Tesla Model X Launch event, livestream • Hacker News Board

Re: Tesla Model X Launch event, livestream

#91

Post by goatforce5 » Wed, Sep 30, 2015, 5:06 AM UTC

sergiotapia wrote: post #64

vinay427 wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

(EDIT: It appears that the crash test rating was also mentioned. I really should watch the presentation before commenting next time; sorry folks.) I haven't heard the actual presentation yet so perhaps I'm missing some context but: How exactly is stating a percentage any better than a crash test rating? At least the rating gives you something to compare with (other vehicles) and the tests themselves are well-document…

You don't see how one looks better than the other? "Stay with us at our 5-star hotel!" "Stay with us, there's a 6% chance you will get hurt if there's an accident!"

Yes, at one point he literally used the word 'death'. Don't remind people that your product might one day kill them!

Then he had a slide that showed how you would die early by living in a big city. The first ~10 minutes was a real downer.

After they spent all of that time on all the things that could kill you, they didn't once show the drivers seating area which seemed like a real omission.

(And, yes. I like Elon. I like Tesla. I own a teeny tiny amount of TSLA stock. I'd be sorely tempted to get a Model S if I had somewhere to charge it. )

Re: Tesla Model X Launch event, livestream

#92

Post by yason » Wed, Sep 30, 2015, 5:07 AM UTC

dmcginty wrote: post #52

I admire Tesla as a company, but I can't help but wonder why they still have Elon Musk do the entire presentation himself. Sure, he's their superstar, but he comes off as a very underprepared public speaker. I wish they had him do an introduction, and then have a spokesperson do the bulk of the talking. Instead, he's showing off these new and amazing products with nearly no charisma and enthusiasm.

If there had been charisma and enthusiasm propped up on the stage, I'd have suspected the Model X isn't that good after all. Elon just let the car speak for itself.

Re: Tesla Model X Launch event, livestream

#93

Post by addicted » Wed, Sep 30, 2015, 5:11 AM UTC

IBM wrote: post #63

dmcginty wrote: post #52

I admire Tesla as a company, but I can't help but wonder why they still have Elon Musk do the entire presentation himself. Sure, he's their superstar, but he comes off as a very underprepared public speaker. I wish they had him do an introduction, and then have a spokesperson do the bulk of the talking. Instead, he's showing off these new and amazing products with nearly no charisma and enthusiasm.

Made me cringe when customers came up to drive off with their cars. Really felt like a Samsung tier presentation.

Keep in mind the audience is largely filled with customers and people who have placed preorders.

Tesla's launches and reveals are largely Employees + Customers with some press thrown in.

Re: Tesla Model X Launch event, livestream

#94

Post by goatforce5 » Wed, Sep 30, 2015, 5:12 AM UTC

karpathy wrote: post #80

dmcginty wrote: post #52

I admire Tesla as a company, but I can't help but wonder why they still have Elon Musk do the entire presentation himself. Sure, he's their superstar, but he comes off as a very underprepared public speaker. I wish they had him do an introduction, and then have a spokesperson do the bulk of the talking. Instead, he's showing off these new and amazing products with nearly no charisma and enthusiasm.

I think I like it better with Elon, than if there was some random sales pitch person with a perfectly rehearsed and forcefully over-enthusiastic presentation. It's a combination of respect for the man, and a sense in which we're geeking out over the features together in an informal and relaxed manner. Something like that.

There a happy middle ground.

People like Schiller or Federighi from Apple are both slick presenters, sometimes teetering on the edge of cheesiness, but it's all saved by the fact that you can tell they really know and care about the product.

Re: Tesla Model X Launch event, livestream

#95

Post by jasonjei » Wed, Sep 30, 2015, 5:13 AM UTC

rdl wrote: post #34

Curious how much the Whole Foods bags from the frunk cost as a product placement.

Superchargers have been located at Whole Foods, if there's any connection to that. The San Mateo branch in particular.

Re: Tesla Model X Launch event, livestream

#96

Post by greglindahl » Wed, Sep 30, 2015, 5:16 AM UTC

36erhefg wrote: post #79

greglindahl wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tesla press release: http://wayback.archive.org/web/20130820005458/http://www.tes... (Edit: I had to link to the wayback machine because Tesla subsequently removed the press release. Alternately, there's also the blog posting that you yourself pointed to elsewhere in this thread, with the same language: http://www.teslamotors.com/blog/tesla-model-s-achieves-best-... ) The feds pushed back that 5 stars is the max, and…

And where is the claim, I can't seem to find it in your link. Edit: My comment is still valid, there was simply no such claim made.

This is the claim that the feds disagreed with:

"NHTSA does not publish a star rating above 5, however safety levels better than 5 stars are captured in the overall Vehicle Safety Score (VSS) provided to manufacturers, where the Model S achieved a new combined record of 5.4 stars."

Elsewhere in this thread, you point to a different Tesla blog post with the exact same language!

Re: Tesla Model X Launch event, livestream

#97

Post by addicted » Wed, Sep 30, 2015, 5:16 AM UTC

People complaining about Elon's charisma are missing a lot of Tesla's history and brand. It has a very significant customer base that almost consider themselves part of the company (e.g. throwing parties for employees at a Tesla store). Part of the reason is because Elon Musk treats these events not as a marketing presentation but basically like someone showing off their latest creation to their family (a lot of customers are invited to the events).

Also, Tesla is seeing awesome success right now, but there was a time (pre Model S) when Elon Musk was basically begging customers to trust him and keep their preorders because they were close to going bankrupt (eventually a govt loan combined with the faith those customers placed in Elon Musk is what saved them). He had enough charisma to convince a significant chunk of people to give him a significant amount of money when it was looking like the company would not even be there a few months from then. Tesla's brand is that they genuinely care for their customers (and I have not seen any reason to disbelieve that so far), and Elon Musk's presentations while not spiffy help reinforce that.

Re: Tesla Model X Launch event, livestream

#98

Post by outericky » Wed, Sep 30, 2015, 5:19 AM UTC

36erhefg wrote: post #79

greglindahl wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tesla press release: http://wayback.archive.org/web/20130820005458/http://www.tes... (Edit: I had to link to the wayback machine because Tesla subsequently removed the press release. Alternately, there's also the blog posting that you yourself pointed to elsewhere in this thread, with the same language: http://www.teslamotors.com/blog/tesla-model-s-achieves-best-... ) The feds pushed back that 5 stars is the max, and…

And where is the claim, I can't seem to find it in your link. Edit: My comment is still valid, there was simply no such claim made.

The first paragraph ends with "...where the Model S achieved a new combined record of 5.4 stars."

Re: Tesla Model X Launch event, livestream

#99

Post by mikeyouse » Wed, Sep 30, 2015, 5:21 AM UTC

tdylan wrote: post #89

abhv wrote: post #78

so who were the VIPs who took possession? I heard that he mentioned "Sergey" as the owner for vin 3. I didnt recognize the others.

Only recognised the last one. It's Steve Jurvetson, from DFJ. He got the one of the first Model S's. Also invested in Tesla.

"Also invested in Tesla" is a bit short... He's on the board at both Tesla and SpaceX (DFJ gave both tens of millions of dollars).. According to his Twitter / Flickr feed, he's probably the world's biggest Musk fan, and probably not just because his investments with Elon made him hundreds of millions in personal wealth.

Re: Tesla Model X Launch event, livestream

#100

Post by TheHydroImpulse » Wed, Sep 30, 2015, 5:21 AM UTC

Zaheer wrote: post #27

Elon Musk is a terrible speaker but it works because he's so genuine.

He's not terrible, just a bit rough. I find his presentations far more appealing than any "perfect" presentation companies like Google, Apple or Facebook make.

He also doesn't fluff anything up or over sell anything. He tells the facts in a way people can understand and that's it.