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this idea raised $850M and failed https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Better_Place_(company) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Better_Place_(company)
by foolfoolz 5y ago
this idea raised $850M and failed
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Better_Place_(company) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Better_Place_(company)
- scythe 5y agoThose aren't scooters, they're cars -- and they showed up before Panasonic/Tesla attacked the battery-cost problem with roughly 100x as much capital.
- nradov 5y agoTesla also tried battery swapping several years ago but seems to have given up.
- ryukafalz 5y agoThose are also cars.
- bduerst 5y agoThat's because Tesla owners have disposable income and tend to charge in suburban or rural homes. Swapping is aimed more at lower-income segments or delivery/maintenance services in urban areas.
- microtherion 5y agoEdward Niedermeyer's book _Ludicrous_ spends some time on this subject. According to Musk's own statements, Tesla invited less than 200 customers to a trial, and then declared that there was insufficient demand. Niedermeyer points out that conducting even a single customer battery swap allowed Tesla to book about $100M in extra ZEV credits over the years; according to his own anecdotal observations, there was considerably more demand than Tesla claimed, but Tesla did not seem to be overly motivated to make the program work.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- troymc 5y agoSometimes yesterday's failed idea can be today's genius idea. For example, if you tried to launch Squarespace in 1993, most people wouldn't care; they'd wonder who would want it and why. (The World Wide Web was a niche thing at that time.)
- wkirby 5y agoShai Agassi was on the cover of WIRED back in 2008 and college me thought he was going to save the world. Like a proto-Musk if Elon were actually in it to save the planet.