About time to unveil the D and something else

[Canuck]

Literally a decade worth of publishing from Apple "analysts" like Rob Enderle proves analysts can make up whatever they feel like every week, nobody ever bothers to check their track record the next.

Yes. And even checking their records makes little difference. Just look at Fox News' pundits predictions for the 2012 election. They're all still making predictions and it's the highest rated cable "news" channel.

 

[Raffy.Roma]

Unfortunately I will not be able to attend in person.

I love you all who are going and reporting for providing close to real-time coverage of the news. And the analysis. Thank you very much. It cannot be overstated how much I enjoy and appreciate this forum.

+ 1

 

[shawk]

Mr. Chowdhry's Apple analyses may have inspired the phrase Claim Chowder.
The phrase is used on several Apple centric sites to describe wrong predictions and poor analyses.

 

[tga]

Apparently they boo those on here. A lot better than what they do to messengers of "bad" news in other places.

In my defense, I was booing the decision not to stream it. I've been here long enough to know not to boo Bonnie :biggrin:

 

[bonnie]

A wise man, indeed.

 

[Tasdevil]

So while your all thinking "what did I just read?"
Here's a thought.
Being AWD, could the tyre width be reduced to reduce rolling resistance/drag. But still maintain higher traction than 2wd. (To help achieve a greater range of course.)

 

[dsm363]

If they announce dual motor, AWD, improved performance and a larger battery, my Sig is in for early retirement. That said, my wife is going ballistic over the prospect of me getting a new car this soon...we generally sweat these assets 8-10 years.

I hear you. I'm trying to hold off until they at least offer a bigger battery pack. That should be at least another 3 years.

 

[mnx]

So while your all thinking "what did I just read?"
Here's a thought.
Being AWD, could the tyre width be reduced to reduce rolling resistance/drag. But still maintain higher traction than 2wd. (To help achieve a greater range of course.)

Straight line traction perhaps, but some of us like to go around corners.

- - - Updated - - -

It will be interesting to see if a P85D has a little more endurance at the track the the vanilla P85. I suspect it might, but I won't be surprised if it doesn't.

I think we're on the same page. Let me elaborate.

(Point 1)
If 0-60 is the reason for AWD investment by Tesla, it's a foolish investment as they have better things to do.
If 0-60 is the reason for AWD for a buyer, it's a foolish choice as well.

(Point 2)
If traction/safety/etc. are the reason for AWD investment by Tesla or a buyer, that totally makes sense.
If 0-60 improves as a natural consequence of the physics (and design) for Tesla's AWD implement in Model S, that totally makes sense and has some 'wow' for the EV transition.

(Point 3)
Should Tesla invest in AWD for Model S? I think yes for the two reasons you mention: learning/experience for X and traction.


We might diverge significantly on the below.

Getting back to Point 1, if Tesla wants to earn more racing cred they need to do two things IMO: (a) embrace it and (b) solve the acceleration limiter issue. The 0-60 is just glitz not something important, IMO, from the behavior of the car in a high performance sense.

For (a), I'm referring to what Audi, Porsche, and some other brands do. Support the hobby/enthusiast high speed activities and embrace the idea. "It's a daily driver, nothing more" is the vibe that Tesla currently gives off (presumably for legal / self-protection reasons). If you want to win over people, embrace the "but what can it do at the track" question. Plus was offered along these lines, and it was a good sign.

For (b), it's not about the daily driver and that's ok. I'm not talking about a substantial investment. I'm talking about opening up the discussion between Tesla and the track enthusiast audience. Offer some tuning knobs in the firmware, or consider a track tuning beta program (perhaps under NDA). Something. Having a presense in the driving enthusiast arena is significant and shouldn't be ignored or avoided; doing it right (heck even at all) puts them in a better position when Model 3 rolls around. I (and others) don't want to have to bow to (ok, not bow but "let by") the ICEs after lap 1 because Tesla seems to not care about improving this area. My skills are relatively new in this area (started HPDE Feb 2013) and the car is already limiting what I can do in terms of skill growth.

 

[JRP3]

(b) If 0-60 is the reason for AWD, then it's misspent money (buyers) and R&D (Tesla) IMO.

I never suggested that. It's simply another likely benefit of AWD, which will also be another selling point for some.

 

[chickensevil]

I never suggested that. It's simply another likely benefit of AWD, which will also be another selling point for some.

especially if it is a decent bit faster I could see people getting it because of the speed over the traction benefits... consumers are generally not too intelligent and will just buy whatever seems like it is the best thing for them. Many people want the "speed" and "power" and will get it for that alone regardless of if it is actually "useful" to them or not, perception is reality...

 

[dsm363]

Agree. Even if speed of acceleration was their primary goal it isn't misspent money. It added AWD supposedly and people want that. It will sell for many reasons.

 

[Tasdevil]

Straight line traction perhaps, but some of us like to go around corners.

Pretty sure there's abit more to the science than that.
Width, pressure, temperature, wall thickness, driving surface, tread.

But even if they can't change the tyres, maybe they will have a setup where the car will work like the air suspension.
Then you can select what roads you want AWD on. Or if it's raining etc, otherwise in optimal conditions it sorts itself out for minimum energy usage.

 

[VirtualE]

It might mean D as Double the range

 

[TTT]

Are you planning on doing both? Hawthorne Airport is about 400 miles south in LA County! :tongue:

Completely doable, I picked my MS up in Fremont last Monday, did factory tour and left by 11am. With a stop in Harris Ranch and Tejon, I made it to Hawthorne around 6

 

[Jgdixon]

If they announce dual motor, AWD, improved performance and a larger battery, my Sig is in for early retirement. That said, my wife is going ballistic over the prospect of me getting a new car this soon...we generally sweat these assets 8-10 years.

Me too! I've said many times the only way I'd replace my Sig is for AWD and / or more range.

 

[lgagliardi]

I know it doesn't seem logical BUT since the meeting is at an airport AND Elon has talked about an electric plane AND on their last earnings call they mentioned they were working on some very exciting things, is it just possible they may reveal an electric plane?? I am talking a smaller electric plane - not a jumbo jet, one that would carry 2 to 4 passengers.

I know it doesn't fit in with the current business plan and is highly unlikely BUT that would be supercool!

 

[TEG]

( I moved some self-driving car posts to this thread:
Self-Driving Car: Is it a big deal? )

 

[davecolene0606]

We're hoping for an X Beta look see and if its there I think I see one of our cars being the first in the buy back program so we can get the X for Colene. (Its what she wanted really anyway but we couldn't stand driving the ICE after the first S)
Hoping also that the crazy cheap money is still available by the time we can get our hands on the X!:smile: Who knows, maybe being there gets us to the front of the line for Tesla Trade and then we can line jump by getting the AWD 110KW Autonomous version.:wink:

On the other hand Tesla always has awesome cocktails, vey cool attendees and the opportunity for an Elon selfie....

See ya'll there!

 

[Subhuman]

I know it doesn't seem logical BUT since the meeting is at an airport AND Elon has talked about an electric plane AND on their last earnings call they mentioned they were working on some very exciting things, is it just possible they may reveal an electric plane?? I am talking a smaller electric plane - not a jumbo jet, one that would carry 2 to 4 passengers.

I know it doesn't fit in with the current business plan and is highly unlikely BUT that would be supercool!

I really think the airport connection has to do with the introduction of "Autopilot". I believe we will see an AWD Model S but there is really no benefit showing this off at an airport. Massive flat areas of pavement....hardly something that shows off AWD capabilities. My guess is that the current suite of sensors being installed on all new Model S's is all of the hardware needed for autopilot and that adding autopilot to the car will simply be a matter of a software update. I think we will see a demonstration of this capability and Tesla will state that all vehicle currently being produced will have this capability in the near future. The feature goes live once all of the regulatory hurdles are overcome and the software is refined.

 

[bonnie]

I think it's at Hawthorne airport because that's where the Tesla design studio is at. I wouldn't read more into it than that.