Only if you believe Elon's side of the story (I don't). If you believe Martin Eberhard, here is his take: Martin: "The 2-speed transmission was the first majo

Only if you believe Elon's side of the story (I don't). If you believe Martin Eberhard, here is his take: Martin: "The 2-speed transmission was the first major edict to come from Elon, and though I thought it was an unnecessary risk for the first model year's cars, I was certainly willing to be a team player and support Elon's edict. I knew there were risk and cost associated with the decision, but by themselves, I felt we would be able to manage them." Editor: Here's an another example of how different people see the same events through their own personal filters. Musk acknowledges that he pushed for the 2-speed transmission from Job 1 in order to meet the original performance targets. From a December 2007 interview in Inc. magazine: "The most controversial of Musk's edicts involved the transmission. Martin Eberhard, Tesla's co-founder and then-CEO, argued that it would be quicker and easier to build the car with a single-speed transmission. Musk ordered a two-speed model so that the Roadster would be able reach a top speed of well over 100 miles per hour." Of course, it's never quite that clear cut. My belief is that Elon's ego and pocketbook far exceeds his engineering and management ability. This was from a very interesting piece done by Autoblog Green: Part 1: http://www.autobloggreen.com/2008/06/23/autobloggreen-qanda-tesla-motors-chairman-elon-musk-pt-1-in-th/ http://www.autobloggreen.com/2008/06/23/autobloggreen-qanda-... Part 2: http://www.autobloggreen.com/2008/06/24/autobloggreen-qanda-tesla-motors-chairman-elon-musk-part-2-tran/ http://www.autobloggreen.com/2008/06/24/autobloggreen-qanda-... Part 3: http://www.autobloggreen.com/2008/06/25/autobloggreen-qanda-tesla-motors-chairman-elon-musk-pt-3-lesso/ http://www.autobloggreen.com/2008/06/25/autobloggreen-qanda-...