Asking Elon Questions

[Fedderman]

Lots of great questions here... Some good for Elon, and perhaps others for the related breakout sessions.

Here's one I haven't seen in the responses yet, but perhaps already answered like so many others: "Many of us here (likely the vast majority) believe that EVs are the future. What will be the most difficult barriers to break through in order to achieve the "tipping point" and lead to broad adoption of EVs, and how long do you believe this will take?"

 

[dhrivnak]

I wish I could come but hopefuly somone will ask something along these lines:

One of the main questions I get about the Roadster is will it be supported in 10 or 20 years? I go to many car shows and see 100 year old cars in running condition. Will current EV's be supported or are they more akin to an old PC where it is just better to toss the old one out?

With no repair manual available and not even the option to charge at 70A at super charger sites, it appears EV are closer to computers than ICE cars.

 

[JRP3]

Those old cars you see aren't exactly supported by the factory, they are kept up by enthusiasts. I see no reason why the same would not be true with EV's if the interest is there. As for SC support, Tesla needs all available power for the growing number of Model S's on the road, siphoning off some of the feed for the odd Roadster that stops by probably is not a priority or a good idea at this point in time.

 

[qwk]

I wish I could come but hopefuly somone will ask something along these lines:

One of the main questions I get about the Roadster is will it be supported in 10 or 20 years? I go to many car shows and see 100 year old cars in running condition. Will current EV's be supported or are they more akin to an old PC where it is just better to toss the old one out?

With no repair manual available and not even the option to charge at 70A at super charger sites, it appears EV are closer to computers than ICE cars.

Supported by who? After an ICE car is 10 years old, the manufacturer has no obligation to sell you new parts, and they don't. For the enthusiast cars that have both volume and market, the aftermarket takes over. For the rest, used parts is all you can get, and some are very hard to find at that.

 

[vfx]

Easy for you to say.

 

[dhrivnak]

Supported by who? After an ICE car is 10 years old, the manufacturer has no obligation to sell you new parts, and they don't. For the enthusiast cars that have both volume and market, the aftermarket takes over. For the rest, used parts is all you can get, and some are very hard to find at that.

So we should expect the life of an EV or a Tesla to be 10 years? I have owned many ICE cars that are more than 20 years old and have had very little problem getting parts.

 

[jerry33]

Automobile manufacturers may not be obligated to carry parts for cars over ten years old, but I've never had any problem in purchasing them. Even the almost 20 year old Land Rover didn't have a problem, and the 2001 Prius always had parts (not that it needed many) until it was murdered a couple of weeks ago.

 

[TMS doc]

What I want to know from Elon isn't technical at all. Tesla may seem like one big party now, but for 10 long years it lost money. There must have been many dark and lonely days when the company was struggling for money and on the verge of bankruptcy. So Elon, what kept you going through the really hard times?

 

[JRP3]

Easy for you to say.

Well yes, but, the superchargers are part of the feature package so to speak for the Model S. Diverting power from them to a Roadster charger diminishes the value of the SC feature for the Model S while providing something never included as a feature for the Roadsters, i.e. charging at SC locations. I understand your desire for the access, I also understand why Tesla may not provide it.

 

[dhrivnak]

My concern about not even having 70 amp charging is that the older model is not supported. I agree the support is more symbolic but i think it shows future owners that all Teslas are supported and there is a clear future. The cost is trivial to add a 70 amp plug. I did it myself for under $700 including the charging station. Which is about. 25% the cost of a supercharger. That is cheap PR to show a 2-5 year old model is still supported.

 

[vfx]

Tesla has been buying wrecked cars for parts. That does not bode well for some of them.

 

[JRP3]

My concern about not even having 70 amp charging is that the older model is not supported. I agree the support is more symbolic but i think it shows future owners that all Teslas are supported and there is a clear future. The cost is trivial to add a 70 amp plug. I did it myself for under $700 including the charging station. Which is about. 25% the cost of a supercharger. That is cheap PR to show a 2-5 year old model is still supported.

It's not just the cost of a 70 amp plug, they'd have to dig a trench, put in a pedestal, and run a complete separate line if they want to avoid stealing power from the SC's and slowing S charge times. Besides, how is not giving you something you never had a failure to support the product? I do expect them to support the car with parts and repairs. In any case, I don't think Tesla's level of support for a 2500 limited production run vehicle says all that much. There is some assumed risk as an early adopter after all.

 

[vfx]

It's not just the cost of a 70 amp plug, they'd have to dig a trench, put in a pedestal, and run a complete separate line if they want to avoid stealing power from the SC's and slowing S charge times. ....

As I said in my question, a Model S can still plug into it. And you know that trenches are already dug and you are assuming power loss. I'm gonna guess that 2000 roadster owners are going to disagree with you on this.

 

[hcsharp]

Those old cars you see aren't exactly supported by the factory, they are kept up by enthusiasts. I see no reason why the same would not be true with EV's if the interest is there...

Except for the fact that all those older cars have readily available technical data. Aftermarket suppliers would be happy to support the Roadster but Tesla has not given any indication if or when they will release service manuals or software specs including how to update firmware.

As for SC support, Tesla needs all available power for the growing number of Model S's on the road, siphoning off some of the feed for the odd Roadster that stops by probably is not a priority or a good idea at this point in time.

That makes no sense. I could just as easily say "Tesla needs at least some of the SC power to be available for the cars they have already produced, including the Roadster."

- - - Updated - - -

Well yes, but, the superchargers are part of the feature package so to speak for the Model S. Diverting power from them to a Roadster charger diminishes the value of the SC feature for the Model S while providing something never included as a feature for the Roadsters, i.e. charging at SC locations. I understand your desire for the access, I also understand why Tesla may not provide it.

By your logic every time I use a SC built after my Model S delivery date then it "diminishes the value of the SC feature" because those SCs are features I didn't have when my car was delivered. Tesla has often said, and many Roadster owners agree that the MS would never have happened without those of us who bought Roadsters. As dhrivnak pointed out, the cost and power is trivial compared to the symbolic value. Getting back on topic, the question for Elon is valid. It is:

Was one of the Roadster upgrades that was put on hold to release a TSLA II conversion kit that would work at SC locations, even if it could only draw a smaller number of amps?

 

[rolosrevenge]

I just wish Tesla would release a say $25000 pack upgrade that gives a 60 kWh pack with Model S cells and SC capability. Then when the Roadster owners need a new pack, they can change over to the future.

 

[hcsharp]

...
2) Will Tesla's charging connector be available to purchase?

They have said no for the immediate (indefinite?) future. In fact I made one and sold one of the parts to a Tesla engineer. At first I wondered if he was going to hand it over to their patent atty and send me a cease & desist letter, but he said he'd be back for more in the near future. When I asked "why get it from me?" he said sometimes it's faster to just buy things when making a prototype than get it from another branch of the company.

Will Tesla allow production by alternate sources? I would very much like to see DC fast chargers with three cables: CHAdeMo, J1772-DC, and Tesla. This would allow fast charging (for a fee) on routes not supported by Superchargers, and at destinations for day trips.

3) Will Tesla allow other car manufactures to use the Tesla charging inlet, and production by alternate sources? This question probably doesn't make the cut.

Makes the cut IMHO. It sure would be nice if they did allow production by other sources! (I might know somebody who's already doing it:wink: ) At least release the specs because all those other standards you mentioned would eventually just go away because they are hopelessly inferior to Tesla's design. It might embarrass the SAE but they deserve it.

6) Roadster upgrades?

+1

 

[JRP3]

That makes no sense. I could just as easily say "Tesla needs at least some of the SC power to be available for the cars they have already produced, including the Roadster."

Except the Roadster was never marketed as having SC access.

By your logic every time I use a SC built after my Model S delivery date then it "diminishes the value of the SC feature" because those SCs are features I didn't have when my car was delivered.

Model S was marketed and sold with SC access so obviously SC upgrades would apply.

Tesla has often said, and many Roadster owners agree that the MS would never have happened without those of us who bought Roadsters.

True, but irrelevant. When purchased I don't think there was anything that implied Tesla would add features to it in the future that it didn't come with, other than software updates. Remember S owners are paying for the SC access in the price of the 85 or as an add on to the 60. Again, I understand why you want access, and I think it would be great if Tesla provided it, but I can see why they might not.

 

[vfx]

JRP, I thought that The MS came out in June and SC came in Sept. Not exactly "marketed with".

Henry, Elon said in the last Stockholder meeting that the Roadster can't handle DC and never would.

The closer they put the SC together on the highways the more frustrating it is for Roadster owners that there in not a HPC at each site.

 

[Modelxvin1365]

-Moving past Gen 3 being the mass market vehicle, Are there an plans to go even more mainstream possibly with a pricing structure that would allow an environmentally minded college student to afford a sub 300 dollar payment per month for a lease.ex Instead of getting a honda civic a tesla becomes comparable when considering savings from gas , maintenance etc

 

[hcsharp]

JRP, I thought that The MS came out in June and SC came in Sept. Not exactly "marketed with".

Henry, Elon said in the last Stockholder meeting that the Roadster can't handle DC and never would.

The closer they put the SC together on the highways the more frustrating it is for Roadster owners that there in not a HPC at each site.

I didn't listen to the stockholder meeting but was told afterwards that he said the only significant reason it can't take DC is because it has the wrong kind of contactor. Did he actually say the Roadster never would be able to handle DC? The last time I had my PEM open it looked to me like a simple hardware kit could easily be installed to charge w/ DC. Then it's just a matter of replacing the contactor and related control circuit and firmware. It would not be 250 amps of course but the DC charger would handle that.