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Tesla’s already changed the world. The fact that traditional car companies like VW can even make a bet to go all electric is because Tesla has showed it’s a via

by atonse 6y ago

Tesla’s already changed the world. The fact that traditional car companies like VW can even make a bet to go all electric is because Tesla has showed it’s a viable and highly successful strategy.

rsynnott 6y ago
This is likely ahistorical. VW was a bit later, but other market leaders Nissan and Renault released their platforms before the Tesla Model S came out.
- maxerickson 6y ago
  I think if you drew a graph of electric car adoption and compared it to one from a hypothetical world where Tesla didn't exist, the zoomed in view of the last ten years would be a little higher with Tesla. By the time 2050 rolls around it'll be real hard to tell the difference.
jariel 6y ago
The shift was inevitable and always in progress with or without Tesla. They have been selling and experimenting with electric cars for a very long time. Nobody has 'copied' anything that Tesla has done, they've done it on their own terms and sales have been picking up especially in Europe for a long time. Tesla added some enthusiasm and pop culture flavour to the moment, but they didn't change anything. At most, they accelerated the timeline by a few years.
- mpweiher 6y ago
  Other companies have experiment with EVs for a long time and repeatedly, invariably failed miserably at it. One crucial mistake they all made was focusing on the low-end, where the technology just wasn't viable/practical and couldn't be made viable/practical in one step. Tesla's genius was focusing on the high end first and letting that trickle down. Starting with a car that didn't have to be practical to be viable.
  - jariel 6y ago
    Everything failed until it didn't. Millions of EV's are sold by companies that didn't copy or follow Tesla. I agree with your assessment of how Tesla 'did it' - but other companies were 'doing it' at the same time.
  - rsynnott 6y ago
    The Renault Zoe (which outsells any Tesla in Europe) came out the same year as the Model S, and is about as low end as (Western) electric cars get. Focusing on the low end apparently worked in that case...
Majromax 6y ago
Tesla may have "changed the world," but that doesn't mean it will retain dominance. Tesla has always been a bet that a tech company can learn to make cars faster than car companies can learn to make tech. Moves like VW's push the latter aggressively, while Tesla is taking longer to scale its car production, giving credence to the idea that the electric car the average person drives twenty years from now will not be a Tesla. And if that's the case, can Tesla justify its corporate valuation? Comparing Tesla's stock to other automakers, the markets have priced in an expectation of rapid earnings growth; the stock will plummet if those expectations can't be met.

by atonse 6y ago

Tesla’s already changed the world. The fact that traditional car companies like VW can even make a bet to go all electric is because Tesla has showed it’s a viable and highly successful strategy.

rsynnott 6y ago

This is likely ahistorical. VW was a bit later, but other market leaders Nissan and Renault released their platforms before the Tesla Model S came out.

maxerickson 6y ago
I think if you drew a graph of electric car adoption and compared it to one from a hypothetical world where Tesla didn't exist, the zoomed in view of the last ten years would be a little higher with Tesla. By the time 2050 rolls around it'll be real hard to tell the difference.

jariel 6y ago

The shift was inevitable and always in progress with or without Tesla. They have been selling and experimenting with electric cars for a very long time. Nobody has 'copied' anything that Tesla has done, they've done it on their own terms and sales have been picking up especially in Europe for a long time. Tesla added some enthusiasm and pop culture flavour to the moment, but they didn't change anything. At most, they accelerated the timeline by a few years.

mpweiher 6y ago
Other companies have experiment with EVs for a long time and repeatedly, invariably failed miserably at it. One crucial mistake they all made was focusing on the low-end, where the technology just wasn't viable/practical and couldn't be made viable/practical in one step. Tesla's genius was focusing on the high end first and letting that trickle down. Starting with a car that didn't have to be practical to be viable.
- jariel 6y ago
  Everything failed until it didn't. Millions of EV's are sold by companies that didn't copy or follow Tesla. I agree with your assessment of how Tesla 'did it' - but other companies were 'doing it' at the same time.
- rsynnott 6y ago
  The Renault Zoe (which outsells any Tesla in Europe) came out the same year as the Model S, and is about as low end as (Western) electric cars get. Focusing on the low end apparently worked in that case...

Majromax 6y ago

Tesla may have "changed the world," but that doesn't mean it will retain dominance. Tesla has always been a bet that a tech company can learn to make cars faster than car companies can learn to make tech. Moves like VW's push the latter aggressively, while Tesla is taking longer to scale its car production, giving credence to the idea that the electric car the average person drives twenty years from now will not be a Tesla. And if that's the case, can Tesla justify its corporate valuation? Comparing Tesla's stock to other automakers, the markets have priced in an expectation of rapid earnings growth; the stock will plummet if those expectations can't be met.