Kids: Potential Tesla customers?

[Brando]

Almost ALL personal transport being electrified: bikes, trikes, skateboards, scooters, motorbikes. Do a few internet searches.

Tesla could perhaps compete with Bosch? controllers; chargers; battery packs; skate board for coach builders/truck builders devices with access to SuperCharger network?

===== another random thought, I'd like to see Tesla jump start.
Safety - Sure could use redesign of safety helmets - they are mostly pathetic. Doing internet searches and you will find little information on actual crash safety design. No one guesses with car crashing - they do actual test and computer modeling.

Imagine the improvements IF actual tests and computer modeling to CREATE a good helmut. AND reusable/replaceable padding.

You'll find ALL KINDS of studies. ANY of them about the physics and actual head crash safety?? Go read the actual test they use to approve/certify a Helmet. Now auto racing (especially F-1) must have much better info. but of course for high-speed inside a roll-cage, neck braced environment.

The only serious attempt. Failed to market successfully.
HE was using a helmet - and still got a concussion from a bike accident - so he set out to make a better helmet.

After suffering a concussion [wearing a helmet] when crashing his bicycle at very low speed, Surabhi decided to improve the current helmets, since these only serve 20% of the time. He was inspired by the woodpecker to develop an even safer helmet. The woodpecker has a porous cartilage between the skull and the beak, which absorbs the force of the impact by hitting the trees more than 10 times per second.

Casco Kranium por Anirudha Surabhi - DESIGNAHOLIC

 

[Brando]

Elon needs to listen to his market, just because he's a crappy driver doesn't mean the rest of us are... he also wrecked a McLaren F1, but still built the Model S, he wrecked a couple of marriages, a motorcycle, he shouldn't be the litmus test for the market. Maybe Tesla should do an informal survey to see if the market wants a 3 wheel motorcycle, like this... Elio Motors | The next big thing in transportation!

hint: Tesla [all the founders] are NOT market driven. They are mission driven.
They consider profits necessary but far from sufficient reason for their company [Tesla].
To understand you should re-read the Tesla Mission Statement. internet search will help you find, if needed.

PS - design goals I have seen stated -
1- safety
2 - compelling - quickest, great looks, practical, efficient
3 - requires profits for long term survival and money for R&D and future products to serve Mission.
That is my summary. Sure others can and do explain more eloquently.[/QUOTE]

 

[roblab]

3) "ZOMG it's a Tesla. It's so beautiful. Can I touch it? I LOOOVE Tesla! Elon is my hero. I'm definitely getting one of those in a few years!" These people are always college-aged, or younger - and I've had more of these than conversation #1 or #2. I'm never quite sure exactly what to say...

I always offer to let them take it for a drive, which leaves them breathing heavy and swearing their next car will be a Tesla. Sorry that Tennessee hasn't discovered Tesla in larger numbers yet, but, baby steps, one at a time....

 

[Xenoilphobe]

Tesla's mission is to accelerate the world's transition to sustainable energy. ... Tesla believes the faster the world stops relying on fossil fuels and moves towards a zero-emission future, the better.

Tesla’s vision statement is “to create the most compelling car company of the 21st century by driving the world’s transition to electric vehicles.”

Some of the dirtiest engines are on motorcycles and lawnmowers, are they ignoring their "zero-emission future" statement and to get this back on topic, the future buyers of Tesla products?

 

[PaulusdB]

Yes, now there is a substitute: Tesla

 

[nalang]

My now 4 year old has been in our X since she was 20 months old. It’s normal for her and is what she knows.

We were vacationing during Halloween week in the Caymans and all the taxis were minivans that have the automatic sliding side doors. She thought those doors were the “coolest thing ever” and she was so excited whenever we needed a taxi. I asked her if she likes mommy’s car doors (falcon) better than the taxi’s and she said no

So nope, my daughter will not be a future Tesla customer unless Elon makes a minivan with sliding side doors Smh

 

[Maximilien]

My now 4 year old has been in our X since she was 20 months old. It’s normal for her and is what she knows.

We were vacationing during Halloween week in the Caymans and all the taxis were minivans that have the automatic sliding side doors. She thought those doors were the “coolest thing ever” and she was so excited whenever we needed a taxi. I asked her if she likes mommy’s car doors (falcon) better than the taxi’s and she said no

So nope, my daughter will not be a future Tesla customer unless Elon makes a minivan with sliding side doors Smh

I thought that Elon would make Model Y with sliding doors to reduce the cost, analogous to Model 3 not having a dash display. As far as I know, Elon is adamant about Falcon Wing doors for Model Y unless I missed the recent update.

Quite ironic that she the ubiquitous sliding door cooler than Falcon wing doors. When I open the Falcon wing doors, some kids eye pop out and think it is like Transformer in real life.

 

[Maximilien]

Teslas are very rare in my area. I can count the number I've ever seen in my home county (~250,000 people) on one hand. That said, there are exactly 3 car-related conversations that ever occur in random encounters:

1) "What the hell is that thing? A DeLorean or something?" These people are always over 70.

2) "Hey cool, a Tesla. I'm really thinking about looking at one of those next month/year/whenever I need to replace my car. How do you like it?" Followed by some variant of "I have range anxiety." These people are always 35-50 and professionals.

3) "ZOMG it's a Tesla. It's so beautiful. Can I touch it? I LOOOVE Tesla! Elon is my hero. I'm definitely getting one of those in a few years!" These people are always college-aged, or younger - and I've had more of these than conversation #1 or #2. I'm never quite sure exactly what to say...

#1 and #3 definitely cracked me up.

As for #3...
I kinda started out like that back in 2012 after seeing Model S, "Wow, this is so beautiful car and full electric! I will get it in a few years." I worked really hard and in 2016 winter, I achieved it. Fast forward to today, I own multiple Teslas.

Dreams come true!

 

[Xminus6]

Kids love the Model X. When picking up or dropping off my own kids I’ve been getting constant “Cool Car!” “I love you car!” “I love Teslas” for the past two years. When we first got it in Dec ‘16 it was actually a bit disturbing how worked up the kids would get. Oddly enough, we have three or four at our own school now so I consider them pretty common but I got a bunch of kids giving me comments about it just a couple weeks ago.

I remember when Apple was in dire straits but there was a high percentage of school kids and college kids who were switching over to Apple laptops. I knew then that Apple was going to be fairly strong going forward because a whole generation of kids grew up coveting those products. If Tesla continue being a going concern for ten more years I have no doubt they’ll be a huge company.

 

[Maximilien]

Elon needs to listen to his market, just because he's a crappy driver doesn't mean the rest of us are... he also wrecked a McLaren F1, but still built the Model S, he wrecked a couple of marriages, a motorcycle, he shouldn't be the litmus test for the market. Maybe Tesla should do an informal survey to see if the market wants a 3 wheel motorcycle, like this... Elio Motors | The next big thing in transportation!

That kind of reminds me of Steve Jobs. I remember when iPhone was popular at early stages (like iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4), Steve said that 3.5 inch is best size for a phone and 9.7 is the best size for iPad, period. He said that stylus for iPad is inconvenient. As soon as Steve Jobs passed away, Apple promptly introduced the screen bigger (5+'' for iPhone and 12.9'' for iPad) and introduced Stylus for iPad.

 

[nvx1977]

I'm a bit surprised we are surprised that kids know a lot about teslas. I grew up in the 80s, and for a while, there was a toy called Micro Machines that got really popular. It really showed me how much kids knew about cars. Not all of them of course, but tons of my friends had Micro Machines and they could identify all of them. Knowing car stats was a hobby, like collecting baseball cards and knowing the players' stats.

 

[Chickenlittle]

When I drive my cars, I often hear kids on street shouting "Oh, that's a Tesla!." When parked, kids would stop and take a closer look at the car etc. One guy stopped and asked me if it is the car that can go 3.3 0-60. Heck, he even knew the technical aspect. Or last time I saw a little girl taking the last glimpse of my car (her head turned back on passenger's seat) on highway as her mom's vehicle pass my car. On Halloween trick or treat, one little kid who looked like literally 4~5 years old saw my Model X parked in front of my home said "Oh my gosh, it is Tesla Model X and they must be rich." We laughed together.

To be honest, I get the feeling that kids know more about Teslas. I talked to some men aged 50-70 and I was surprised many were not aware of Tesla even in 2018! One old guy even asked me if it is Maserati. *Facepalm* My guess is that kids are more natural at googling and searching information online.

It looks like Tesla got great potential customers, especially Model 3 or its cheaper variants, in the next 5 ~ 15 years. I talked with many kids and they all seem to acknowledge Tesla and positive image of the brand, unlike us adults owners who complain for even trivial stuffs.

Until then, I hope Tesla is prosperous and reach out to the Generation Z and Generation Alpha for sustainable energy.

Maybe owners with kids can share interesting stories?

My son was 16 when he went with me to test drive a modelS in 2012. We were both impressed. He purchased a model3 earlier this year. My daughter bought a volt 3 years ago and will most likely replace with a model3 in two years. My nephew bought a model3 earlier this year prompting his father to buy one this year. It’s a demand that grows “slowly” by word of mouth/personal experience. Last week an electrician doing work at my daughters new home saw my modelX and told me he wished they would get the model3 to production imforming me it would be another year till they produce the model3. He would not believe me when I told him I have owned model3s since febuary.

 

[Peteski]

I've noticed most local kids (in the UK) consider Tesla to be cool cars. Right from little kids in the playground up to moody teenagers. Plenty of resentment too from the older generations who fear change. I find Tesla is a good indicator of how open or closed minded people can be. Nothing makes you look so dumb as stating "I'm never going to drive an electric car" and then reeling off a croc of BS reasons why not. Everything from range anxiety to irrational Tesla / Elon Musk hatred, lol!

 

[Sw0rdf1sh]

Like Whitney Houston said, "Teach the Children well and help them lead the way".

 

[Kira]

Based on my informal research, many teens and kids in our city definitely recognize and admire Teslas. I often get big grins, approving thumbs up, and/or hollers of "I LOVE your car!" from young people. Interestingly, quite a number of tween/teen girls fall into that group - which makes this gal very pleased.

My son would like to eventually buy a Model Y someday (I am hoping we can pick up a cheap used Leaf for his first car next year), while his younger sister has decided she wants a Roadster and a Model S when she grows up. (I'm encouraging her to consider med school first). They both tell all their friends about how cool EVs are and also try to bring up EVs in school when class discussions touch on related topics - e.g. class debates on the pipeline, climate change, etc. Mini advocates

 

[Peteski]

Like Whitney Houston said, "Teach the Children well and help them lead the way".

Shame that didn't work out too well in her case!

 

[Sw0rdf1sh]

Shame that didn't work out too well in her case!

Yeah I think she ended up do as I say not as I do.

 

[MXWing]

Elon needs to listen to his market, just because he's a crappy driver doesn't mean the rest of us are... he also wrecked a McLaren F1, but still built the Model S, he wrecked a couple of marriages, a motorcycle, he shouldn't be the litmus test for the market. Maybe Tesla should do an informal survey to see if the market wants a 3 wheel motorcycle, like this... Elio Motors | The next big thing in transportation!

Your beautiful smack down on Elon won’t get the credit it deserves lol. He’s a fallible human that needs to be checked here and there.

I don’t think Tesla will go the cycle route because it would kill the image of Tesla’s being really safe.

We had five motorcycle deaths in the span of 24 hours in CA Orange County. Even if one of those was a Tesla it would be national news. Five of them would trigger a governmental investigation.
Won’t matter who is at fault, Tesla is a four letter word.

 

[Xenoilphobe]

Your beautiful smack down on Elon won’t get the credit it deserves lol. He’s a fallible human that needs to be checked here and there.

I don’t think Tesla will go the cycle route because it would kill the image of Tesla’s being really safe.

We had five motorcycle deaths in the span of 24 hours in CA Orange County. Even if one of those was a Tesla it would be national news. Five of them would trigger a governmental investigation.
Won’t matter who is at fault, Tesla is a four letter word.

You do know I am a Elon fan for this exact reason, he doesn't act like he is perfect and I can relate to that. And you are right it would be national news.... I can see it now ....
OMG-- a Tesla Imperial 614-AvA speeder bike ran off the Pacific Coast highway today while outrunning a Ninja h2r and a Bugatti Veyron, while on autopilot, the bike engaged its repulsorlift and flew back onto the highway while the Ninja and BV ran off the cliff and burst into flames. The Tesla driver was charged, but couldn't be found because it was standing in the driveway using remote racer summon verison 9001.X6210.BBBAAADDDDAAASSS.
The NHTSC, SEC, IRS, EPA, FBI and Department of Education are investigating. Elon tweeted that repulsorlift will now be standard all the complete Tesla line, minutes latter the FAA began an investigation, seems Tesla didn't apply for a drone license. .... blah blah blah, clickity clickity crappity.