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“The Tesla Model S is our top-scoring car”

news.consumerreports.org

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Re: “The Tesla Model S is our top-scoring car”

#221

Post by soofaloofa »

bane wrote: post #8

There's something that's been bothering me about this whole thing. Not the Tesla, but the rest of the market. Is that it? Is it that easy? A guy who made his money selling a phonebook and then an online payment processor can read a few books, hire a few people out of the same industry he's disrupting and build a goddamn amazing car (electric or not)? Why can't the existing industry do this? Why all the mediocre produ…

Tesla had 10 years of losses. I wouldn't qualify the current Model S's minor financial success as 'easy'.

Re: “The Tesla Model S is our top-scoring car”

#222

Post by nfriedly »

bifftannen wrote: post #135
spodek wrote: post #7

I have learned cynicism and skepticism about a lot of media, but Consumer Reports remains one of the few sources -- the only one I can think of offhand -- that I trust without a second thought. I like their business plan and focus on doing what they do well. Their reviews mean something (even to someone like me who lives in Manhattan and doesn't drive).

You really shouldn't trust them, especially on cars. They gave different reliability ratings to brand engineered cars built in the same plant with the same parts.

Can you give any details here?

Re: “The Tesla Model S is our top-scoring car”

#223

Post by slantyyz »

revelation wrote: post #217
crikli wrote: post #215

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ten thousand vehicles is a very small run. It's a lot for a small company but _relative_ (that being the keyword) to most production runs it's tiny. It's very similar to what Toyota did with the Prius in the US, but minus the three years of overseas sales where they had the opportunity to work out the kinks of the first generation Prius. The other thing is that the Model S isn't going to get miled up like a normal ca…

It's more than any other electric vehicle and they are actually leading sales in their segment of cars. The market for a 70k+ vehicle might not be as big as you think. The miles a car racks up is most certainly not a function of its range, but of the people driving it. Research suggests that if you have a more efficient car (higher MPG), you will drive more.

>> It's more than any other electric vehicle and they are actually leading sales in their segment of cars.

More than the Nissan Leaf?

A quick search of the Nissan Leaf's sales resulted in 9,819 in 2012. For this year, YTD in April was 5,550. This is US sales only.

--edit-- Worldwide sales of Nissan Leaf hit 50K in February 2013.

Granted the Tesla is in a different stratosphere as it relates to price, and in that market it's really doing well, considering the market that can afford a $90K car is much smaller.

Sources:

http://insideevs.com/will-leaf-sales-hit-1-of-nissans-total-...

http://www.hybridcars.com/nissan-april-leaf-sales-second-bes...

http://green.autoblog.com/2013/02/16/nissan-leaf-tops-50-000...

Re: “The Tesla Model S is our top-scoring car”

#224

Post by redacted »

aetherson wrote: post #198
rjurney wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I almost get hit by hybrids when not paying attention. Cars need to make noise like natural gas needs to have a scent added. Safety.

Natural gas is invisible. Guess what isn't?

In Dublin, the operators of our light tram system (the Luas) were forced to add bells after several collisions and near misses with drivers and pedestrians.

Cars are smaller than trains.

Re: “The Tesla Model S is our top-scoring car”

#225

Post by abc_lisper »

michaelhoffman wrote: post #62
newbie12 wrote: post #44

Consumer Reports is part of Ralph Nader's Consumer Union, an extremely left-wing operation. It is inconceivable that a $89k car with a top range of just 200 miles gets their top rating without a bias.

Consumers Union was founded in 1936, when Ralph Nader was not yet two years old. Ralph Nader was on the board for a while but resigned in 1975 because it focused on product testing rather than advocacy. http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9A07E6DC1F3C...

Awesome research!

Re: “The Tesla Model S is our top-scoring car”

#226

Post by voodoomagicman »

Spooky23 wrote: post #144

I think the Tesla is amazing, but Consumer Reports is bizarre. I've never been able to grok Consumer Reports car reviews... I remember one year (2003-2004 i think) where they punished Hyundai for some minor cosmetic issue, but white-washed an issue where plastic body panels were falling off a Honda, and gave that car their highest rating. You could literally buy a similar BMW or Audi and all of the gas that you would…

The most similar BMW and Audi are the 7 series and A8, they are priced pretty comparably to the Tesla before any fuel savings.

Re: “The Tesla Model S is our top-scoring car”

#227

Post by ericd »

dalke wrote: post #141
dublinben wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's not true. Tesla is significantly disrupting the archaic dealership model. They sell their cars directly, over the internet, and from corporate-owned showrooms.

In that case, the Apple Store significantly disrupted the archaic music and retail software product sales model.

They don't sell music and they don't sell much software... Do you mean iTunes and the Apple App store? In that case, yes, it really did.

Re: “The Tesla Model S is our top-scoring car”

#228

Post by opminion »

cbr wrote: post #122
obviouslygreen wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Cool," perhaps, but not even vaguely innovative. It doesn't change any business models, it doesn't bypass anything or make any real changes , it's just a big iPhone (or, really, an iPod Touch). It hasn't "changed the computing industry." It's introduced a new line of the same products we had before. "Let's make a bigger one" was a really great idea, but it's not really in the same league.

The Model S is "Cool", perhaps, but not even vaguely innovative. It doesn't change any business models, it doesn't bypass anything or make any real changes , it's just a new kind of car that doesn't use gas (really, a big golf cart). It won't "change the automotive industry." It's introducing a new line of the same products we had before. With the Model S you still have roads, parking, large upfront costs, a driver,…

The only difference is fuel. Minor.

There is a world out there which is willing to go to great lengths in order to maintain an oil supply, and a main use of oil is for transportation.

Re: “The Tesla Model S is our top-scoring car”

#229

Post by dkrich »

GFischer wrote: post #131
maratd wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Why all the mediocre product that's the tail end of pumping billions of dollars into R&D staffed by largely the same folks Tesla has been hiring? In an established firm, existing product lines pay the bills. No company is an island onto itself. Companies have partners, large clients, relationships, etc. Bottom line? To keep existing product lines healthy, you must pay respect to your loyalties. You start seeing the…

Clayton Christensen at its finest :) http://www.claytonchristensen.com/books/the-innovators-dilem...

I don't think this really speaks to his point though. It's not as if the Tesla is less expensive or disruptive in any way. It's a superior product in almost every way.

I don't think the innovator's dilemma applies here. I think the OP glosses over a lot of very complicated engineering and the fact the founder also happened to found a God damned space company.

Re: “The Tesla Model S is our top-scoring car”

#230

Post by CamperBob2 »

cbr wrote: post #122
obviouslygreen wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Cool," perhaps, but not even vaguely innovative. It doesn't change any business models, it doesn't bypass anything or make any real changes , it's just a big iPhone (or, really, an iPod Touch). It hasn't "changed the computing industry." It's introduced a new line of the same products we had before. "Let's make a bigger one" was a really great idea, but it's not really in the same league.

The Model S is "Cool", perhaps, but not even vaguely innovative. It doesn't change any business models, it doesn't bypass anything or make any real changes , it's just a new kind of car that doesn't use gas (really, a big golf cart). It won't "change the automotive industry." It's introducing a new line of the same products we had before. With the Model S you still have roads, parking, large upfront costs, a driver,…

It doesn't change any business models

So how's life at RIM these days? You guys hiring?

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