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I posted a comment on the Greentech media site to clarify something: djsiry 2/22/08 11:56 AM Rachel/Jennifer This is a very well reported article with one small but significant error - Tesla is considering partnering with an auto company or supplier for the third car in our...

Kardax - we would of course source the ICE from an established manufacturer. There are several companies that sell engines to other companies in today's marketplace, so that wouldn't be a problem.

Iz, DDB - our approach is to use the best cell chemistry for the application, and we definitely shop around. We have people in the powertrain group dedicated to understanding and following all the cells that are on the market and that are coming down the pike. Cobalt cells like those in the...

TEG - that's like saying IM is not a reputable place for news. Twitter is just a communications medium. You should only follow/listen to people you know to be authentic and trustworthy. So with the stream from "teslamotors", you know it is legit because it is only from me or people authorized...

Tesla now tweets:cool:. Twitter / TeslaMotors I think this will actually end up being a cool channel to communicate little things that might be of interest and also call people's attention to things (like new blog posts). If you are on Twitter, make sure to follow TeslaMotors.

We only use the term "REEV" or "Range Extended Electric Vehicle". We don't use REV.

thank you guys for tipping me off to this. I contacted CNET and had them correct it. I really appreciate the fact that you called attention to it. I usually catch pretty much everything written about Tesla but this was buried in the caption of a photo gallery.

that's wrong - you are right

I'd say both cases are true. We are always discussing potential ideas internally and we are always reading and listening to what is said in forums like these and other blogs. It is hard to distinguish which ideas come from where after a while. User settable regen goes back to the old EV 1 days.

Some trivia: We were very close to be in the next Bond film. I had the support of the screenwriter and the Director but Ford's previously established sponsorship (big $$$) crowded us out. I wasn't surprised but we were so close I was optimistic. We will, however, have a small role in Iron Man...

TEG - in the town hall I address this question by saying that we (I) definitely intend to offer user customizable regen of some sort at a later date. There has been a lot of discussion about this and there are safety issues to be addressed but they are easily overcome. While the customization...

Full audio should be available shortly on the Tesla Website

a little bit of clarification - we are no longer simply relying (hoping) that a transmission supplier will deliver us a gearbox. We have been burned twice by this approach and can't put our fate in the hands of a supplier, so we are relying a lot more heavily on our internal powertrain team and...

we never felt that this waiver was going to be a problem because a strong precedent had been set with the Elise/Exige. I don't think the granting of the waiver was newsworthy (obviously the freep disagrees). Not granting the waiver would certainly have been newsworthy. The milestone of P1 pushes...

I think Sam is being a little overzealous in describing this as a planned change. I would say it is something we want to do, but there is a long way from here to there. We may not be allowed to make such a change without significant re-crash testing and interior passenger/airbag testing. If you...

Mark used 74% of charge and went 93 miles - that equates to 125 miles on the full charge. He drove very fast and with the top down and heaters at full blast with me in the passenger seat (220 lbs) Final note on that figure: VP10 did not have production spec brakes with rollback seals that...

Tony It isn't true. We still have a very active office there. Many of the folks there are focused on the WhiteStar program, but others are also assigned to the Roadster program, particularly around supply chain and other operational responsibilities.

thats a "1.0" drivetrain with an air cooled motor and a 2-speed transmission the people, from left to right are: Craig - Head of Firmware Engineering Jim - Head of ESS and PEM engineering Zak - member services Aaron - product marketing John - transmission engineer Csaba - Editor of Car &...

The culprit has been identified - an overly sensitive brake pedal switch that was being activated by vibration.

It's a bug - it shouldn't happen in that situation regardless of TC on or off. It has been fixed. Some new vids are being posted now.

Tony - Matt Delorenzo is drawing his own conclusion about the franchise laws and how they might limit Tesla from owning distribution. In fact, there are some states where we will be prevented from owning distribution unless the laws change (Texas, for example). Regarding his second statement...

That was an issue in the EP cars that was fixed in the VP phase

Hmmm...I was trying self deprecating humor but i guess it didn't work. One of the things Martin taught me was that I need to use emoticons more. Let me try this: thanks for the vote of confidence :) I didn't miss your point, but I also wouldn't validate it. I look around this company and I...

Hmmm...I was trying self deprecating humor but i guess it didn't work. One of the things Martin taught me was that I need to use emoticons more. Let me try this: thanks for the vote of confidence :) I didn't miss your point, but I also wouldn't validate it. I look around this company and I...

Thanks for your vote of confidence... I would echo Malcolm's advice above. The nature of a startup is continuous change, so you can expect that to keep happening. The reality is usually a lot more boring than the conspiracy.

Thanks for your vote of confidence... I would echo Malcolm's advice above. The nature of a startup is continuous change, so you can expect that to keep happening. The reality is usually a lot more boring than the conspiracy.

good point. Thanks!

@stopcrazypp - we can use whatever batteries are available on the market - we chose to use the high energy density, relatively low cycle life batteries for the roadster. We could use LiPO4 cells for a different application. Several manufacturers offer cells of various chemitries and...

@TEG I think there was a bit of confusion on this. we won't ship any cars without relaible, durable transmissions. The distinction is between the short term solution of a fixed second gear, which is easier to develop and test, but does not provide the performance spec we have set, and the final...

@dogtown I disagree with you. First of all, I have managed communication at Tesla for over a year now so you can criticize me on how we are communicating but it has nothing to do with the recent changes. The second place where I disagree is that you seem to imply that an open invitation to all...

car and driver Things went very well with Car & Driver today. Editor in Chief Csaba Csere did the whole review and drive himself. Csaba is by nature a skeptic, but between a business discussion at breakfast, two hours in the shop with a group of engineers representing each of the subsystems...

Motor trend drive went great today with motor trend. Kim seemed to like the car quite a bit and enjoyed the meeting at the end of the day I set up with key engineers for all the major subsystems. they did an instrumented 0-60 and I will say it was pretty consistent with what we have gotten...

@malcolm I firmly believe that to be the best in drivetrain engineering you absolutely must develop and sell cars. I also think that the engineering challenges of a drivetrain for a sedan is very different than that of a roadster. This means we need to continue to develop and build different...

business model I definitely prefer the parallel to Porsche, particularly as it relates to the positioning of the cars. Another company that has a healthy car business and drivetrain business in Honda. Porsche and Honda enjoy the best gross margins and net margins in the industry. Darryl

The "delay" Tony - you are right. The "delay" that Reuters reported and that many picked up was just Martin making a reference to what was already known about the transmission. For some reporters, it was news to them so they reported it as news.

I was actually considering to do my next blog on the marketing plan vis a vis third party testing, since so many people mentioned it in response to my last blog. I've had a few meetings where we debated the right approach to exclusive vs. non-exclusive, timing, and format of the first drives...