I forget who posted the link first. Sorry for not crediting. I may fix that later.
Tesla London Store Opening reception with Elon Musk
2013/10/24
What caught my ear (or, "I only wrote down some of it"):
Taking UK seriously. Hard at work with RHD car. Expecting first RHD car delivered around end of March.
Going to establish Tesla SC network throughout the UK. Anywhere in the UK. SC network. Free forever to Model S customers. First next quarter. Hopefully done by end of next year.
Stores and service centers throughout the UK. Big investment.
Q & A
Q1: How can we ask potential customers get comments that we have about the car through the filtering system. What's the best way to get feedback in?
A1: Back and forth with reservation contact. [email protected] for feedback.
Q2: How you mapping the network in the UK, and connecting with existing networks.
A2: Pick locations people would typically stop at along normal routes. Restroom, grab a bite to eat, that kind of thing. Post a preliminary map and then react to feedback.
Q3: Is the UK the first RHD market?
A3: Yes. Also first one will be delivered here in London by me.
Q4: Battery swapping, fast charging, wireless charging. Which is most important and/or will prevail?
A4.1: I think fast charging. We'll run a battery pack swap test from LA to SF and back. Will expand if it gets a lot of use.
A4.2: Induction charging requires precise positioning. Also you have to have two chargers in the car.
Q5: Which European sport would best represent/describe Tesla?
A5: (hard to hear)
Q6: Hyperloop. Anyone from UK government been in touch regarding hyperloop?
A6: Unofficial communication at a fairly high level. I'm super occupied between SpaceX and Tesla, and I'm committed to those two things. I have to find someone technically strong to lead something like this. I have someone in mind and I could be an advisor. Have to create a demonstration article that's maybe a few miles long, and people could ride in it, that would be really convincing.
Q7: I've had a Roadster for 3 years. Had a Lotus Esprit for 7 years. What are your plans for it?
A7: There's this debate. Purist approach of don't touch it. ... Anything we take off the car we'll keep, so it's restorable.
Q8: How much is the car gonna cost?
A8.1: I believe about 55K pounds [Ed: the currency, not weight]. Low to mid 50s.
A8.2: The Model S seems more expensive compared to a gas car, because the purchase price doesn't take into account the operating cost. Better way to look is the monthly financing and then subtract the savings due to less petrol. We're going to produce a calculator.
Q9: What are the plans for the Irish market?
A9: Definitely going to go to Ireland. Guess: middle of next year.
Q10: [ed: two questions I couldn't hear]
A10: Model S is really a family car. Premium car. Sporty-ish. It's really designed to be a safe family car. Safety was the #1 design priority for the Model S. [Regarding NHTSA:] Lowest probably of injury for any car ever tested. [Ed: More discussion on affordability, Gen3. Nothing new that I heard.]
Q11: [ed: something about tax benefits I think]
A11.1: In the calculator I spoke of [ed: in A8.2] we'll include tax benefits in the calculations.
A11.2: [ed: There was a shout out to TeslaMotorsClub.] I think it makes sense to have an official users' group.
Q12: Guaranteed Residual Value ... Offering in the UK?
A12: Plan to, but are still working out partners in the UK.
Q13: Model X: Is the price going to be higher?
A13: Price will be similar to the Model S, but slightly higher starting price because Model X will only be offered as AWD.
[ed: AWD-only Model X was news to me.]
Q14: [ed: about retrofitting to avoid obsolescence of cars after new features come out]
A14: Substantial platform changes every 5 or 6 years. Reasonable case of changes will have retrofits offered. [ed: paraphrased next sentence] Manual labor raises the cost of retrofits significantly vs. factory line produced.
Q15.1: Model X: What targets do you expect for performance, and off-road capability.
Q15.2: Have you investigated an alternative battery tech ... lithium polymer ...F rench company.
A15.1: Definitely off-road capability on Model X. Should have excellent AWD capability with the front and rear motor. Almost magical.
A15.2: The 18650 has higher energy density than the lithium polymer cells. I can see a pretty clear path to 360 maybe even 380 in no more than 5 years.
Q16: Do you think you'll introduce more colors?
A16: Don't have an immediate expectation but probably more colors in the future, but they won't be anytime soon. But if you pick a particular color, as long as its about a month before production starts you can change it.
[ed: self-note - around 31:00, so I can potentially revisit this later]
Q17: [ed: Missed the first have of the question.] Whom would I talk to if I wanted to pull something like that off.
A17: We don't have a program like that.
Q18.1: [ed: missed this]
Q18.2: Charging stations. What's the future of charging stations in __ and Wales.
A18: Superchanging stations throughout the UK and Ireland. Will be free not just now but forever. Plan to have solar panels over the charging stations.
Q19.1: What kind of advantages do you get from UK for EV?
Q19.2: [ed: re: gen3] What volume are we talking about ... 100K? 500K? ... and the cost? Lower at the expense of smaller range? Cost of battery cheaper?
A19.1: Financial benefits w/r/t tax. No HOV-like benefit like in the U.S. though. Perhaps open up the bus lane to EVs on the freeway?
A19.2: Need high volume. Affordable. Compelling. Long range.
Q20: When do you feel that there will be a time that Tesla is more accessible to the mainstream market?
A20: In about 3 years-ish ... to get to a mass-market affordable car. About half the price of the Model S. That's what we think we can achieve. It'll be more like having a gasoline car on the order of 22K pounds (after accounting for petrol savings). After that, another round of optimization...even lower cost than that...like 6 years from now.
[ed: self-note - around 39:00, so I can potentially revisit this later]
Q21.1: How many ... how long ... [ed: can't hear]
Q21.2: [ed: can't hear] ... google car ...
A21.1: Affordable car ... approx 3 years... price point about 30k pounds but apples-to-apples will be much less do to lower operating costs (effectively 22k pounds).
A21.2: WRT autopilot what we're going to introduce is...put the sensor hardware in the car. We can keep improving the functionality with software.
Q22: Reports this afternoon that you thought TSLA was overvalued. Is that true? If so, why?
A22: Ultimately I think the value of Tesla will be greater, quite a bit greater, than it is today.
Q23: How far away from being able to afford mass adoption of electric cars? Who's leading the way? What do we need to do...?
A23: The electric infrastructure is quite good at night. Most charging occurs at night. Existing grid can handle like 70% of vehicles being EV in the U.S. ... What's going to be needed is stationary storage, and that's going to be important for solar power. Buffering for power at night.
Q24: Roads are much narrower here. Car is wide. Cameras instead of side mirrors? Power folding mirrors?
A24: We will indeed have power folding mirrors. In fact we've already started producing cars with them. As for mirrors ... there are regulatory things. We need to get the regulations change to allow for the possibility of removing mirrors.
Q25: March .. How many do estimate per month?
A25: [ed: repeating the question] What is the rate of delivery after the first delivery in March? It should be about 50 per week, thereabouts. Will ramp up, depending upon demand, to about 100 per week or more.
[ed: self-note - around 50:00, so I can potentially revisit this later]
Q26.1: What's the expected __ [ed: hard to hear]
Q26.2: Any plans in the future for __ [ed: hard to hear]
A26.2: As for V2G offering, probably not. All sorts of bad things can happen. Don't walk to electrocute anyone. (Chuckle) It's a bit too dangerous.
A26.1: Somewhere on the order of 1000 cycles to 1500 cycles, depending on usage. 85 kWh pack .. around 265 mile range .. on the order of 200K miles plus.
Q27: Autobahn tuning ... What exactly comes with the free tuning? Speed upgrade? Handling?
A27: About making the handling better at really high speed. 110+ mph or higher. Driving at about 110mph and felt that the lane change was not crisp enough. Want to tighten that up. There's a little bit of roll if you do a fast lane change at 100mph. Can we increase the top speed? We can... single speed, directly relates to motor rpm. What's the comfortable level for the motor rtm? 15k rpm... 17k rpm... We might do that. Want to do a little more testing before we do.
Q28: [ed: something like 'only Germany?']
A28: Anyone who wants tha Autobahn tuning can certainly have. "Track tuning".
Q29: [ed: missed it]
A29: SC w/r/t Roadster ... [ed: video cut off]
Tesla London Store Opening reception with Elon Musk
2013/10/24
Code:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsI2ToCGo-AWhat caught my ear (or, "I only wrote down some of it"):
Taking UK seriously. Hard at work with RHD car. Expecting first RHD car delivered around end of March.
Going to establish Tesla SC network throughout the UK. Anywhere in the UK. SC network. Free forever to Model S customers. First next quarter. Hopefully done by end of next year.
Stores and service centers throughout the UK. Big investment.
Q & A
Q1: How can we ask potential customers get comments that we have about the car through the filtering system. What's the best way to get feedback in?
A1: Back and forth with reservation contact. [email protected] for feedback.
Q2: How you mapping the network in the UK, and connecting with existing networks.
A2: Pick locations people would typically stop at along normal routes. Restroom, grab a bite to eat, that kind of thing. Post a preliminary map and then react to feedback.
Q3: Is the UK the first RHD market?
A3: Yes. Also first one will be delivered here in London by me.
Q4: Battery swapping, fast charging, wireless charging. Which is most important and/or will prevail?
A4.1: I think fast charging. We'll run a battery pack swap test from LA to SF and back. Will expand if it gets a lot of use.
A4.2: Induction charging requires precise positioning. Also you have to have two chargers in the car.
Q5: Which European sport would best represent/describe Tesla?
A5: (hard to hear)
Q6: Hyperloop. Anyone from UK government been in touch regarding hyperloop?
A6: Unofficial communication at a fairly high level. I'm super occupied between SpaceX and Tesla, and I'm committed to those two things. I have to find someone technically strong to lead something like this. I have someone in mind and I could be an advisor. Have to create a demonstration article that's maybe a few miles long, and people could ride in it, that would be really convincing.
Q7: I've had a Roadster for 3 years. Had a Lotus Esprit for 7 years. What are your plans for it?
A7: There's this debate. Purist approach of don't touch it. ... Anything we take off the car we'll keep, so it's restorable.
Q8: How much is the car gonna cost?
A8.1: I believe about 55K pounds [Ed: the currency, not weight]. Low to mid 50s.
A8.2: The Model S seems more expensive compared to a gas car, because the purchase price doesn't take into account the operating cost. Better way to look is the monthly financing and then subtract the savings due to less petrol. We're going to produce a calculator.
Q9: What are the plans for the Irish market?
A9: Definitely going to go to Ireland. Guess: middle of next year.
Q10: [ed: two questions I couldn't hear]
A10: Model S is really a family car. Premium car. Sporty-ish. It's really designed to be a safe family car. Safety was the #1 design priority for the Model S. [Regarding NHTSA:] Lowest probably of injury for any car ever tested. [Ed: More discussion on affordability, Gen3. Nothing new that I heard.]
Q11: [ed: something about tax benefits I think]
A11.1: In the calculator I spoke of [ed: in A8.2] we'll include tax benefits in the calculations.
A11.2: [ed: There was a shout out to TeslaMotorsClub.] I think it makes sense to have an official users' group.
Q12: Guaranteed Residual Value ... Offering in the UK?
A12: Plan to, but are still working out partners in the UK.
Q13: Model X: Is the price going to be higher?
A13: Price will be similar to the Model S, but slightly higher starting price because Model X will only be offered as AWD.
[ed: AWD-only Model X was news to me.]
Q14: [ed: about retrofitting to avoid obsolescence of cars after new features come out]
A14: Substantial platform changes every 5 or 6 years. Reasonable case of changes will have retrofits offered. [ed: paraphrased next sentence] Manual labor raises the cost of retrofits significantly vs. factory line produced.
Q15.1: Model X: What targets do you expect for performance, and off-road capability.
Q15.2: Have you investigated an alternative battery tech ... lithium polymer ...F rench company.
A15.1: Definitely off-road capability on Model X. Should have excellent AWD capability with the front and rear motor. Almost magical.
A15.2: The 18650 has higher energy density than the lithium polymer cells. I can see a pretty clear path to 360 maybe even 380 in no more than 5 years.
Q16: Do you think you'll introduce more colors?
A16: Don't have an immediate expectation but probably more colors in the future, but they won't be anytime soon. But if you pick a particular color, as long as its about a month before production starts you can change it.
[ed: self-note - around 31:00, so I can potentially revisit this later]
Q17: [ed: Missed the first have of the question.] Whom would I talk to if I wanted to pull something like that off.
A17: We don't have a program like that.
Q18.1: [ed: missed this]
Q18.2: Charging stations. What's the future of charging stations in __ and Wales.
A18: Superchanging stations throughout the UK and Ireland. Will be free not just now but forever. Plan to have solar panels over the charging stations.
Q19.1: What kind of advantages do you get from UK for EV?
Q19.2: [ed: re: gen3] What volume are we talking about ... 100K? 500K? ... and the cost? Lower at the expense of smaller range? Cost of battery cheaper?
A19.1: Financial benefits w/r/t tax. No HOV-like benefit like in the U.S. though. Perhaps open up the bus lane to EVs on the freeway?
A19.2: Need high volume. Affordable. Compelling. Long range.
Q20: When do you feel that there will be a time that Tesla is more accessible to the mainstream market?
A20: In about 3 years-ish ... to get to a mass-market affordable car. About half the price of the Model S. That's what we think we can achieve. It'll be more like having a gasoline car on the order of 22K pounds (after accounting for petrol savings). After that, another round of optimization...even lower cost than that...like 6 years from now.
[ed: self-note - around 39:00, so I can potentially revisit this later]
Q21.1: How many ... how long ... [ed: can't hear]
Q21.2: [ed: can't hear] ... google car ...
A21.1: Affordable car ... approx 3 years... price point about 30k pounds but apples-to-apples will be much less do to lower operating costs (effectively 22k pounds).
A21.2: WRT autopilot what we're going to introduce is...put the sensor hardware in the car. We can keep improving the functionality with software.
Q22: Reports this afternoon that you thought TSLA was overvalued. Is that true? If so, why?
A22: Ultimately I think the value of Tesla will be greater, quite a bit greater, than it is today.
Q23: How far away from being able to afford mass adoption of electric cars? Who's leading the way? What do we need to do...?
A23: The electric infrastructure is quite good at night. Most charging occurs at night. Existing grid can handle like 70% of vehicles being EV in the U.S. ... What's going to be needed is stationary storage, and that's going to be important for solar power. Buffering for power at night.
Q24: Roads are much narrower here. Car is wide. Cameras instead of side mirrors? Power folding mirrors?
A24: We will indeed have power folding mirrors. In fact we've already started producing cars with them. As for mirrors ... there are regulatory things. We need to get the regulations change to allow for the possibility of removing mirrors.
Q25: March .. How many do estimate per month?
A25: [ed: repeating the question] What is the rate of delivery after the first delivery in March? It should be about 50 per week, thereabouts. Will ramp up, depending upon demand, to about 100 per week or more.
[ed: self-note - around 50:00, so I can potentially revisit this later]
Q26.1: What's the expected __ [ed: hard to hear]
Q26.2: Any plans in the future for __ [ed: hard to hear]
A26.2: As for V2G offering, probably not. All sorts of bad things can happen. Don't walk to electrocute anyone. (Chuckle) It's a bit too dangerous.
A26.1: Somewhere on the order of 1000 cycles to 1500 cycles, depending on usage. 85 kWh pack .. around 265 mile range .. on the order of 200K miles plus.
Q27: Autobahn tuning ... What exactly comes with the free tuning? Speed upgrade? Handling?
A27: About making the handling better at really high speed. 110+ mph or higher. Driving at about 110mph and felt that the lane change was not crisp enough. Want to tighten that up. There's a little bit of roll if you do a fast lane change at 100mph. Can we increase the top speed? We can... single speed, directly relates to motor rpm. What's the comfortable level for the motor rtm? 15k rpm... 17k rpm... We might do that. Want to do a little more testing before we do.
Q28: [ed: something like 'only Germany?']
A28: Anyone who wants tha Autobahn tuning can certainly have. "Track tuning".
Q29: [ed: missed it]
A29: SC w/r/t Roadster ... [ed: video cut off]
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