Tesla’s First-Quarter Deliveries Plummet

Post by modzu » Thu, Apr 04, 2019, 8:24 PM UTC

twblalock wrote: post #273

modzu wrote: post #227

Earlier quoted context omitted.

if you're in the market for a new car what makes you think being able to get one immediately is a priority? a car is one of the largest investments an average person will make. i love that i'm not going to be hustled by a car salesman (the archetype of the sleazy conman) and can make decisions independently when buying a tesla. honestly a few months seems really reasonable given the time spent making the decision?

> honestly a few months seems really reasonable given the time spent making the decision? If your current car is not usable you don't have a few months. This does not just apply to people who drive beater cars -- your nice, well-maintained car could get totaled in an accident tomorrow and you'll need to get a new car. Obviously it is not good to be car shopping in those circumstances but sometimes you don't have a ch…

Post by philwelch » Thu, Apr 04, 2019, 8:30 PM UTC

ajross wrote: post #278

twblalock wrote: post #268

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Jaguar is part of Tata. If Tata gets good at manufacturing electric cars in large quantities it would be a big deal.

The point was more that Tesla has already scaled beyond the level where "these companies know how to build cars" is reasonable spin. Tesla's building plenty of cars, making money doing so, scaling rapidly, and can only be expected to be doing better still by the time those competitors arrive in the market. That's not to say that they won't be highly competetive cars, they might (I for one certainly hope they are). Bu…

Post by paganel » Thu, Apr 04, 2019, 8:35 PM UTC

CydeWeys wrote: post #266

paganel wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> For other people who like speed and performance, Tesla's are the cheapest way to get there. I generally like Teslas but unfortunately they were not meant to be driven at high speeds for what other people consider as a normal period of time, as can be seen for example in this YT video [1] of a Tesla's battery over-heating after driving at 190-200 kph on the German autobahn. Their 0-to-100 kph times are excellent, th…

The vast majority of Germans don't drive on the Autobahn at such insane speeds, and this certainly isn't an option anywhere else anyway (legally). Such a niche use case really does not matter all that greatly in the scheme of things. I can think of dozens of factors more important to me than "not being able to drive at 200 kph for extended periods of time".

Post by mprev » Thu, Apr 04, 2019, 8:39 PM UTC

toasterlovin wrote: post #265

mhermher wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hey, you're almost half way too understanding why dealerships are quite a good arrangement for auto manufacturers.

If dealerships were a good arrangement for manufacturers, dealerships wouldn't have to turn to legislation to ensure their own continued existence. I mean, how much do you think it bugs the shit out of the German auto manufacturers that they spend an unfathomable amount of time and energy making world class cars, only to have their customers have to deal with a car salesman in order to actually buy one.

Post by philwelch » Thu, Apr 04, 2019, 8:43 PM UTC

dustindiamond wrote: post #264

notfromhere wrote: post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's probably going to turn out that the guys who've been building cars for a century can figure out battery technology faster than the battery guys figuring out how to scale auto manufacturing

All the German car manufacturers have in terms of engineerig talent and cultural is mostly mechanical, and brilliantly so. But, the electronics suck. Some of the most talented chemical, physical materials and electrical engineers work for Musk’s companies. You can just tell that Tesla’s were not designed with teams in silos. I don’t think car makers are currently capable of that.