Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Tesla Second Quarter 2018 Update

ir.tesla.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

191–200 of 243 posts

Re: Tesla Second Quarter 2018 Update

#191

Post by femidav »

dragonwriter wrote: post #126
gamblor956 wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Toyota went from selling 19,000 Prius' in 2000 to 281,000 Prius in the same timescale. It becomes even more impressive when you realize that before the Prius, there was no market for green cars, hybrid, electric, or otherwise. Amazing!!! [1] Even more impressive is that these are sales of a single model...

> It becomes even more impressive when you realize that before the Prius, there was no market for green cars, hybrid, electric, or otherwise. The first incarnation of the Honda Insight was before the Prius, and somewhat successful before the Prius came on the scene and took over.

Honda Insight - 1999 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honda_Insight Toyota Prius - 1997 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_Prius

Re: Tesla Second Quarter 2018 Update

#192

Post by kentm »

jgibson wrote: post #99
pseudocook wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder how many of those are Model S. I hope that Model S is not suffering any problems so that Model 3 and Model X can go forward. I am only person in my circle of friends interested in Model S as opposed to the other two models. Anecdotally, I lost count of the number of Model 3's I see on a daily basis in Bay Area.

What attracts you about the S more than the 3?

I can't speak for pseudocook but the fact that they replaced the dash with a tablet really puts me off of the 3. Not only is it ugly (IMO), its less functional.

Re: Tesla Second Quarter 2018 Update

#193

Post by nickserv »

nilkn wrote: post #70
ghaff wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How awful that they're making cars that their customers want to buy. The reality is that electric cars aren't in great demand today, Everyone's working on them but most aren't in a particular hurry to push out cars that don't necessarily have a good mix of price/range/features for their customers and which they won't sell all that many of as a result.

Something no one really talks about is the difficulty of just charging an electric car for anyone who isn't a homeowner. That's a nontrivial question -- and possibly a dealbreaker -- for millions of apartment dwellers.

They're slowly making appearances in public parking lots, train stations, etc, even curbside spots in some cities.

But yeah, nowhere near the number needed for the electric car revolution (tm).

Although I've noticed most of said chargers are usually empty, so I suppose it's a chicken and egg problem.

Re: Tesla Second Quarter 2018 Update

#194

Post by rconti »

gnicholas wrote: post #135
rconti wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just sold my R 2 weeks ago and picked up a 3. :) Both fantastic cars in their own right.

Is a "3" a Tesla Model 3, or something else? I recently saw someone refer to this vehicle as an "M3", which was pretty confusing given the BMW vehicle that goes by this name. I realize this thread is about Teslas, but still folks are referring to non-Teslas here as well.

Yes, sorry, it's the Tesla version. I was trying to be more clear, not less clear. I have owned an actual M3 and I hate people calling Mazdas and Teslas "M3"s. I was tossing around the idea of making "T3" a thing, though, as I don't think it'll confuse others in the car world.

Re: Tesla Second Quarter 2018 Update

#195

Post by nickserv »

Marsymars wrote: post #182
nilkn wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Something no one really talks about is the difficulty of just charging an electric car for anyone who isn't a homeowner. That's a nontrivial question -- and possibly a dealbreaker -- for millions of apartment dwellers.

Or homeowners without garages. I live in a house but park in the street in front of it. I can't practically string an extension cord to my car to charge it every night.

Nevermind what a bunch of drunk teenagers would do upon seeing that setup.

I'm in the same situation, there's the option of renting a nearby garage but when I factor that into the cost of an already expensive vehicle, the economics just aren't interesting at all.

Re: Tesla Second Quarter 2018 Update

#196

Post by rconti »

radicalbyte wrote: post #105
rconti wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly. And this is a 'problem' they'll never again face, because now the clock is ticking. Of course, it's been replaced with the 'problem' of selling incremental Model 3s as the effective price goes up quarter by quarter in the near term, but the issue has ALWAYS been whether they'll be able to sustain demand and sales as the vehicle goes through pent-up demand and then has to rely on incremental sales, year after…

There's a massive amount of demand here in Europe: the car is the right size, the right price qualifies for all of the tax benefits. They also have 0 competition. I expect there to be a waiting list for the next couple of years unless they keep boosting production..

Good point, I was totally ignoring Europe with this car -- and I shouldn't be, because I need to buy your left driver's side convex mirror mirror (so I can actually see what's in the lane to my left, unlike in the "flat" US mirrors) and your proper taillights with amber turn signals (please be plug-and-play).

Re: Tesla Second Quarter 2018 Update

#197

Post by imtringued »

ghaff wrote: post #48
Puer wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because car companies are horridly shortsighted. All of the major US car makers right now are doubling down on building gas-guzzling pickup trucks and SUVs because they have a nice profit margin and because Americans love commuting alone downtown in traffic every day in their seats 7, 20 mpg abominations with trunks and beds that are never used. Maybe it's what's necessary to survive in the moment and maybe the momen…

How awful that they're making cars that their customers want to buy. The reality is that electric cars aren't in great demand today, Everyone's working on them but most aren't in a particular hurry to push out cars that don't necessarily have a good mix of price/range/features for their customers and which they won't sell all that many of as a result.

Making an electric car is trivial. The big problem is that battery costs still cause the majority of the total vehicle cost. The e-golf is a perfect example of that. It's identical to the ICE version except it costs twice as much at the cost of significantly lower range. The 2017 version is still at the 30k price point but the range was upgraded to 185 miles. It will probably take another 3 years until we see a 300 mile version to eliminate range anxiety for the majority of the population and then it will take another 3-6 years for prices to go down.

The ICE vehicle manufacturers are waiting for battery costs to come down. They aren't short sighted. It's simple economics.

Re: Tesla Second Quarter 2018 Update

#198

Post by [deleted] »

davidgould wrote: post #188
giobox wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Couldn't agree more. It's also not the point I'm making. Parent comment used the example of the 89 mile range Honda Clarity as evidence you don't get competitive battery range on non-Tesla cars. This is demonstrably not true.

> you don't get competitive battery range on non-Tesla cars. This is demonstrably not true. While the Bolt is a nice car with good range, it is not range competitive with the Telsa LR model 3. I have been evaluating this in the context of driving from San Francisco to Portland. This is a practical drive in the Model 3, but not even close in the Bolt.

[deleted]

Re: Tesla Second Quarter 2018 Update

#199

Post by tomp »

TimTheTinker wrote: post #163
kanox wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't follow Tesla or the automotive market but I do follow space and for many years SpaceX was mocked because of it's low launch rate and delays. They are now #2 by launch rate, behind only China. SpaceX launches 2x to 3x more often than ULA or Ariane and their rampup was also faster than that of comparable vehicles. The argument that a company can't build it's product fast enough to satisfy demand strikes me as e…

SpaceX has Gwynne Shotwell. I’m not sure there’s a similarly capable decision maker at Tesla.

Do you have any more information about her, e.g. an interview or biographical article that would detail her talents? I'm wondering why you're judging her so highly (no tone other than factual question intended).

Re: Tesla Second Quarter 2018 Update

#200

Post by ordinaryperson »

tomp wrote: post #199
TimTheTinker wrote: post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

SpaceX has Gwynne Shotwell. I’m not sure there’s a similarly capable decision maker at Tesla.

Do you have any more information about her, e.g. an interview or biographical article that would detail her talents? I'm wondering why you're judging her so highly (no tone other than factual question intended).

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2018-07-26/she-launc...
Post reply on HN