Tesla Model S motivation at the workplace

[rolosrevenge]

because they were just infused with a butt-load of money (stimulus, IPO, Mercedes, and Toyota)

For the record, Tesla didn't receive stimulus money. The DOE money for loans to develop advanced autos were approved in early 2006 before there was any hint of a recession/bailouts/stimulus. Once all of those started happening, there was talk of using said money for bailing out the auto industry. This was ultimately rejected and the auto industry got TARP funding. Tesla, did not get TARP money, but the DOE loans which will be repaid. These are more akin to a research grant than a stimulus check.

 

[jasonhi]

For the record, Tesla didn't receive stimulus money. The DOE money for loans to develop advanced autos were approved in early 2006 before there was any hint of a recession/bailouts/stimulus. Once all of those started happening, there was talk of using said money for bailing out the auto industry. This was ultimately rejected and the auto industry got TARP funding. Tesla, did not get TARP money, but the DOE loans which will be repaid. These are more akin to a research grant than a stimulus check.

Technically the $7500 tax credit was part of the stimulus package I believe....

 

[tennis_trs]

Technically the $7500 tax credit was part of the stimulus package I believe....

Looks like it isn't really stimulus money until after it is used on the first 250,000 cars across all manufacturers (if the reference below is right and I'm interpreting it correctly).

From
http://www.motorauthority.com/blog/1029800_obamas-stimulus-package-expands-plug-in-hybrid-incentives-but-diesel-fans-unhappy

It's hoped that the incentives will drum up sales, however, since the modifications made by the Obama administration will open up the $7,500 credit to hundreds of thousands more cars than previously allowed. The Bush law set a cap at 250,000 vehicles total, but the new law allows 200,000 plug-in hybrid credits per manufacturer. It's all part of Obama's goal of getting 1 million plug-in hybrids on the road by 2015.

 

[WarpedOne]

This is a new car company, and they plan on going from concept, to design, to manufacturing for less money than companies that have been doing it for years.

Yes, yes, yes and yes.
But it does not imply it cannot be done for less money, just others cannot do it.
Why?
Bigger/other companies:
- have much longer lists of employees to pay
- produce "yet another cars" that ain't really different from others so they MUST invest huge numbers in market research programs what will sell a bit better in next years
- pay for PR and commercials

Tesla's market research program is called Roadster and is bringing them money, not burning it. They already know much of what they want to do with Model S, they don't need to pay others to tell them what to do next.

 

[kgb]

After I posted I noticed that it looks like you have a Model S reservation too.

I'm not sure how you inferred my Model S reservation from my post, but I do mention it under my name to the left there <--

As a reservation holder, I too do not want to lose the reservation $$$, but I have accepted the fact that it is a very real possibility. Every article that discusses Mr. Musk and the history of Tesla mentions 2 key issues among many. 1) usually automobile startups fail and 2) Tesla came very close to failure on a couple occasions... one time when Mr. Musk liquidated many of his own assets just to infuse more cash into Tesla. That was probably the closest Tesla came to failure (that we know of). He could have very easily said, "I'm not going to throw good money after bad."

I am interested in seeing how this soap opera plays out. Without the established auto corporate culture weighing it down, I'd like to see Tesla bring the Model S to market for less than what established auto companies have paid. They may innovate new efficiencies into design and production that will ultimately result in less expensive cars for everyone. We'll see.

 

[Roger_Smith]

Man, this threat has taken a life of its own.

I havent put in my reservation yet, especially since a recent setback killed my savings. I think $5000 is worth risking for a great product. Lord knows I didn't cry a river when I watched $20,000 go up in flames during the dot com bubble days. Don't get me wrong, I was mad as heck, being 25 and losing that much cash. Toyota, Daimler and a few others are vested in this risk. They must think the risk is worth the cash (even though to them its cash they can afford to lose). I cannot ignore the fundamentals about this company. Come what may, I am still "All in".

 

[Todd Burch]

My thinking is that Daimler and Toyota have "seen the light", and that either company (most likely Toyota) would come in and purchase Tesla if they ever got to the point where they were about to disappear.

It may be just a bit of comfort food...but I think it's an entirely reasonable path should Tesla fall on really hard times.