Quote:
Originally Posted by artdutra04
Like in the case of the electric cars in California, where GM claimed it would take too much money and time to develop fully electric cars, and yet little companies like Tesla Motors (with but a fraction of the resources of GM) come out and develop the Roadster from scratch in only a few years, with plans to expand into lower price and higher production cars within a decade. |
1. The handful (as in "less than 20") of production Teslas that have been delivered to date have transmissions that the company has already said they would replace under warranty because of ultra-short life expectancy. To get even close to production, Tesla has had to request a waiver from current air bag rules. The vehicle is very late in shipping. Welcome to real-world engineering. Everything looks better in PowerPoint than it does in reality. To get even close to production, Tesla has had to request a waiver from current air bag rules.
2. This is a low-volume vehicle that costs $100,000. They may have "plans" to produce low-cost vehicles, but there is no evidence that they have the ability to do so.
3. The world is littered with the remains of low-volume, high-cost car makers. I'll bet you a dollar that Tesla is not making more than 1,000 units a year five years from now. The car industry is not for amateurs or the faint-hearted. I doubt Tesla has what it takes to compete with Toyota, Ford, Honda, VW, and GM in the world marketplace for cars that are as reliable, usable, and low-cost as the major manufacturers. They might -- just might -- hang on as a boutique provider of limited production toys for the rich.
The Prius and Hybrid Escape are far more reasonable views of the future than the Tesla.