Some Tesla Motors news

Hmmm, very interesting and more than a little worrying. (I haven't followed any of your links yet).

I wonder if Eberhard is too much of a maverick for them? I read his blog post about his trip to Washington and his trip to one of the CARB meetings. I thought he did a great job at bashing those two organizations - which was refreshing to see. However, when one is actually trying to launch a production vehicle those are two powerful organizations to anger... So, I wonder if he's being pressured to leave?

Or he could be dying of cancer (or some such reason to step away from the business) :-(

I just can't imagine he's leaving for a good reason. They're just too close to some real world success for him to really want to leave.

If you come across anything that suggests why this happened please post.

My guess is the same. People aren't happy at the delays and changing spec(s), such as range. There is probably internal finger pointing going on. And if there is no clear cut culprit, then the top man gets the blame.

Thanks for the info. Certainly does seem like he got pushed out of the nest. However, I daresay there's quite a lot of ego involved on all sides - I found his quote "if I had my way I'd have vehicle no. 1" quite illuminating at the sort of petty politics that's likely going on.

I wish they'd just build the freakin' car and get over it... ;-)

I could actually care less about seeing the Tesla come to fruition. I hate to be so negative about it but although they may break some ground on design etc....I don't think alot of practicality come from this. And that's the key word. I mean you can build about anything if you throw enough money into the project. It's akin to all the demands we hear from folks about what they "need and want" in an electric car. Most of the time they want and think they need something that actually is way beyond their real needs and what they drive now!

If we want to move ahead electric vehicle demand, acceptance, etc. then the companies that are making lower speed/performance vehicles (than the Tesla) are the important innovators. They are trying, and seem to be succeeding, to provide reasonable electric transportation that the bulk of consumers could actually afford and therefore might purchase.

I disagree with folks who always balk at existing technology and products in favor of the "newest" and most promising. I don't discount the value of making the advances. That is vitally important. But hey folks, we don't have to wait till the micro lithium hydroid (my made up name) power cell comes along to be driving practical electric cars. I am convinced just from riding my XB600 that the technology is enough right now (even with lead acid batteries) to do something practical and acceptable and create demand.

Just think about this...
Today, most households are at least two vehicle folks. And those two gas guzzling vehicles in most cases are primarily commuter vehicles....maybe once or twice a year taken on a trip on the open road (one or the other). So, what if just one of those vehicles could be an electric only for commuting. Therefore, it doesn't have to go 100 mph. And probably get by even on the freeways especially if everyone else is driving similar at 55-60mph. As well, so what if it only gets 40 miles on a charge. If you're only driving commuter distances that'll work. And in many cases many commuters such as myself hardly use the local freeways...because I'm going such short distances. Anyway, then when somebody wants to hit the open road..they can gas up the guzzler, their other car, and so forth and so forth. Just think how much difference it would make if most two car households replaced one of those cars with an affordable, reasonalby priced, no frills electric?

And you certainly can't tell me that it wouldn't be stylish enough, etc. I mean that's disproven everyday when you see all these "new" BOXES and MINI HEARSES running up and down the highway. But hey not meaning to knock you Scion and the other box owners, or the PT crowd. But truth is folks will drive "plain" and even generally simple looking vehicles without a problem.

Sorry I got off the subject a bit...but the point is I don't get that excited over something that only the wealthy can own. Again, if you throw enough money into it...heck you can make the thing fly and float as well...a car, plane and boat all in one...for a few hundred thousand...or more. Let's take the technology and make it practical. That's the way we're going to change the culture and start protecting our planet and stop this addiction to oil.

My .02 cents...
Gushar

But I think it's serving a useful purpose in demonstrating to the mass consciousness (the marketplace) that EV's don't have to be boring golf carts. For most people their contact with EV's are the NEV's like GEM.. and, well, those are nothing more than glorified golf carts and at 25 miles/hr are pretty b.o.r.i.n.g. In a way it's like the car companies agreeing to be in collusion to position EV's as being undesirable.

It is sad I mean when you think about it. Here in the U.S. how many EV's are available (not just promissed in the near future) that can go freeway speeds? With the exception of the Electric Conversion kits (I'm not a mechanic and don't want to build my own) I can only think of one other EV that can go at least 70mph and is available for purchase in the U.S. right now and that is the Meyers Motors NmG and that is a little one seat three wheel car.

God, I would be happy with an Electric car that costs under $35,000.00 can transport 4 adults goes 70mph, has a 40mi range and be recharged from a standard outlet (or at least partially recharged) in 3 to 4 hours, but it just dosen't exist, at least not here in the U.S. as far as I know. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but I just haven't seen it.

I would be happy with an Electric car that costs under $35,000.00 can transport 4 adults goes 70mph

It's my understanding that Tesla's "master plan" is to do just this. They chose to start off with a high end, attention grabbing car to gain exposure and investment. They have a project on the drawing board codenamed White Star (I think). This might still be above that $35K figure but it's less than the Tesla and is a 4 door sedan. Next up after that perhaps they will come in to the sub $35K range.

Personally I'm looking for 100/80/20 - 100 mile range, 80mph top speed, $20K price tag. In high volumes it should be doable in a couple of years...

Well, I think it's possible now. I think there simply isn't a company with enough "willing" financial support to do everything necessary to meet DOT standards, etc. for a 4 wheel vehicle. I certainly believe the technology is such that an under $20,000 no frills electric vehicle can be produced that is reliable, etc., meets all standards, with 100 mile range and top speed of 70-80 mph. I just believe that entreprenuers are afraid to take that risk...which is somewhat understandable since even with growing enthusiasm and distaste of being an oil dependent society...it would probably still take several years to be truly profitable. And what company can hold out that long...especially today where corporations have a short focus on the future and are moreso in for the short haul to make some quick profits.

Myself, and I know many will cringe when I "say" this...but I wish gasoline would continue to rise rapidly. This I think would be the defining factor to bring change more quickly. When middle and upper middle class folks really truly start to be pinched hard by the price of gasoline, where they have to either do without other essentials and desires just to provide mobility for themselves and family...then I bet you'd see the demand and I bet you'd see the market respond just as quickly to the demand...in a reasonable and practical way.

This may not be exactly an analogy to that but here in hurricane country and especially after IVAN suddenly folks who didn't even own a lawn mower were buying generators. Now I'm not suggesting this was "new technology" (very old and obsolete obviously) or anything like that. The point is folks who would have never, ever in their wildest dreams owned a generator were buying these right and left. And everybody starting selling them...not just your building stores and department stores but places like grocery stores, etc. And people bought them like hot cakes. Of course most of those people, not understanding the most basics about gas motors, and not taking into account the demand for gas with all these generators when the next serious storm is approaching (can't run them on water!)...and even if they find gas...trying to crank the thing when old gas has been left in it for several years, etc...and so on and so forth. But anyway, the point is I've seen it first hand how people who don't know a flip about anything will fork over the dollars simply on the "faith" that this is a solution to their "suffering." So I have no doubt that once people are truly affected, really impacted then just watch how quickly acceptance of electric powered vehicles are and just how entreprenuers step up to meet the demand...with some practical, reasonable results.

I don't wish for any more hurricanes believe me...but I do wonder just how folks will react next time if that happens when I come buzzing by, full out at 20mph, on my XB600 while they sit idle with no gasoline for their car in the immediate days after such a storm. Certainly I'll need charging power...but with a full charge prior to losing power from the grid...I can make my needed trips for days...enough days until power would probably be restored. And maybe I'll just invest in an extra pack and have that sitting charged to. Course the only flaw in this plan would be that my XB600 hasn't been blown to OZ by the winds!

Anyway, sorry to stray off point here. I just want so badly for this country to wake up and see that the future is really here and realize that it's time for change NOW...

Gushar

I think there simply isn't a company with enough "willing" financial support

Yep I happen to agree with you here. I even wrote a piece for the local paper (which they published) where I suggested that Bill Gates and Warren Buffet should step up and fund an electric car company. They've got a few billion to spare...

I'm still waiting for them to call though.

Oh well.