Tesla Motors - Major Innovations

[Cattledog]

Tesla has been innovative on many levels - I tried to step back and think of what the major innovations have been in their efforts to usher in the era of sustainable transport. We all might have our own definitions about what constitutes an innovation, or even a major one - some things on my list Tesla is first to market and some things they simply pushed miles beyond anyone else. Anyways:

Vehicle
Compelling Battery-Electric Car with Significant Range & Performance
Highly Efficient Electric Motor/Power Electronics & Packaging
'Skateboard' Platform Leading to Class-Best Aerodynamics and Center of Gravity
Touchscreen Interface
Exceptional Safety Performance from Skateboard Design
Battery Pack of 1000's of Thermally Managed Consumer Electronics Cells

Sales
Direct to Consumer Sales Model w/Factory-Owned Stores + Internet Purchases
No Current Traditional Advertising

Service
Over-the-Air Software Updates
Supercharger Network
Smart Phone App Control
'At-Cost' Service Model
Fuel Up at Home

Manufacturing
Gigafactory
Highly Adaptable Robotic Factory (Fremont)
High Percentage of in-House Manufacturing (not just assembly)
Stationary Storage Products (announced)

Design/Engineering Process
CEO Involved in Product Design
Tight, Vertically Integrated Design/Engineering/Manufacturing Process
Open-Sourcing Patents

Other thoughts, comments?

 

[Saghost]

One thing you left out, which I think is possibly the biggest technical contribution they've made to date, is the "RAID" battery pack - made up of large numbers of inexpensive small cells each individually fused and with thermal protection around them, so that a cell failure has minimal impact on the vehicle as a whole and won't cascade, while allowing them to use denser chemistries and mass produced cells.
Walter

 

[aronth5]

Cattledog, excellent list.
The concept of continual product improvement without being tied to the traditional model years.

 

[Cattledog]

Saghost - Yup, yours is sort of a smack your head one and not really captured in my list. Good catch.

Aronth - Thanks, I am giving a talk on Tesla to a bunch of architects in May at the American Institute of Architects national convention and I am trying to ask the question, "What can our profession learn from Tesla?" So I am looking for input from my good TMC friends by helping think about all the ways they took an unconventional, or 'first principles' approach to things. Will be fun to see others' thoughts.

 

[haid]

* Keep demand high by doing the right thing for customers & expanding to new markets early (and other reasons).
* High demand minimizes the need to pay for advertising
* High demand is a buffer against regional issues (local dealer associations, etc.)
* A real, public, multi-year plan

 

[bluenation]

what about

releasing all tesla patents (well, most) for free? thats a big one.

and im sure theres a bunch re; spacex, but that's separate.

 

[Cattledog]

I think to keep a running list at the top, I'll add some of the ideas in red.

 

[TEG]

Willing to roll up their sleeves and design/build anything if they don't find what they want.
For instance, they tried to use some sort of 'standard' charging solution, but decided that nothing was going to live up to their expectations, so they designed their own connectors, DC/QC system, etc.

Modular, "building-block" approach to things. SpaceX is building bigger rockets by adding more small engines (instead of just making bigger and bigger engines.)
Tesla has bigger battery packs by adding more and more cells.
Tesla has charger modules they stack to do "dual charger" Model S, and very many in parallel in the supercharger cabinets.

Leader in taking advantage of materials engineering... Roadster had evolved state of the art for carbon fiber bodies. Model S is a leader in aluminum construction techniques.

Evolved ability to achieve world class aerodynamics and at the same time make very attractive designs.

Attempting to be a leader in self driving technologies.

 

[Bet TSLA]

I am giving a talk on Tesla to a bunch of architects in May...

By May Elon will (probably) have revealed the "new service model" he talked about recently, which I expect to be something innovative.

 

[strangethingintheland]

Some possibilities:
- Supercharger Network and decision to make it free. Buildout during 2nd gen phase so that by the time their mass market car appears they have the dominant supercharger network footprint, for free, with fastest charging times, in best locations (that last being a first mover advantage).
- Funding growth by moving downmarket. Calculated strategy to begin upmarket, where margins can afford to be higher, and using that to fund the significant capex required to move downmarket to mass market without significant
- I read an article that they built their own SCM software rather than going with what all the other auto manufacturers went with (presumably SAP), as a long-term competitive advantage.

 

[brianman]

On the sales/ownership side...

- financing program
- residual value guarantee

Dunno if I'd categorize them as innovations or what. Just mentioning them for consideration.

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

Some possibilities:
- Supercharger Network and decision to make it free. Buildout during 2nd gen phase so that by the time their mass market car appears they have the dominant supercharger network footprint, for free, with fastest charging times, in best locations (that last being a first mover advantage).

Rather than free I'd say that it's up-front payment for the life of the car. This is important because that means the heavily front-loaded costs are paid for more rapidly. Then by eliminate ongoing payments:
a) no account management or other payment systems, lowering management overheads and increasing reliability.
b) authentication between car and charger eliminates the need for constant connectivity, increasing reliability.
c) authentication between car and charger eliminates the time taken to handle the financial transaction, reducing total occupancy time of charging slots.

It's a great example of how Tesla is always thinking ahead.

 

[Duckjybe]

Here is another potential innovation. What other consumer product company has a mission statement so altruistic and beneficial to our planet? Elon reminds us often of Tesla's goal "to accelerate the advent of sustainable transport by bringing compelling mass market electric cars to market as soon as possible". This clear altruistic mission is what helps motivate employees and customers to rally behind Tesla as not just another car company.

 

[tdelta1000]

Great information.

 

[Cattledog]

All great contributions...others?

 

[Twiglett]

For me the important part about Tesla is that they have designed the cars and charging network as a single system.
They are the only manufacturer to build a true network of chargers to meet the capabilities of the cars.