Tesla Motors Club

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Arnold Panz said:

Let's keep in mind that Tesla has managed to secure over 8000 reservations that no one has gotten to test drive (or see the final version of), and if reserved today would still have to wait over a year to get delivery. They've also done this with absolutely no traditional advertising whatsoever. There's an interesting story in today's NY Times about how young people don't really love cars the way generations before did. To Draw Reluctant Young Buyers GM Turns To MTV for Help

I think the Model S is something that young people would really love once they saw and it and understood what it was all about. 95% of the people I talk to (of all ages) about Tesla have never even heard of the company, let alone the Model S. Once it's out in the marketplace and there is no long delay in getting delivery, and assuming it's favorably reviewed by critics and owners, I fully expect they'll be able to sell 20k cars a year with ease.

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I've seen this quoted a number of times, and it definitely seems true from my own anecdotal experiences. My own opinion is that with the internet, social media, cell phones, video games etc, this generation pretty much has all they want at their finger tips and don't really need to travel for it. Perhaps in the past, they had to bug mom or dad for a ride somewhere -- lacking the desire to go somewhere, why need a car? Anyone see the movie "Chronicle"? Notice how, even among real life friends, the kids seem glued to their cell phones? I see it happen in real life all too often (heck, even I do it).

If we end up in a world like Asimov wrote about, we might not even need cars in the end:

The Naked Sun - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The book focuses on the unusual traditions and culture of Solarian society. The planet has a rigidly controlled population of twenty thousand, and robots outnumber humans ten thousand to one. People are strictly taught from birth to despise personal contact. They live on huge estates, either alone or with their spouse only. Communication is done via holographic telepresence (called viewing, as opposed to in-person seeing). It is likely that the society is based on that in E. M. Forster's 1909 short story "The Machine Stops".

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*edit* I also think that with all you can do in the palm of your hand right now, driving is boring. People (myself included) likely prefer to be driven somewhere so they can tinker on their devices on the way. I know I'm guilty of it too. If we're going somewhere and my wife decides to drive, I bring my iPad so I can surf on the car's wifi.

Perhaps as cars become more connected (safely), people won't mind as much.