Elon Musk talk at Oxford University 2012-11-14

[dpeilow]

The Future of Energy and Transport | Events | Oxford Martin School


Bringing a Model S? I'm in.

 

[AndrewBissell]

Thanks for the heads up David - I have registered.

As luck has it I have an event in Cambridge the day before (I'm a speaker at iHeat) and in Preston the day after. Now Oxford connects them (with no doubt a nod to Mars).

Brilliant.

 

[Lokolo]

Tempted to go. I have a spare half day of holiday to use up and I live only down the M40.

You think there will be a Model S there? Would love to see one!

 

[dpeilow]

I'd say there's a good chance...

 

[Lokolo]

Booked

Having been to Oxford many times before, parking is a pain! Will get Park and Ride from Thornhill I think.

 

[Lokolo]

They have confirmed there will be a Model S parked outside from around 4.30.

 

[charliestyr]

Would love to go especially since there's an S there, but I have obligations... annoying.

 

[dpeilow]

Yes, got confirmation of the Model S too. Wonder if he's driving it there?

Thank you for registering for the public lecture, "The future of energy and transport” by Elon Musk at the Sheldonian Theatre on Wednesday 14 November, 5.30-7.00pm.

Please note that the doors for the lecture will open at 5.10pm and don’t forget to bring along a print out of your registration, so we can give you priority seating. (There is not reserved seating for this lecture, as we expect there will be plenty of room for everyone who wants to attend. However, please do arrive promptly, as seats are assigned on a first-come, first-served basis.)

We are also lucky enough to have a Tesla Model S, which will be parked in front of the Sheldonian Theatre on Broad Street on Wednesday from 16.30, so please do come earlier to have a look at this amazing car.

 

[charliestyr]

argh so jealous! Looking forward to seeing some photos of it on UK streets... I wonder how wide it will look? :tongue:

 

[jcstp]

Yes, got confirmation of the Model S too. Wonder if he's driving it there?

he will be abel to do a crosscountrytrip with the tesla-network you and kevin build up ;-)

Ask if he can offer superchargers to complement the HPC's ;-)

 

[dpeilow]

Only if he had an adapter...

So it was a good turn out this evening. Plenty of interest in the car and in the theater. The ground he covered was very similar to the fireside chat stuff from earlier this year, i.e. Elon's corporate history rather than too much on the energy storage / future transport stuff, but we did get a couple of interesting snippets.

- The supersonic electric planes will require roughly a doubling of battery energy density, i.e. to around 500 Wh/kg.

- The 'hyperloop' is a cross between a rail gun and Concorde. (difficult to see how this can't crash...)

- SpaceX have recently got a new contract to launch astronauts too (will use iterations of F9 and Dragon).


There were quite a few people lining up to ask questions, but as all the mics were on the ground floor and I was trapped in the balcony, I didn't get to ask any (one was the plane thing, anyway). I was going to set him off on hydrogen for the benefit of any BBC journalists in the room, but surprisingly that topic did not come up except for in the context of rocket fuel.


Still, the car looked fantastic (it was the German registered sig red) and a bunch of us retired to the pub afterwards with Bobbyllew, so it was a good night all round.

 

[gg_got_a_tesla]

Thanks for the report, dpeilow.

Any updates from Elon on spreading Tesla's footprint in the UK in particular?

UK's lagging behind the rest of Europe (Norway, The Netherlands and so on) in terms of Model S reservations. Heck, there are more known Signature reservations down under in Oz than in the UK!

Also, any mention of the possible culprit Top Gear?!

 

[vfx]

Also, any mention of the possible culprit Top Gear?!

Great question. They just had a "Bond Car" retrospective and Colin (old Stig) was on since he's the stunt driver for the films. TG had lambasted him for outing himself but on this show they made light jokes about it so reconcillation is possible.

 

[meloccom]

Thanks for the report, dpeilow.

Any updates from Elon on spreading Tesla's footprint in the UK in particular?

UK's lagging behind the rest of Europe (Norway, The Netherlands and so on) in terms of Model S reservations. Heck, there are more known Signature reservations down under in Oz than in the UK!

Also, any mention of the possible culprit Top Gear?!

Do you know how many Australian Signature reservations there are?

 

[gg_got_a_tesla]

Do you know how many Australian Signature reservations there are?

As per michiganmodels's tally, there are 38 of them as of August 18:

Model S Reservation Tally

 

[dpeilow]

Some photos from the professional photographer at the event: Oxford Martin School | University of Oxford

 

[doug]

Some photos from the professional photographer at the event: Oxford Martin School | University of Oxford

This link gives access to the full resolution photos: Elon Musk - The Future of Energy and Transport - a set on Flickr


1839-04 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!


1839-19 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!


1839-09 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!


1839-27 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

 

[dpeilow]

1839-09 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

This is about the only angle where you can't see our crowd. The guy was obviously a pro


They said the event was being filmed, so hopefully that will be online at some point.


By the way, no word on Model S reservations in the UK. In fact I think the car was only named once in the entire talk. I guess Brits are keeping their wallets closed until pricing is announced.

 

[dpeilow]

One of the questioners asked about the work that Reaction Engines are doing on air-breathing rocket engines. Elon clearly hadn't heard of them but dismissed the idea.

They just had a good day: BBC News - Skylon spaceplane engine concept achieves key milestone

 

[doug]