while spreading COVID-19.
- new_realist 7y ago
  Ventilator manufacturers aren't impressed by Elon Musk's offer https://mashable.com/article/experts-doubt-tesla-elon-musk-manufacture-ventilators/ https://mashable.com/article/experts-doubt-tesla-elon-musk-m...
- new_realist 7y ago
  Note also that in Italy, deaths from coronavirus have already surpassed yearly deaths from auto accidents—-and this is just the beginning.
  - clouddrover 7y ago
    Johns Hopkins coronavirus case map: https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html Italy is currently at 4,825 deaths.
    - wmeredith 7y ago
      Italy had 3,333 auto accident deaths in 2016 (the latest year I could find quickly). Source: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_traffic-related_death_rate https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_traffic...
  - ryanlol 7y ago
    I’m not sure how that’s relevant though, SpaceX employees are much younger and healthier than the people dying in italy https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-03-18/99-of-those-who-died-from-virus-had-other-illness-italy-says https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-03-18/99-of-tho... How many employees over 70 do you think SpaceX has?
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
comradesmith 7y ago
This is going to be a repeat of that stupid submarine isn't it?
fopen65535 7y ago
I’ve stopped being surprised that people still believe this clown, but it is disappointing. He is the Uri Geller of our time. Would anyone feel comfortable attached to a Tesla ventilator that was built in a tent? Let’s leave this one to the professionals.
- Svoka 7y ago
  “This clown” landed rockets and made electromobiles mainstream. He already won.
- ykevinator 7y ago
  The professionals had zero preparation. The professionals were supposed to have warehouses of masks and hand sanitizers ready. We have a surgeon General and the centers (plural) for disease control, who have been doing nothing for decades. We have leaders who we pay a ton of money to, including the president, who did nothing to prepare and nothing to react. The professionals suck, they botched this. Musk may be a wing nut but he figured out how to launch space ships as a private company. At best he can do no worse than the professionals.
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
fightorflight 7y ago
I hope Tesla’s quality control issues have been resolved if they’re going to be creating life support equipment.
boznz 7y ago
I have studied this a fair bit and the technology is relatively simple (look it up) biggest challenge is securing enough medical grade oxygen. So yes, GM or Tesla or a lot of other companies with manufacturing bases could make them pretty easily, however the current manufacturers of ventilators have got a lot to loose with an over-supply of cheap ventilators so expect FUD
rasz 7y ago
Ventilators are not the answer. Italy Cremona https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfkbv_WQtn0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfkbv_WQtn0 Italy Bergamo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_suhYeWEcJg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_suhYeWEcJg TLDR Two hospitals, not a single patient survived ventilation/ecmo to date. Something weird is happening in Italy.

20 points by mmhsieh 7y ago

So Musk has gone from saying the "coronavirus panic is dumb" (https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1236029449042198528 https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1236029449042198528) to now making ventilators. Going from zero to manufacturing medical grade equipment is non-trivial. Even once you have the equipment there are going to be staffing shortages in hospitals. Patients on ventilators need to be constantly monitored. You don't just plug them in and leave them. Musk's downplaying of the seriousness of COVID-19 hasn't helped anyone.

tpmx 7y ago
That tweet really didn't age well. Is this going to be another Thai cave submarine episode?
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
romland 7y ago
I had not seen this quote before. Reading what you said; my initial thought was on the emphasis, the panic IS dumb. So, I clicked in and verified that he actually had said exactly those words and read the next 2-3 responses. I felt that, yeah, he is referring to the panic. It's something I've repeatedly said the last two weeks: Personally, I am not afraid of the virus. I am afraid of people's response. I say this as one of the unfortunate bastards with a condition that puts me in a risk group. I am also no fan of Musk, per-se (well, not more than you would have admiration for any person that are able to accomplish things). Whether he's capable of making a difference around ventilators in the short term -- let's just say I am as skeptical as the next guy. Likewise, I should probably have read the entirety of the Twitter thread before replying.
- clouddrover 7y ago
  In a memo to employees Musk said, "The risk of death from C19 is vastly less than the risk of death from driving your car home": https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/ryanmac/elon-musk-spacex-employees-car-crash-coronavirus https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/ryanmac/elon-musk-space... Italy's deaths from coronavirus have already exceeded their annual deaths from car accidents: https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_traffic-related_death_rate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_traffic-r... Without the work that hospitals are doing and without the measures to limit exposure the death rate would be even higher. Musk's perspective on COVID-19 is ignorant and frankly stupid.
  - senectus1 7y ago
    yeah but hang on... if you add to that factor that 70-90+ age brackets... how does that then add up?

new_realist 7y ago

Just like Elon was going to rescue the Thai cave boys, fix Flint’s water supply, etc. Musk’s PR strategy is to inject himself into every trending topic. This, after Musk has made several incredibly irresponsible factual misrepresentations of the current outbreak, comparing it to the common cold and suggesting that car accidents will kill more people this year than this virus. I wouldn’t be surprised if this ventilator play is an exemption which keeps his workforce at work, working on things he wants to work on, like cars and rockets, all the while spreading COVID-19.

new_realist 7y ago
Ventilator manufacturers aren't impressed by Elon Musk's offer https://mashable.com/article/experts-doubt-tesla-elon-musk-manufacture-ventilators/ https://mashable.com/article/experts-doubt-tesla-elon-musk-m...
new_realist 7y ago
Note also that in Italy, deaths from coronavirus have already surpassed yearly deaths from auto accidents—-and this is just the beginning.
- clouddrover 7y ago
  Johns Hopkins coronavirus case map: https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html Italy is currently at 4,825 deaths.
  - wmeredith 7y ago
    Italy had 3,333 auto accident deaths in 2016 (the latest year I could find quickly). Source: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_traffic-related_death_rate https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_traffic...
- ryanlol 7y ago
  I’m not sure how that’s relevant though, SpaceX employees are much younger and healthier than the people dying in italy https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-03-18/99-of-those-who-died-from-virus-had-other-illness-italy-says https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-03-18/99-of-tho... How many employees over 70 do you think SpaceX has?

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

comradesmith 7y ago

This is going to be a repeat of that stupid submarine isn't it?

fopen65535 7y ago

I’ve stopped being surprised that people still believe this clown, but it is disappointing. He is the Uri Geller of our time. Would anyone feel comfortable attached to a Tesla ventilator that was built in a tent? Let’s leave this one to the professionals.

Svoka 7y ago
“This clown” landed rockets and made electromobiles mainstream. He already won.
ykevinator 7y ago
The professionals had zero preparation. The professionals were supposed to have warehouses of masks and hand sanitizers ready. We have a surgeon General and the centers (plural) for disease control, who have been doing nothing for decades. We have leaders who we pay a ton of money to, including the president, who did nothing to prepare and nothing to react. The professionals suck, they botched this. Musk may be a wing nut but he figured out how to launch space ships as a private company. At best he can do no worse than the professionals.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]

fightorflight 7y ago

I hope Tesla’s quality control issues have been resolved if they’re going to be creating life support equipment.

boznz 7y ago

I have studied this a fair bit and the technology is relatively simple (look it up) biggest challenge is securing enough medical grade oxygen. So yes, GM or Tesla or a lot of other companies with manufacturing bases could make them pretty easily, however the current manufacturers of ventilators have got a lot to loose with an over-supply of cheap ventilators so expect FUD

rasz 7y ago

Ventilators are not the answer. Italy Cremona https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfkbv_WQtn0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfkbv_WQtn0 Italy Bergamo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_suhYeWEcJg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_suhYeWEcJg TLDR Two hospitals, not a single patient survived ventilation/ecmo to date. Something weird is happening in Italy.