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Can I give a strong suggestion that news stories not be submitted from obviously-biased sources? The headline should be the same as what the reliably-green nyti

Can I give a strong suggestion that news stories not be submitted from obviously-biased sources? The headline should be the same as what the reliably-green nytimes asked a few months ago: http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/12/01/should-taxpayers-pay-to-back-tesla-motors/ http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/12/01/should-taxpayer... The Tesla business model, to me, seems hopeless. Look: There's nothing special about running vehicles by battery. They were doing it many decades ago. Every big factory and every golf course has numerous electric vehicles. In the proper context, they're just great. The technology is well-established, but thus far none of the manufacturers thought it wise to move from factory to highway. I'm guessing there are some good reasons, among which is the fact that diesel cars are usually more efficient...

bishvili 18y ago
This article is factually incorrect since they were not actually approved for the loans yet. http://www.greencarreports.com/blog/1018501_no-damnit-tesla-has-not-been-approved-for-loans-yet http://www.greencarreports.com/blog/1018501_no-damnit-tesla-...
eande 18y ago
“fact that diesel cars are usually more efficient...” is true if compared to a gasoline combustion engine. But there is no simple comparison on efficiency between the 2 different technology battery vs gasoline. My take is the other way. Loan several billion dollar to any of the big three is not doing much. The cash burn rate they have will eat the money quickly and just to survive. Since the first oil crises in the ‘70 any of the Detroit companies had lots of time to spend R&D money on alternative power train solutions. They decided not to do a lot for multibillion dollar revenue companies other than building bigger and bigger SUVs. Japanese car manufacture by now have some lead in hybrid and battery technology and a small company Tesla has in my opinion a better chance to compete in this segment.
- tjic 18y ago
  > there is no simple comparison on efficiency between the 2 different technology battery vs gasoline. What's wrong with "km/J" ?
  - Retric 18y ago
    You can get electricity from oil without refining it to gas. The only real useful metric is $ / mile and electric cars win that one.
calambrac 18y ago
...because nothing has ever been accomplished by small teams of smart people working against the good reasons of behemoths, right? I mean, you do realize you just made that comment on a site whose reason for existence is to promote and recruit people to the idea of 3 people with 4 months and 5k each?

bishvili 18y ago

This article is factually incorrect since they were not actually approved for the loans yet. http://www.greencarreports.com/blog/1018501_no-damnit-tesla-has-not-been-approved-for-loans-yet http://www.greencarreports.com/blog/1018501_no-damnit-tesla-...

eande 18y ago

“fact that diesel cars are usually more efficient...” is true if compared to a gasoline combustion engine. But there is no simple comparison on efficiency between the 2 different technology battery vs gasoline. My take is the other way. Loan several billion dollar to any of the big three is not doing much. The cash burn rate they have will eat the money quickly and just to survive. Since the first oil crises in the ‘70 any of the Detroit companies had lots of time to spend R&D money on alternative power train solutions. They decided not to do a lot for multibillion dollar revenue companies other than building bigger and bigger SUVs. Japanese car manufacture by now have some lead in hybrid and battery technology and a small company Tesla has in my opinion a better chance to compete in this segment.

tjic 18y ago
> there is no simple comparison on efficiency between the 2 different technology battery vs gasoline. What's wrong with "km/J" ?
- Retric 18y ago
  You can get electricity from oil without refining it to gas. The only real useful metric is $ / mile and electric cars win that one.

calambrac 18y ago

...because nothing has ever been accomplished by small teams of smart people working against the good reasons of behemoths, right? I mean, you do realize you just made that comment on a site whose reason for existence is to promote and recruit people to the idea of 3 people with 4 months and 5k each?