What’s the secret sauce?

[Gasman23]

So pretty much all manufacturers are dipping their toes in the world of EVs, with a raft of new cars due out over the next couple of years. Battery tech seems to be at a point where the Achilles heel of EV motoring (range) is becoming acceptable.

Comparing those cars to Tesla’s, it seems they will have comparable battery sizes and offer only slightly less range. HOWEVER most of the other cars don’t come anywhere near the performance of Tesla’s.

So what’s Tesla’s secret sauce? How are they able to extract so much energy from the battery?

 

[angelman]

So pretty much all manufacturers are dipping their toes in the world of EVs, with a raft of new cars due out over the next couple of years. Battery tech seems to be at a point where the Achilles heel of EV motoring (range) is becoming acceptable.

Comparing those cars to Tesla’s, it seems they will have comparable battery sizes and offer only slightly less range. HOWEVER most of the other cars don’t come anywhere near the performance of Tesla’s.

So what’s Tesla’s secret sauce? How are they able to extract so much energy from the battery?

SO many reasons. I suspect though that it's almost many small things added together. I mean the fact they start with a design that is completely customised to electric power is a huge thing. The fact that they have thrown out the rule book in every single aspect of car design and manufacturing. I also think that many of the things that maybe make a Tesla seem a little less lux and at times almost a little cheap (at least on the model3) - slightly tinny doors, slightly creaky components, minimalist interior with very lightweight components without all the extra stuffing of other comparable luxury cars are actually part of the efficiency plan. Efficient not just in terms of cost but efficient in terms of weight. The car is heavy enough but I imagine it to be quite a bit lighter without the batteries at least. Of course I could be totally wrong on all of that.

 

[Watts 4 Me]

Its called effort in the game. Tesla does, while others dont.

 

[DaveG_NJ]

Most other EVs (not all) are being developed by established ICE manufacturers and they're largely shoe-horning an electric powerplant into a conventional ICE design. Tesla took a clean-slate approach and so isn't shackled as much by the conventional norms or existing technology. The other manufacturers are in catch-up mode. I hope Telsa is agile and lean enough to outpace them. Time will tell.

 

[jeremymc7]

In terms of performance my take is that the ICE manufacturer's are trying to keep costs to a minimum and maximize profit (or initial launch losses) with lower performance motors, batteries, less fine tuning, etc. In 2-3 years I think things will be more level; and Tesla will have a much hard time. At which point they will seriously need to lock down their fit, finish, quality control, paint, and customer service; otherwise it's going to hit them hard.

 

[Mr X]

 

[coolmanfever]

two words. Elon Musk

 

[jeremymc7]

Eww

 

[zhu-]

two words. Elon Musk

Never doubt the man who builds self-landing rockets, next generation automobiles, satellite internet, digs tunnels, brainchips pigs, while selling flamethrowers and tequila.

 

[coolmanfever]

Don't doubt the man who named his kid
X Æ A-12

 

[Nickage87]

There is no secret source. Tesla just needs faster car to market their vehicles. Other manufacturers are established and build overall good cars. Like their interiors are way more ergonomic and lux, wiper controls exist, auto high beams work.

Tesla has to exaggerate some features of the car. But not able to do great car all around yet.

 

[SlimJim]

It wouldn't be a secret if I knew.

 

[sduck]

This topic should be in a different forum in my opinion - perhaps the General: Electric Vehicles forum? It's not model 3 related.

The 2 key things that are essential to EV success, once you get past the basics of actually building a reliable car with the features people want, is useable range, and charging infrastructure. IMHO of course.

 

[one2many]

Hard work perhaps.

 

[Saturday]

Don't doubt the man who named his kid
X Æ A-12

I get the sense his girlfriend had more say in that than he did.

 

[one2many]

I am sure he will be call the X man, kinda cool.

 

[zhu-]

I think Elon recently said somewhere (Twitter?) that making a car or any vehicle is easy. Making it reliably and at mass scale is 100x harder which leads me to believe the Gigafactories are a significant part of the Tesla company's overall "secret".

 

[30seconds]

There is a quote from his cousin regarding working with Musk as Chairman of SolarCity. It went something like Elon being able to avoid obstacles in the road before others can even see that they exist.

That's what we are seeing - others can now make ~250m vehicles, but Telsa is making 300+m vehicles, making more of them, making them cheaper and with autopilot. And basically mass producing factories that can make them.

There isn't just one thing, it is Elon's ability to see the potential based on the engineering and software fundamentals and then put tighter and drive the team to make them happen.

Others are trying to compete by copying the products that Tesla is selling but Tesla is moving forward faster than people realize.

 

[Gasman23]

It went something like Elon being able to avoid obstacles in the road before others can even see that they exist.

would be nice if the car he made could avoid obstacles on the road too

 

[Spacep0d]

Here's my take;

1. Elon Musk. This is the source of it all, and not just Tesla. Also SpaceX (and the beneficial effects there), Tesla's Solar efforts, PowerWalls, The Boring Company, Hyperloop, etc. Nobody executes quite like Elon. SpaceX and their success has been mind-blowing lately. Getting Doug and Bob to the I.S.S. and back. Resupplying the I.S.S. Capturing boosters. Rockets landing on their pads?

All of this matters, because it's Elon as CEO. People want to be part of greatness, and all of this helps Tesla when it comes to the Elon and company's legacy, gravitas, and perceived momentum. The stellar history of TSLA stock and Tesla's valuation and projected value are all in the mix too. Tesla makes other companies look like they're standing still, though Nio and Lucid are promising. But as Elon has been known to say (paraphrased); prototypes are easy (in comparison to) production hell.

2. Range. Teslas have some of the best range, because EV is all they do and Elon Musk push hard to be the best. Battery Day proved that Tesla is still pushing the envelope. No company is going to catch Tesla anytime soon.

3. The Supercharging network. Nobody else can touch this. This is Tesla's 'Killer App' in my opinion.

4. Styling. Really, they have some of the best styling around. Their cars don't scream 'EV' so much as beautiful, timeless, flowing, minimalist, understated designs which hold up beautifully, from the first Roadster to the new.

5. EV Specialists. Tesla cars are all EVs, and nothing but EVs. They're not just making EVs to fulfill some government mandate, which is why Tesla is able to sell EV credits to companies that are making a token effort (Honda, I'm looking at you). Also, Honda needs to bring the 'E' to the States, small-car-fears be damned.

6. The userbase. The Tesla end-user is enthusiastic, so much so that Tesla doesn't feel any need to advertise.

7. Their cars are QUICK. More free-advertising. Gone are the days of range anxiety and slow econoboxes that look like they dropped in from Alpha Centauri....as long as you're in a Tesla.

8. Full Self Driving. This is going to be huge. Beta has been very promising.

9. OTA, or Over-The-Air updates. This is something anyone with a smart phone understands, and having new functionality from a simple software download is pretty great. I specifically avoided writing 'insanely great'.

10. Courage. Tesla has moxy, and doesn't seem to design by committee or focus group or by what is 'safe'. The Cybertruck is a prime example of this. Form follows function. That or my monitor is stuck on VRML graphics mode.