Stratechery article on Tesla

[SpiceWare]

It's a Tesla by Ben Thompson. Based on other articles I've read, he has good insight into the tech industry.

On GM being "first" to mass-market with the Bolt:

Good for GM, but I’m afraid the company — and Wired — missed the plot; as the article notes an optimistic goal for the Bolt is 50,000 units a year, and I’d bet the under: at the end of the day the company is still selling a relatively slow and ugly Chevrolet. Brand and reputation matters far more than being “first” to a product category where every model on the market has fallen short of expectations — except for Tesla.

 

[ModelZ]

Ben's article is very insightful (as are all of his articles). It's a great read if you've got the time.

(I'm a subscriber of Stratechery, so I might be a bit biased)

 

[SpiceWare]

I'm a subscriber of Stratechery, so I might be a bit biased

I've been debating whether or not to subscribe for a while, finally did today.

He has a nice followup on It's a Tesla, in the subscriber only section, where he mentions:

That said, wow, Tesla is apparently the new Apple in more ways than one: yesterday’s piece, despite being published relatively late in the day, is already the 10th most-read article ever on Stratechery. Again, this doesn’t really impact Stratechery, and it is a mere anecdote, but don’t underestimate the power of a devoted fan base.

 

[SpiceWare]

Odd , for some reason I can't post a new news article. Ran across an EV hit piece today, wonder if it's funded by the Koch brothers:

BRIAN WISE: The electric car conundrum

Electric utilities have already begun a stealthy and unfair practice of installing thousands of vehicle charging stations across the country financed on the backs of ratepayers.
...
To put it plainly, low and middle income ratepayers are paying for the charging stations of the rich and famous.
...
the vast majority of Americans are footing the bill to manage what the Accenture report calls the “range anxiety” that is the major blocker to the industry’s expansion. After all, if you run out of power on I-95, your Tesla becomes an $80,000 paperweight.

 

[cschock]

Odd , for some reason I can't post a new news article. Ran across an EV hit piece today, wonder if it's funded by the Koch brothers:

BRIAN WISE: The electric car conundrum

I don't know that that is an EV hit piece, though perhaps it is indirectly. I am Pro-EV, pro-solar, about as green as you can get and I HATE that the monopoly power companies are trying to build "charging networks." Our local utility PG&E is trying to get this approved. They want to build a bucket load of charging stations. In theory, this sounds OK. But the reality is that the small scale "location charging" they want to build isn't the problem and they are highly unlikely to make money at it, thereby hitting rate payers for a poor business investment, again.

I am all for supporting the electrification of transportation. I just don't see why we should hand another monopoly over to a generally poorly run, rent seeking set of already existing monopolies. They can't maintain their gas lines, they fight solar tooth and nail, and we want to trust them with the future of transportation? I don't think that's a good idea.

 

[Jeff N]

....at the end of the day the company is still selling a relatively slow and ugly Chevrolet.

These are both subjective evaluations.

Is the Bolt ugly? I'd say it looks like a mainstream Chevrolet except for the shorter front end. Mainstream Chevy's are popular and sell in large volume. The Bolt isn't a "weirdmobile" with an oddball appearance like the LEAF.

Is the Bolt "relatively slow"? Average people that I'm familiar with don't consider 0-60 mph in 6.5-7.0 seconds to be slow. Certainly not for a car of the Bolt's general design, utility, and size class. Is it the fastest? No, probably not but there is a big difference between "not the fastest" and "relatively slow".

 

[SpiceWare]

I HATE that the monopoly power companies are trying to build "charging networks." Our local utility PG&E is trying to get this approved.

Ah, we don't have monopoly power companies here* so I've not encountered that. If that's the case then yes, there is a conflict.

However, since it's interspersed with comments like "if you run out of power you have an $80k paperweight" its definitely being used to spreading some EV FUD. The same thing happens all the time with gas cars, and nobody writes them off as paperweights.

* Looks like I currently have 345 plans from 46 companies (if I counted them correctly) that I can chose from.

 

[SpiceWare]

These are both subjective evaluations.

I agree that the appearance is subjective. The article's comparing it with Tesla though, against which most cars are relatively slow.

 

[Jeff N]

I agree that the appearance is subjective. The article's comparing it with Tesla though, against which most cars are relatively slow.

Hmm. I didn't read it that way. I read it as a general statement about plugin cars or maybe BEVs relative to general market expectations.

He sez:

Brand and reputation matters far more than being “first” to a product category where every model on the market has fallen short of expectations — except for Tesla.

Only Tesla met "expectations" (apparently relative to ICE competitors). So I read the claim to be that the Bolt at 0-60 mph in 6.5-7.0 seconds is "relatively slow" compared to other (ICE) compact-ish CUV/hatchbacks. I think that's an odd claim.