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>they'll most likely come crawling to Tesla. What specific technologies or patents do they own that will cause other companies to "crawl" to them? Sure, they'

>they'll most likely come crawling to Tesla. What specific technologies or patents do they own that will cause other companies to "crawl" to them? Sure, they're leading the way right now, but competition is heating up. Almost every major player in the market has developed or is developing EV technologies. Are we that enamoured with the aura of Elon Musk that we really believe the major automobile manufacturers, with their hundreds of billions of dollars and reams of engineering experience, won't be able to match or surpass what Tesla is doing? That's a bold bet. The automobile world is an incredibly competitive space. Look how much competition is in every single market segment.

Musketeer 12y ago
Yea, but, Elon Musk runs a "start up" (apparently Tesla is now a start up) and start ups are changing the world man. Revolutionary brah. Hurr durr. (obligatory "This isn't Reddit" in 3)
deleted 12y ago
[deleted]
- arcticfox 12y ago
  Off topic - does the quantity matter to these disclaimers? I feel they unintentionally come off as a humblebrag sometimes.
- angersock 12y ago
  I mean this in the friendliest way possible, but are you really sure you want to admit to over $2M in assets with your contact information right there?
DigitalSea 12y ago
A quick search yields a lot of patents that Tesla Motors own which you can view here: http://www.faqs.org/patents/assignee/tesla-motors-inc/ http://www.faqs.org/patents/assignee/tesla-motors-inc/ They've got some patents on some pretty key pieces of functionality and technology which they'll be licencing out no doubt in the future when other car makers come to the table. This is what I meant about 50% of Tesla's future revenue possibly coming from licencing out their technology. The crucial part of an electric vehicle is the batteries and if you look through the list of patents which Tesla Motors is the assignee, they've got tonnes of patents on functionality based around the batteries; temperature sensors, voltage sensors, connectors, pressure sensors and smart charging tech, battery shields and more. Sure, not all patents they've filed are in use, but it does show Tesla are at the forefront of electric vehicle tech. Think for a moment in 2009 General Motors Vice Chairman Robert Lutz told The New Yorker "All the geniuses here at General Motors kept saying lithium-ion technology is 10 years away, and Toyota agreed with us – and boom, along comes Tesla. So I said, 'How come some tiny little California startup, run by guys who know nothing about the car business, can do this, and we can't?' That was the crowbar that helped break up the log jam." I think this one quote sums up what Musk and the countless others who work at Tesla Motors have done, they spurned a revolution. Yes, some people get caught up in the "aura of Elon Musk" but you've got to understand the bigger picture here, it's bigger than Musk, Tesla Motors are revolutionising the electric car industry which was basically non-existent before they came onto the scene. Nobody wanted to take on the risk of investing hundreds of millions of dollars into something that people might not want. The Global Financial Crisis most likely was a deterring factor for some companies considering the thought of entering the electric vehicle car space.
patrickaljord 12y ago
Mercedes recently announced their new tesla based car http://money.cnn.com/2013/03/27/autos/mercedes-tesla-b-class-electric/index.html?hpt=hp_t2 http://money.cnn.com/2013/03/27/autos/mercedes-tesla-b-class...
27182818284 12y ago
>What specific technologies or patents do they own that will cause other companies to "crawl" to them? I can't think of an exact patent they have for rockets, but NASA came walking (not crawling by any means) to SpaceX with a multi-billion-dollar contract. Musk will win.
nardi 12y ago
GM is constantly saying that they don't think pure-EV vehicles are the solution. They still think it's going to be about hybrid vehicles. I don't know about the other big manufacturers, but I get the feeling they are similarly misguided. The question is: Are batteries going to significantly improve in the next 5 years? If so, then it's a huge misstep to pursue hybrid vehicles instead of directly competing with Tesla now and building battery manufacturing capability and know-how. I have a feeling the big guys are going to keep underestimating Tesla until they've already effectively been beaten.
27182818284 12y ago
>Are we that enamoured with the aura of Elon Musk that we really believe the major automobile manufacturers, with their hundreds of billions of dollars and reams of engineering experience, won't be able to match or surpass what Tesla is doing? YES, A THOUSAND TIMES YES because Tesla seems to be in the process of gettting it. For the same reason Google was able to exist when Apple, Yahoo, and Microsoft when, by your thinking, "with their hundreds of billions of dollars and reams of engineering experience," should have crushed them. Because Google got it It is similar to when Woz was asked how many computers they could sell and his immediate answer was "a million" Surly against IBM and their "their hundreds of billions of dollars and reams of engineering experience" Apple would fail, right? But Woz knew better and when asked how he knew he could sell a million "because there are at least a million ham radio operators" Because he got it! For the same reason that on Slashdot, when the iPod was revealed, the editor's comment was "No wireless. Less space than a nomad. Lame." Slasdot didn't get it, Apple got it Similarly, Tesla's cars are the first cars I've ever wanted. wanted wanted. I have a car, I use it, it isn't sexy or special to me. I want a Tesla. They aren't there yet, but they're on the path and will "get it."

Musketeer 12y ago

Yea, but, Elon Musk runs a "start up" (apparently Tesla is now a start up) and start ups are changing the world man. Revolutionary brah. Hurr durr. (obligatory "This isn't Reddit" in 3)

deleted 12y ago

[deleted]

arcticfox 12y ago
Off topic - does the quantity matter to these disclaimers? I feel they unintentionally come off as a humblebrag sometimes.
angersock 12y ago
I mean this in the friendliest way possible, but are you really sure you want to admit to over $2M in assets with your contact information right there?

DigitalSea 12y ago

A quick search yields a lot of patents that Tesla Motors own which you can view here: http://www.faqs.org/patents/assignee/tesla-motors-inc/ http://www.faqs.org/patents/assignee/tesla-motors-inc/ They've got some patents on some pretty key pieces of functionality and technology which they'll be licencing out no doubt in the future when other car makers come to the table. This is what I meant about 50% of Tesla's future revenue possibly coming from licencing out their technology. The crucial part of an electric vehicle is the batteries and if you look through the list of patents which Tesla Motors is the assignee, they've got tonnes of patents on functionality based around the batteries; temperature sensors, voltage sensors, connectors, pressure sensors and smart charging tech, battery shields and more. Sure, not all patents they've filed are in use, but it does show Tesla are at the forefront of electric vehicle tech. Think for a moment in 2009 General Motors Vice Chairman Robert Lutz told The New Yorker "All the geniuses here at General Motors kept saying lithium-ion technology is 10 years away, and Toyota agreed with us – and boom, along comes Tesla. So I said, 'How come some tiny little California startup, run by guys who know nothing about the car business, can do this, and we can't?' That was the crowbar that helped break up the log jam." I think this one quote sums up what Musk and the countless others who work at Tesla Motors have done, they spurned a revolution. Yes, some people get caught up in the "aura of Elon Musk" but you've got to understand the bigger picture here, it's bigger than Musk, Tesla Motors are revolutionising the electric car industry which was basically non-existent before they came onto the scene. Nobody wanted to take on the risk of investing hundreds of millions of dollars into something that people might not want. The Global Financial Crisis most likely was a deterring factor for some companies considering the thought of entering the electric vehicle car space.

patrickaljord 12y ago

Mercedes recently announced their new tesla based car http://money.cnn.com/2013/03/27/autos/mercedes-tesla-b-class-electric/index.html?hpt=hp_t2 http://money.cnn.com/2013/03/27/autos/mercedes-tesla-b-class...

27182818284 12y ago

>What specific technologies or patents do they own that will cause other companies to "crawl" to them? I can't think of an exact patent they have for rockets, but NASA came walking (not crawling by any means) to SpaceX with a multi-billion-dollar contract. Musk will win.

nardi 12y ago

GM is constantly saying that they don't think pure-EV vehicles are the solution. They still think it's going to be about hybrid vehicles. I don't know about the other big manufacturers, but I get the feeling they are similarly misguided. The question is: Are batteries going to significantly improve in the next 5 years? If so, then it's a huge misstep to pursue hybrid vehicles instead of directly competing with Tesla now and building battery manufacturing capability and know-how. I have a feeling the big guys are going to keep underestimating Tesla until they've already effectively been beaten.

27182818284 12y ago

>Are we that enamoured with the aura of Elon Musk that we really believe the major automobile manufacturers, with their hundreds of billions of dollars and reams of engineering experience, won't be able to match or surpass what Tesla is doing? YES, A THOUSAND TIMES YES because Tesla seems to be in the process of gettting it. For the same reason Google was able to exist when Apple, Yahoo, and Microsoft when, by your thinking, "with their hundreds of billions of dollars and reams of engineering experience," should have crushed them. Because Google got it It is similar to when Woz was asked how many computers they could sell and his immediate answer was "a million" Surly against IBM and their "their hundreds of billions of dollars and reams of engineering experience" Apple would fail, right? But Woz knew better and when asked how he knew he could sell a million "because there are at least a million ham radio operators" Because he got it! For the same reason that on Slashdot, when the iPod was revealed, the editor's comment was "No wireless. Less space than a nomad. Lame." Slasdot didn't get it, Apple got it Similarly, Tesla's cars are the first cars I've ever wanted. wanted wanted. I have a car, I use it, it isn't sexy or special to me. I want a Tesla. They aren't there yet, but they're on the path and will "get it."