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I've been wondering if part of this SpaceX satellite gambit is to help Tesla Motors. Think about it: if and when there are 500,000 or a million or several milli

I've been wondering if part of this SpaceX satellite gambit is to help Tesla Motors. Think about it: if and when there are 500,000 or a million or several million Tesla vehicles (including the Model 3) all over the world, plus thousands of SuperChargers, and they all need to be connected to the Net for messaging and value-added services, then what better way than to just have 'em connect to the SpaceX service? Right now Tesla Model S vehicles connect via AT&T (at least in the US, don't know what the carriers are in other countries). It's a tiny number of "devices" connected to the network so it is probably expensive for Tesla. At some point it gets really expensive. One assumes the Model 3 will have the same always-on connection that the Model S/X has. Millions of Models S/X/3 around the world mean a lot of communications costs. And then there are the SuperChargers, that will in time no doubt be communicating with cars too, to improve the user experience. I suspect a few million "devices" connected to the SpaceX version of global wifi would be way cheaper than connecting to a dozen or two carriers in countries around the world. Just a theory.

DenisM 12y ago
You're overestimating the cell connectivity costs. Amazon Kindle is permanently on 3g/4g, and the device itself costs less than $200.
- skeletonjelly 12y ago
  The content isn't that large, and I believe it was only free with the Keyboard version.
  - stephentmcm 12y ago
    Still free on the new 3g enabled models. But when you say 'free' it only allows you to browse Amazon and buy Amazon books so they just build the costs into those... So thanks to everyone who buys eBooks on Amazon and funds my Kindle DX's 3g connection :)
    - brianbreslin 12y ago
      amazon actually loses money on each kindle book. think about that.
      - batiudrami 12y ago
        ON all of them? Or just on those where they're trying to squeeze publishers?
      - notatoad 12y ago
        I'm pretty sure that isn't true
        brianbreslin 12y ago
        http://www.teleread.com/ebooks/amazon-losing-money-on-999-e-books/ http://www.teleread.com/ebooks/amazon-losing-money-on-999-e-... This is outdated from 2009, but the pricing is pretty close to this still.
- darkmighty 12y ago
  The early models even had free unlimited worldwide 3g connectivity. Which of course was too expensive for such a cheap device, but shows that offering car connectivity really can't be so costly.
jzwinck 12y ago
If there are going to be thousands of Tesla cars in each city, maybe it would make more sense for them to create a mesh network and connect to the internet via Wi-Fi when parked (at Superchargers, at home, etc.). This could drastically reduce the cellular bandwidth required for less than the hundreds of millions of dollars required for a satellite solution.
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
curiously 12y ago
or even delivering power wirelessly to the tesla cars!!! that would be the ultimate end game move by Musk.
stevewilhelm 12y ago
SpaceX is currently charging $61 million per launch. [1] That's a lot of AT&T cell coverage. [1] http://www.spacex.com/about/capabilities http://www.spacex.com/about/capabilities
ohsnap 12y ago
Yeah I thought about that too. Would be very useful in remote areas. Probably won't work with the current batch of cars however. With that said, telsa promised 3g free with the model s for another 4 years. Maybe timing with the satellites?
vonklaus 12y ago
I think it is a lot more about providing communications to mars. They are basically doing a/b testing on earth for blanketing a planet in communication. Also, they could connect that network to mars to have interplanetary communication over something that resembles the internet. Tesla can lease bandwith (or have their users lease bandwith) much easier and cheaper than launching a fully fledged system like this
- dpods13 12y ago
  How is this a/b testing?
- TeMPOraL 12y ago
  Well, this is not exactly A/B testing (maybe a pilot program would be a better term), but as for the rest of your comment - I recall Musk saying something about Mars lacking Internet and him wanting to put it there.

DenisM 12y ago

You're overestimating the cell connectivity costs. Amazon Kindle is permanently on 3g/4g, and the device itself costs less than $200.

skeletonjelly 12y ago
The content isn't that large, and I believe it was only free with the Keyboard version.
- stephentmcm 12y ago
  Still free on the new 3g enabled models. But when you say 'free' it only allows you to browse Amazon and buy Amazon books so they just build the costs into those... So thanks to everyone who buys eBooks on Amazon and funds my Kindle DX's 3g connection :)
  - brianbreslin 12y ago
    amazon actually loses money on each kindle book. think about that.
    - batiudrami 12y ago
      ON all of them? Or just on those where they're trying to squeeze publishers?
    - notatoad 12y ago
      I'm pretty sure that isn't true
      - brianbreslin 12y ago
        http://www.teleread.com/ebooks/amazon-losing-money-on-999-e-books/ http://www.teleread.com/ebooks/amazon-losing-money-on-999-e-... This is outdated from 2009, but the pricing is pretty close to this still.
darkmighty 12y ago
The early models even had free unlimited worldwide 3g connectivity. Which of course was too expensive for such a cheap device, but shows that offering car connectivity really can't be so costly.

jzwinck 12y ago

If there are going to be thousands of Tesla cars in each city, maybe it would make more sense for them to create a mesh network and connect to the internet via Wi-Fi when parked (at Superchargers, at home, etc.). This could drastically reduce the cellular bandwidth required for less than the hundreds of millions of dollars required for a satellite solution.

deleted 12y ago
[deleted]

curiously 12y ago

or even delivering power wirelessly to the tesla cars!!! that would be the ultimate end game move by Musk.

stevewilhelm 12y ago

SpaceX is currently charging $61 million per launch. [1] That's a lot of AT&T cell coverage. [1] http://www.spacex.com/about/capabilities http://www.spacex.com/about/capabilities

ohsnap 12y ago

Yeah I thought about that too. Would be very useful in remote areas. Probably won't work with the current batch of cars however. With that said, telsa promised 3g free with the model s for another 4 years. Maybe timing with the satellites?

vonklaus 12y ago

I think it is a lot more about providing communications to mars. They are basically doing a/b testing on earth for blanketing a planet in communication. Also, they could connect that network to mars to have interplanetary communication over something that resembles the internet. Tesla can lease bandwith (or have their users lease bandwith) much easier and cheaper than launching a fully fledged system like this

dpods13 12y ago
How is this a/b testing?
TeMPOraL 12y ago
Well, this is not exactly A/B testing (maybe a pilot program would be a better term), but as for the rest of your comment - I recall Musk saying something about Mars lacking Internet and him wanting to put it there.