Extremely Disappointed about SuperCharger rollout

[Mike_Schlechter]

There are far greater dependencies on non-Tesla managed or controlled elements in deploying a SuperCharger, so I wouldn't target them completely with damnation (though I concede they have had some date slippage on things, it isn't extreme in my mind).

For instance, the Southbound SuperCharger location on I95 in Darien, CT is dependent upon CT DOT's ability to finish the rest stop on time. Having spoken to a guy at the Northbound stop, where the SuperCharger is up and running, I heard they are at least a month behind schedule. Not Tesla's fault, but will impact timing to be sure. Even once the rest stop is open, that doesn't mean permits will clear and the rest will fall into place immediately.

Does this mean Tesla should be shamed? I'd assert no.

Basically, things take time, and they will happen eventually. The timing of "summer 2013" is vague, but that is meant to account for the inability to control entropy. Even the colored dots, having a hopeful gray and completed red, shows Tesla is trying to hedge their timing.

Just my two cents (though not worth even that!).

 

[PhilBa]

I totally agree with the above sentiments that trashing Tesla over missed promises (actually over missed optimistic statements) is a waste of energy. The SCs ARE coming. Two of them in Washington State were opened yesterday. Trust me, frustration is completely replaced by the Tesla Grin when you see your car charging at better than 200 M/H.

Elon is a visionary. I've worked for visionaries and it can be frustrating to hear their pronouncements that don't always coincide with reality. For what it's worth, I didn't believe his dates when they left his lips. I believed Tesla was very focused on SCs but it seemed pretty ambitious for just 30 days away. Visionaries can see where the road is going but often miss the pot holes and detours. It's just not something they see as significant. In the end we will get there. Not on the optimistic schedules but we will get there none-the-less. Would Tesla have gotten to where is is today if Elon wasn't a visionary?

I can't stop you from wasting your energy bitching about the lack of precision in executing against the vision. What do you want? Someone to snap their fingers and make SCs materialize? A refund on your Model S? An apology? A cookie?

 

[markb1]

I'd like Tesla to just tell us what's going on. They said they'd triple the number of superchargers by the end of June. Here we are in the second half of July, and they haven't even doubled the number of superchargers. Telsa should explain why they said that, and what went wrong.

 

[PhilBa]

By the way, to put things in perspective a bit. There are two Blink charge stations that have been placed within about 2 miles of my house. They appeared to be done (concrete, asphalt, EVSEs) except they haven't been powered up. They have been like this for over 2 months - spanning both SC projects in Washington from the big SC announcement in May to locate marks on pavement to ribbon cutting ceremony yesterday. Regardless of promises, Tesla seems to be able actually get things done.

 

[dennis]

Currently there are 16 supercharger stations in operation, not the 24 promised for the end of June (or end of July if you want to cut them some slack). AFAIK there was no discussion of this on the earnings call. The only statement I could find in the 10Q filed yesterday was this:

At the end of May 2013, we announced the significant expansion of our Supercharger network as well as upcoming Supercharging technology that will reduce charging time at our Superchargers. Since the time of our announcement, we have been installing Superchargers at an accelerating pace. We may experience difficulties in finding suitable sites, negotiating leases or obtaining required permits for such locations, and our planned expansion of such Superchargers could be delayed or stalled.

The Supercharger page says there will be 27 by Summer 2013 (ends Sept. 21) and shows 54 new locations being added during Fall 2013 (end Dec. 21) for a total of 81. Any wagers on what the actual numbers will be?

 

[jomo25]

Currently there are 16 supercharger stations in operation, not the 24 promised for the end of June (or end of July if you want to cut them some slack). AFAIK there was no discussion of this on the earnings call. The only statement I could find in the 10Q filed yesterday was this:

At the end of May 2013, we announced the significant expansion of our Supercharger network as well as upcoming Supercharging technology that will reduce charging time at our Superchargers. Since the time of our announcement, we have been installing Superchargers at an accelerating pace. We may experience difficulties in finding suitable sites, negotiating leases or obtaining required permits for such locations, and our planned expansion of such Superchargers could be delayed or stalled.

The Supercharger page says there will be 27 by Summer 2013 (ends Sept. 21) and shows 54 new locations being added during Fall 2013 (end Dec. 21) for a total of 81. Any wagers on what the actual numbers will be?

By 12/21: My prediction: 46

 

[Krugerrand]

My prediction: As many as they can get done.

 

[TheTalkingMule]

My prediction: People will complain regardless of how many get done.

 

[cinergi]

My prediction: People will complain regardless of how many get done.

LOL well done.

 

[almostFitToEat]

I've had the opportunity to use the Burlington WA SC on four occasions, and I will say that owning a MS and having the SC available without charge was quite the feeling. I appreciate Tesla Motors making available a kick pa-too-tee charging infrastructure at no charge. I trust that they are doing everything on their end to implement as quickly as possible. Hang tight! They'll soon be in your 'hood.
Am I disappointed? Nope, feeling thankful that I own a MS and appreciative of Elon that he knows his "why" (Start With Why by Simon Sinek)

@PhilBa after the cookie, it'll be milk...and who knows after that.

 

[montgom626]

My prediction: People will complain regardless of how many get done.

The number complaining will be smaller if TMC meets their roll out plans for SC.

 

[neroden]

By the way, to put things in perspective a bit.

Perspective? You want perspective? (insert crazed smiley here)

The city of Syracuse, NY paid to have a whole set of chargers installed from some network or other. They weren't to spec, were never made available to the public, and two years after the scheduled opening date, were all being ripped out to be replaced with chargers from some other network. Of course, all of these chargers are slower than what I get *in my own garage*.

Oh, Tesla could do a lot worse. But I don't want to be judging them by those standards.

 

[PhilBa]

Perspective? You want perspective? (insert crazed smiley here)

The city of Syracuse, NY paid to have a whole set of chargers installed from some network or other. They weren't to spec, were never made available to the public, and two years after the scheduled opening date, were all being ripped out to be replaced with chargers from some other network. Of course, all of these chargers are slower than what I get *in my own garage*.

Oh, Tesla could do a lot worse. But I don't want to be judging them by those standards.

By the way, those two charge stations I posted about - they STILL aren't operational. Given the news about Blink's parent, they may never get energized.

On the other hand, the Oregon SC is coming along nicely. One in TX is imminent. There are pavement markings in a number of places. So, progress is happening. And, once Tesla starts putting an SC in, it actually happens on a pretty predictable schedule. As I've posted elsewhere, there are a lot of moving parts that have to come together even before locate paint gets sprayed. It's not surprising that Tesla was naive about it. But, they are actually making the SC network a reality. To me that trumps some missed expectations.

So, yeah, it's all about perspective.

 

[Vger]

I agree with PhilBa precisely.

And let me add this, in all good fun and jest:

I am extremely disappointed at the impatience of some of my esteemed colleagues herein above, considering that we are waiting a few short months for a vast cornucopia of FREE ELECTRONS FOR THE REST OF OUR LIVES!!

 

[brianstorms]

It's not impatience. As has been explained ad nauseam earlier in this thread. The company made numerous public announcements about how there would be a certain large number of new supercharger sites open by end of june, they didn't meet that number, and they've not said a peep about it since, to my knowledge. Everyone cuts them slack, sure, but bottom line is they screwed up, and they should've admitted it. It's called managing expectations, and it's something every tech company needs to become a master of as it grows.

 

[Zaxxon]

It's not impatience. As has been explained ad nauseam earlier in this thread. The company made numerous public announcements about how there would be a certain large number of new supercharger sites open by end of june, they didn't meet that number, and they've not said a peep about it since, to my knowledge. Everyone cuts them slack, sure, but bottom line is they screwed up, and they should've admitted it. It's called managing expectations, and it's something every tech company needs to become a master of as it grows.

Yup. It's not impatience to ask why a company wildly missed meeting a publicly-announced goal, especially when no follow-up explanation is given.

Again: Tesla no good with the communicatey. Those who are disappointed have a reason to be, and frankly calling Tesla on this sort of nonsense now will only help them in the future.

 

[Citizen-T]

Absolutely no reason for Tesla to draw attention to the fact that it is behind schedule. If the media doesn't pick it up then they should keep their mouths zipped. THAT is something every tech company should know as it grows.

 

[JohnQ]

It's not impatience. As has been explained ad nauseam earlier in this thread. The company made numerous public announcements about how there would be a certain large number of new supercharger sites open by end of june, they didn't meet that number, and they've not said a peep about it since, to my knowledge. Everyone cuts them slack, sure, but bottom line is they screwed up, and they should've admitted it. It's called managing expectations, and it's something every tech company needs to become a master of as it grows.

A few questions:

1. Has there been any fallout (other than on fan forums like this) regarding missing their stated target? I haven't seen any or heard of any.
2. How do you know they haven't taken this to heart? It's quite possible that they learned a small lesson from this, though that's pure speculation on my part.
3. What is the benefit of them admitting anything like what you mention in public? There is no upside for them. The story then becomes that Tesla missed a milestone rather than about this fantastic network that's being deployed.

So, should they learn from it? Absolutely. But no reason to shout mea culpa from the rooftops.

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@Citizen-T: The terse beats the wordy to the thread every time.

Wholeheartedly agree with what you said (obviously)!

 

[Zaxxon]

Absolutely no reason for Tesla to draw attention to the fact that it is behind schedule. If the media doesn't pick it up then they should keep their mouths zipped. THAT is something every tech company should know as it grows.

That is certainly one way to handle it, and I agree that it has its advantages. Unfortunately Tesla's communication issues are systemic, which is why some explanation would have been appreciated. For example, we still, this week, have people with car deliveries delayed for weeks just prior to delivery with no notice given unless the owner hounds the company.

It's just such a glaring weak spot for an otherwise spectacular company, and as an investor I'd love for them to actually show progress toward improvement. I'm hopeful that the fall and winter SuoerCharger maps will come online relatively close to spec, as you can bet your firstborn that the media are going to swoop in if not. And that's a case where proactive guidance from Tesla would greatly mitigate the negative press. Or could depending on the reasons, anyway.

 

[Citizen-T]

I agree that communication, especially on delivery has not been a strong point and they need to work on that. This business with exactly when Superchargers are going to come online is not even in the same ballpark. I don't see how throwing their hands up and shouting, "look at me, I didn't make my self-imposed targets" is going to help mitigate negative press. As an investor, I'd rather they spend the long hours they are already putting in working on that communication with customers and/or installing Superchargers. Not answering questions from the media about the network's roll out delays.