The Tesla Approach to Distributing and Servicing Cars
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The Tesla Approach to Distributing and Servicing Cars
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Re: The Tesla Approach to Distributing and Servicing Cars
#2Weren't cars advertised and sold in malls for years? This is just returning to that tradition.
You can clearly see the dealership in the mall in the Blues Brothers for example ("The new Oldsmobiles are in early this year!")
Re: The Tesla Approach to Distributing and Servicing Cars
#3He certainly presents a calm and thoughtful reply to dealerships, which they will certainly ignore. I can't see how Tesla can expect to afford free supercharger stations forever though.
Maybe there are more failures that I'm not aware of, but generally I've noticed that full-size franchise automotive dealerships tend to last forever and are somehow tremendously profitable for their owners despite what looks like a tiny margin between "factory invoice" and what people pay for a new car.
These are wealthy, highly profitable legacy businesses and no doubt they're going to go out fighting any disruptors in court.
Next up, someone please give us the killer app that disrupts and dismantles the real estate racket and their 6% commissions...
Re: The Tesla Approach to Distributing and Servicing Cars
#4Weren't cars advertised and sold in malls for years? This is just returning to that tradition. You can clearly see the dealership in the mall in the Blues Brothers for example (" The new Oldsmobiles are in early this year! ")
Maybe the companies have too many car models for that to be feasible anymore?
It looks like Tesla will specialize in a handful of types with iterative improvement which will work in perfect tandem with this approach. Kinda like Apple's hardware.
As an aside, it's really, really weird to see comments allowed for what is basically a press release.
Re: The Tesla Approach to Distributing and Servicing Cars
#5He certainly presents a calm and thoughtful reply to dealerships, which they will certainly ignore. I can't see how Tesla can expect to afford free supercharger stations forever though. Maybe there are more failures that I'm not aware of, but generally I've noticed that full-size franchise automotive dealerships tend to last forever and are somehow tremendously profitable for their owners despite what looks like a ti…
> I can't see how Tesla can expect to afford free supercharger stations forever though.
Because they sell more power back into the grid than they use up. I'm guessing they'll just add more solar panels (a fixed cost) as the number of charging stations at a given Supercharger goes up.
Re: The Tesla Approach to Distributing and Servicing Cars
#6He certainly presents a calm and thoughtful reply to dealerships, which they will certainly ignore. I can't see how Tesla can expect to afford free supercharger stations forever though. Maybe there are more failures that I'm not aware of, but generally I've noticed that full-size franchise automotive dealerships tend to last forever and are somehow tremendously profitable for their owners despite what looks like a ti…
Do you have to pay that fee even if you self-list on mls? I thought it was only a flat fee if you went that route. (I've never sold a house so this is from stuff I've heard)
Re: The Tesla Approach to Distributing and Servicing Cars
#7He certainly presents a calm and thoughtful reply to dealerships, which they will certainly ignore. I can't see how Tesla can expect to afford free supercharger stations forever though. Maybe there are more failures that I'm not aware of, but generally I've noticed that full-size franchise automotive dealerships tend to last forever and are somehow tremendously profitable for their owners despite what looks like a ti…
The superchargers are free for the Model S, which implies that they may not be free for future models.
Re: The Tesla Approach to Distributing and Servicing Cars
#8He certainly presents a calm and thoughtful reply to dealerships, which they will certainly ignore. I can't see how Tesla can expect to afford free supercharger stations forever though. Maybe there are more failures that I'm not aware of, but generally I've noticed that full-size franchise automotive dealerships tend to last forever and are somehow tremendously profitable for their owners despite what looks like a ti…
> I can't see how Tesla can expect to afford free supercharger stations forever though. Because they sell more power back into the grid than they use up. I'm guessing they'll just add more solar panels (a fixed cost) as the number of charging stations at a given Supercharger goes up.
This might be impractical but I'd love to see standardization across different car companies so all the different electric cars from different auto manufacturers can share the same / similar charging facilities.
Sort of like if I have a smart phone and I go to a friend's house it would be nice to be able to charge my phone on their charger. Phone chargers are cheap. Car chargers are not so much.
Re: The Tesla Approach to Distributing and Servicing Cars
#9Weren't cars advertised and sold in malls for years? This is just returning to that tradition. You can clearly see the dealership in the mall in the Blues Brothers for example (" The new Oldsmobiles are in early this year! ")
Car manufacturers can certainly setup mall stores to advertise their cars, but the customer will still need to buy through a dealer.
Re: The Tesla Approach to Distributing and Servicing Cars
#10He certainly presents a calm and thoughtful reply to dealerships, which they will certainly ignore. I can't see how Tesla can expect to afford free supercharger stations forever though. Maybe there are more failures that I'm not aware of, but generally I've noticed that full-size franchise automotive dealerships tend to last forever and are somehow tremendously profitable for their owners despite what looks like a ti…
The superchargers are free for the Model S, which implies that they may not be free for future models.
Are the chargers really that smart? Do they communicate with the car and know the make/modle/year etc?
Which brings up something else. Could a company potentially build a step-down converter to use to charge my Leaf for free? I'm not really sure how much hardware it takes to step down voltage that significantly.