Off Shore
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Gerardf
Active Member
Does anyone else smell another solar roof tile product here?
Who is footing the bill for the tunnel digging? Maryland taxpayers, I suppose?
mmd, You sometimes had mildly interesting posts in the past, but lately you seem to be mainly interested in ways to discredit Elon Musk. Please do that somewhere else.
What is next ? Posts linking to whompy wheels and fake Falcon 9 landings ?
GM Stops Taking Bolt EV Orders in Europe as It Can't Match Demand
I have not seen a single bolt in Europe and they claim delivery is restricted to 30k p.a. and the line is that long that they stopped taking orders. I do ask myself if demand is that great why don't they start to extend production capacity and inform the market how long the reservation line is like Tesla? Maybe they extend production but its not mentioned and I heard from different sources they don't really want to sell more cars..
Another reason for taking no orders any more is that they loose money with every car and don't want to financially expose themselves further. Taping on the brake and hope that they can reduce looses per vehicle in the future makes economic sense but may be not a good idea if you want a larger pie of the EV marketshare .
I have not seen a single bolt in Europe and they claim delivery is restricted to 30k p.a. and the line is that long that they stopped taking orders. I do ask myself if demand is that great why don't they start to extend production capacity and inform the market how long the reservation line is like Tesla? Maybe they extend production but its not mentioned and I heard from different sources they don't really want to sell more cars..
Another reason for taking no orders any more is that they loose money with every car and don't want to financially expose themselves further. Taping on the brake and hope that they can reduce looses per vehicle in the future makes economic sense but may be not a good idea if you want a larger pie of the EV marketshare .
Tesla Strikes Deal With Shanghai to Build Factory in China
Electric-car maker Tesla Inc. has reached an agreement to set up its own manufacturing facility in Shanghai, according to people briefed on the plan, a move that could help it gain traction in China’s fast-growing EV market.
The deal with Shanghai’s government will allow the Silicon Valley auto maker to build a wholly owned factory in the city’s free-trade zone, these people said. This arrangement, the first of its kind for a foreign auto maker, could enable Tesla to slash production costs, but it would still likely incur China’s 25% import tariff.
Electric-car maker Tesla Inc. has reached an agreement to set up its own manufacturing facility in Shanghai, according to people briefed on the plan, a move that could help it gain traction in China’s fast-growing EV market.
The deal with Shanghai’s government will allow the Silicon Valley auto maker to build a wholly owned factory in the city’s free-trade zone, these people said. This arrangement, the first of its kind for a foreign auto maker, could enable Tesla to slash production costs, but it would still likely incur China’s 25% import tariff.
Hmmm... not quite sure what to make of the last bit. Wouldn't they be operating in that "free trade zone" they have in Shanghai where they normally have these western JVs. The difference being Tesla no longer needs to partner with a local company under the new law?
Would love to hear people who know more about the China situation with in.
Other than that, if true, should be huge news and possibly move TSLA as well. Though M3 news still is the key factor in the latter I think.
I don't think I can copy the entire article, but i guess this is interesting :
"China had previously circulated a proposal that would allow electric-car makers into the country without local partners if they were to locate in the so-called free-trade zones. The government set up the country’s first such zone in Shanghai in 2013, and has since approved 10 more around the country.
Until now, foreign auto makers have built cars in China through joint ventures with local manufacturers. That allows them to avoid the 25% tariff on autos, but also forces them to split profits, and potentially share technology, with the local partner—something that has tripped up Tesla’s previous efforts to expand there.
Under current rules, the cars Tesla builds in the free-trade zone would still count as imports and incur the tariff. Auto analysts in Shanghai doubt the Chinese government has any incentive to give Tesla special treatment.
“Government regulators examine every deal and try not to set a precedent,” said Bill Russo, chief executive of Automobility, a Shanghai-based consultancy, and a former Chrysler executive. “Whatever deal Tesla gets, others will want it too.”
A plant in Shanghai’s free-trade zone still has clear benefits, Mr. Russo said. It would give Tesla a base from which to export to the region, while offering proximity to the Chinese supply chain, thereby lowering production costs and the sale price of Tesla cars sold there. Today, a Tesla costs roughly 50% more in China than it does in the U.S."
"China had previously circulated a proposal that would allow electric-car makers into the country without local partners if they were to locate in the so-called free-trade zones. The government set up the country’s first such zone in Shanghai in 2013, and has since approved 10 more around the country.
Until now, foreign auto makers have built cars in China through joint ventures with local manufacturers. That allows them to avoid the 25% tariff on autos, but also forces them to split profits, and potentially share technology, with the local partner—something that has tripped up Tesla’s previous efforts to expand there.
Under current rules, the cars Tesla builds in the free-trade zone would still count as imports and incur the tariff. Auto analysts in Shanghai doubt the Chinese government has any incentive to give Tesla special treatment.
“Government regulators examine every deal and try not to set a precedent,” said Bill Russo, chief executive of Automobility, a Shanghai-based consultancy, and a former Chrysler executive. “Whatever deal Tesla gets, others will want it too.”
A plant in Shanghai’s free-trade zone still has clear benefits, Mr. Russo said. It would give Tesla a base from which to export to the region, while offering proximity to the Chinese supply chain, thereby lowering production costs and the sale price of Tesla cars sold there. Today, a Tesla costs roughly 50% more in China than it does in the U.S."
ValueAnalyst
Closed
If this is true, I don't think it's in Tesla's best interest to expand production into China, yet, at the risk of having to share technology and split profits, when it can't even satisfy Model 3 demand in California alone. Enough Chinese will want the car at 50% higher price anyway.
There's not much to debunk. The video didn't really contain anything of substance. (If anyone is wondering - it's a waste of time to watch.) A few things I can say:
1. Rust is well understood and quite easily handled. Maybe this prototype doesn't handle rust the way a commercial version would, but it doesn't have the same need, being a prototype.
2. Thermal expansion due to higher temperatures on the top won't cause much thermal expansion across the length. The primary effect is that the tube will become slightly oval.
Remember that long steel tubing is a quite mature technology. Oil, gas and hydro pipelines are all over the place. Now, it's true that vacuum introduces a few additional challenges, but still, the tube isn't that difficult to make. You just need to take into account the challenges in the specification work.
ev-enthusiast
Active Member
During a conference in Germany VW CEO Müller felt like he had to straighten something out about Tesla and gave a longer statment about the company. Trigger was a short statement about how Tesla made EVs attractive and EV owners like their electric vehicles (link).
No doubt, there is a lot of hate out there for Tesla (If you listen carefully, you can hear Matthias Wissmann laughing out loud in the backrground during Müller's rage attack about Tesla. Wissman is one of the most evil lobbyists in Germany/Europe and is responsible for worsening fuel consumption and air pollution by cars built in Germany and thus killing people).
No doubt, there is a lot of hate out there for Tesla (If you listen carefully, you can hear Matthias Wissmann laughing out loud in the backrground during Müller's rage attack about Tesla. Wissman is one of the most evil lobbyists in Germany/Europe and is responsible for worsening fuel consumption and air pollution by cars built in Germany and thus killing people).
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ValueAnalyst
Closed
Additional production capacities would help produce more cars and satisfy demand- a factory wouldn´t go online in the next few months while Tesla is still in production hell. According to this article (from June), there might be a chance Tesla might get around the tariff without a joint venture with another auto maker:
And, finally, more people will want to get a Model 3 at a 50% lower price which will be nice some point in the future.
Mike Smith
Active Member
Turns out they have no idea if Tesla would be paying the 25% - it's just what someone they talked to (a former Chrysler executive with no direct knowledge) thinks might happen. The WSJ is trying to put Tesla in the most negative light possible, as usual.
This one had a bit more substance.
1. I agree the student competition doesn't do much to advance the tech. You usually need a larger company to actually decide to make complex products like these. My employer usually has summer jobs for students to work on various projects. They may come up with some interesting ideas, but the primary idea is that they can get some experience under their belt and then hire some of the more talented students when they get their degrees.
2. I agree solar roadways are complete BS.
3. The cost of the prototype can't be scaled up to the finished hyperloop. The prototype for a product is almost always vastly more expensive than the finished product, as well as much lower quality.
4. You wouldn't use a lot of expansion joints. You would weld or bolt the tube together, and have gentle curves to the tube, where you can take up most of the expansion in the mounts, plus some at the ends.
I have a question. I'm not a physics expert by any measure, so this may sound stupid (ok... i know everyone's opinion already
...why create a vacuum?... i get it's to reduce friction, etc. totally get that. but why not instead use the air within the sealed tube (or even not sealed) as propulsion with fans? how much energy does it take to create the vacuum?... why not make the back of the vehicle flat and anti-aerodynamic... then just push vehicles through the system? isn't this how those bank drive-thru tubes work?
It doesn't take a lot of energy to create the vacuum. If you would instead use the air to push the pods, you would use *a lot* more energy. I'm also not sure it would be possible to get up to the same kinds of speeds they're talking about, which means the whole point would be gone.I have a question. I'm not a physics expert by any measure, so this may sound stupid (ok... i know everyone's opinion already
why create a vacuum?... i get it's to reduce friction, etc. totally get that. but why not instead use the air within the sealed tube (or even not sealed) as propulsion with fans? how much energy does it take to create the vacuum?... why not make the back of the vehicle flat and anti-aerodynamic... then just push vehicles through the system? isn't this how those bank drive-thru tubes work?
dennis
Model S Plaid
Did you miss the part where they said that Tesla would be setting up a wholly owned factory in Shanghai? This allows them to:
- expand production
- reduce transportation costs and time lag
- reduce production costs
- retain all the profits
- not share technology with a Chinese partner
The potential downside is that they may still be subject to the 25% import duty (TBD).
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ValueAnalyst
Closed
I think the bigger story here is that WSJ published a somewhat positive story about Tesla.
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