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Tesla shares dive after Consumer Reports yanks recommendation for Model S

latimes.com

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Re: Tesla shares dive after Consumer Reports yanks recommendation for Model S

#81

Post by dragonwriter »

derekp7 wrote: post #11

Seeing as how the battery system is primarily what makes electric cars expensive, I really wish automakers would start delivering plugin hybrids that have, say 75 - 100 mile range on battery (to keep cost down), along with a very low horsepower gas engine. (Most plugin hybrids give you about 20 - 30 miles on battery). The way it would work: the battery would drive the front wheels, and you would use the battery for m…

> Seeing as how the battery system is primarily what makes electric cars expensive, I really wish automakers would start delivering plugin hybrids that have, say 75 - 100 mile range on battery (to keep cost down), along with a very low horsepower gas engine. (Most plugin hybrids give you about 20 - 30 miles on battery).

20-30 gives you a decent commute on pure battery, anything longer is a questionable trade off of amount of battery you are lugging around, killing efficiency.

> The way it would work: the battery would drive the front wheels, and you would use the battery for most of your driving -- but when it got down to 20% charge, the gas engine would kick in to power the back wheels.

I don't know that a vehicle that switches from FWD to RWD while driving is a really good idea, or what advantage this mechanism has over more conventional and well-established hybrid systems.

Re: Tesla shares dive after Consumer Reports yanks recommendation for Model S

#82

Post by brianstorms »

My 2013 Model S has had its share of issues. My car is on its third drivetrain. Am I unhappy about it? Nope. Was it a hassle? A little. Was it a show-stopper? Nope. Did Tesla always take care of the issues to my satisfaction? Absolutely. Would I buy another Tesla? Not only YES but I cannot imagine ever buying anything else ever again.

Tesla's huge weakness continues to be communication between company and customer. That is and always has been my number one area of concern. Not reliability. Except in terms of communications reliability. They are terrible at managing expectations. At providing quick and timely updates. At explaining functionality (ESPECIALLY in the age of autopilot) for not only safe driving but also simply maximizing enjoyment of all the car's capabilities. Tesla as a company is a shambles when it comes to communicating. It unfortunately continues to be a low priority to fix it. I wish CR would ding Tesla for lousy communications. Because customer complaints about their weakness as communicators go unheeded.

But I would still buy a Tesla again and plan to.

Re: Tesla shares dive after Consumer Reports yanks recommendation for Model S

#83

Post by Zelphyr »

aresant wrote: post #53

Interesting that this important line was omitted from the LATimes article: “Despite the problems, [CONSUMER REPORTS] data show that Tesla owner satisfaction is still very high: Ninety-seven percent of owners said they would definitely buy their car again." That is a direct quote from the CS article and featured in other prominent media. (1) I get that a negative CS article could potentially influence brand perception…

This is why I no longer consume mainstream media news. They ALL have an agenda and that is either to scare you or make you angry. And they obviously don't care about lying by omission in order to garner views.

Re: Tesla shares dive after Consumer Reports yanks recommendation for Model S

#84

Post by bradleyjg »

MichaelGG wrote: post #25
encoderer wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tesla's PE in 2016 is forecasted over 130. For comparison bmw is under 10. Tesla is priced for perfection.

Perfection or just some growth? Their volume is really small, isn't it? If they just manage to sell, I dunno, 10x more cars then that P/E would drop right down no?

Assuming margins hold up (or improve).

Re: Tesla shares dive after Consumer Reports yanks recommendation for Model S

#85

Post by crabasa »

Comparing Tesla to existing car companies misses the point entirely. Telsa is an energy platform company that is investing in delivering (Supercharger network) and storing (Gigafactory) energy. Cars are certainly the current "killer app" today, but are likely to be followed by many other applications in the future.

Re: Tesla shares dive after Consumer Reports yanks recommendation for Model S

#87

Post by jkestner »

tdees40 wrote: post #45
beat wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tesla is a growth company that could be a giant. BMW is a stable old blue chip. Different market values entirely. At the individual car level, Tesla S is priced to match mid/high end sedans from BMW, Mercedes, and Audi, so that's the quality level they need to hit. And such quality isn't about reliability so much as fit and finish. Tesla is doing extremely well against very established competition in that regard.

Tesla' market cap is $30B. GM is $53B. Ford is $61B. If you're buying Tesla, you have to believe that they will become a huge player, and soon. They can't just be bigger, they have to be huge or else you're radically overpaying for a niche producer.

Don't forget batteries. Rolls-Royce did well with jet engines, probably better than cars.

Re: Tesla shares dive after Consumer Reports yanks recommendation for Model S

#88

Post by blisterpeanuts »

simonsarris wrote: post #6

As Consumer Reports suggests, this is totally understandable. Straight from CR: > The Tesla wasn’t the only high-performance vehicle that fell below average in reliability. Others include the BMW X5 and 5 Series, and the Chevrolet Corvette. > When automakers roll out new technology, be it infotainment, transmissions, or engine variations, it often has a deleterious effect on vehicle reliability. Tesla is not only the…

The Tesla's getting AWD? That's cool. If they can get the range up over 400 miles, I would be very interested (albeit still unable to afford one). Hoping actually that I do slip on a banana peel at some point :)

Re: Tesla shares dive after Consumer Reports yanks recommendation for Model S

#89

Post by tghw »

blisterpeanuts wrote: post #88
simonsarris wrote: post #6

As Consumer Reports suggests, this is totally understandable. Straight from CR: > The Tesla wasn’t the only high-performance vehicle that fell below average in reliability. Others include the BMW X5 and 5 Series, and the Chevrolet Corvette. > When automakers roll out new technology, be it infotainment, transmissions, or engine variations, it often has a deleterious effect on vehicle reliability. Tesla is not only the…

The Tesla's getting AWD? That's cool. If they can get the range up over 400 miles, I would be very interested (albeit still unable to afford one). Hoping actually that I do slip on a banana peel at some point :)

They announced AWD over a year ago.

Re: Tesla shares dive after Consumer Reports yanks recommendation for Model S

#90

Post by blisterpeanuts »

joosters wrote: post #75
awqrre wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know about all the other technology but the electric motor(s) should be much more reliable then the conventional combustion drivetrain

Eventually, yes. But internal combustion engines have a head start spanning decades of fixes and reliability improvements.

Isn't one of the Tesla's (and other EVs') advantages that the electric drive train is mechanically simpler, not to mention smaller, than an ICE? No cylinders, starters, water pump, oxygen-fuel mix gauge, and dozens of other things that can and do go wrong.

On the other hand, it sounds like Tesla's software and firmware are pretty complicated, meaning bugs in the 1.0 release, updates that may need to be rolled back if unexpected edge cases are discovered, hacks, faulty soldering, bad chips etc. And would lightning do a number on a Tesla? Maybe on any car, actually.

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