OK, so I didn't go to the store event but to the reception at the US ambassador's mansion which was held just before (Elon went straight from the ambassador's villa to the store). Here are some interesting tid-bits that I picked up at the reception:
- I asked Elon directly if the current 85kWh battery could accept 120kW input from a supercharger. He answered by first briefly explaining that for maximum SC rates you need to be at a lower SOC and he said it would begin to taper off at about 75% SOC (real life experience on these forums suggest that tapering starts way before that, but I think he meant that substantial tapering starts around 75% SOC). Then he answered my question by saying that yes, the battery can take 120kW but currently we are capping it at 94-96kW but the plan is to gradually increase the peak charging rate as we gather more experience with usage of the superchargers. And he also mentioned that he wasn't sure if they would ever get to (allow) the 120kW output or cap it at a lower rate.
- Another guest (Roadster owner) asked about Range charging, he said that he had been told numerous times by Tesla representatives to be very careful with range charging since this will "damage" the battery, and what about warranty if you have Range charged a lot? Elon's answer was basically that you shouldn't be afraid of Range charging, just know that it will result in slightly faster degradation of the battery. In fact he said that you can choose to range charge every single day and this will not void the battery warranty, but you have to expect faster degradation if you choose to do this. He also said something like "we need to talk to our sales reps about not scaring people when it comes to range charging, but to simply inform them about the faster degradation they can expect".
- One person asked about the Hyperloop. He said some thing about it that he has said before (good for connection between densely populated areas/cities no more than 1000 km apart, etc. etc.) but he then went on to say that he didn't want to talk too much about either this subject or his plans for electric airplanes right now, since he felt that he needed to focus on Tesla and Space X and that "you can spread yourself too thin" and that "the markets" won't like it if he doesn't seem like he is focusing all of his time and efforts towards his current companies. The follow up question from this guest was whether he feels in some way "held back" by Tesla currently, and he answered that to an extent yes, but right now his main goal is profitability, since "it's been 9 years without profits" and "no matter how great the product, if the company is not profitable it won't survive". (This made me happy to hear as a stock owner).
All in all I got a really nice impression of him, he was very eager to engage in discussions and seemed very down to earth. I could sense the dynamic between him and Blankenship where George is constantly eves-dropping and checking what Elon is saying and when he goes too far with for example making promises he cuts in and stops him. There is something slightly "robotic" about Elon, they way he talks, his body language, the way looks at you etc. which gives me some associations to people I've met in my line of work (MD) with Aspberger syndrome, though I want to be very careful not to pass any kind of judgment I think it's obvious that you would need some a bit special personality traits to get to where he has come with all his ideas and companies. Though, he would never have gotten to where he is if he didn't have social skills as well, and I think he had great social skills just there was a certain vibe about him that was a little special.
