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Tesla Delays Launch of Model X Until Q3 2015
An anonymous reader writes "Tesla on Wednesday announced that it was pushing back the release of its highly anticipated Model X until the third quarter of 2015. Explaining the delay, Tesla relayed the following in its quarterly shareholder letter: "Work continues on the finalization of Model X with the testing of Alpha prototypes and initial builds of the first Beta prototypes. Model X powertrain development is almost complete with the early introduction of Dual Motor drive on Model S. We recently decided to build in significantly more validation testing time to achieve the best Model X possible. This will also allow for a more rapid production ramp compared to Model S in 2012." During Tesla's subsequent earnings conference call, Tesla CEO Elon Musk shed a bit more light on all things Model X, including the fact that if you order one today, it won't arrive until early 2016.
Forbes goes into more on the business end of what's caused delays for the company, as well as how investors should see it (critically, they say).
It kind of is, they are almost as much of a tech company as a car company, what they do has a big impact.
If there is anything that is "news for geeks", Tesla automobiles would be it. Exotic energy storage systems based upon laptop computers, mobile network platforms that have built-in web browsers and awesome sound systems, and pretty damn nice looking equipment as well that can get you from point A to point B in some awesome style that can also get you laid (not that most geek know a thing about such stuff).
What makes that irrelevant to Slashdot? That you might have to wait a few more months before you can get a girlfriend?
I'd rather see a car model pushed back a year than wind up back in the shop often due to recalls and bugs that should have been fixed.
The notable thing about Tesla is that they provide updates for "last year's" models. Other car makes might do some update for safety, but not for adding features.
that's barely on the big car companies' radars.
Aside from Toyota, Mercedes, & BMW who all previously/current owned shares or have direct partnerships with Tesla or GM where they were at least part of the impetus behind developing the Volt. Not to mention nearly ever car dealer in the USA who are all campaigning to have Tesla stores banned because they might destroy the car dealer business model entirely.
I live in a metropolitan area of a red state and I've never even seen a Tesla in person.
But you might hear your politicians talk about them. Now that Tesla is having success, a lot of repubilcans are falling over themselves to say they've supported them all along.
At an average price of >$80K, that's >$4B dollars
At one point everything you are saying was true of gasoline automobiles. There are lots of places in the country which have a good supercharger & showroom infrastructure now, and more chargers & showrooms are showing up every month. You can drive cross-country in a Tesla right now. Obviously they are focusing on the parts of the country where people have a lot of money and don't have an irrational hatred of anything new or different--so it will be a bit of a wait for you.
If change is so unsettling for you then why do you cruise technology sites? maybe just go sit in your Ford F150 and listen to AM radio?
A friend of mine who happens to be a senior engineer at a large Japanese automaker took me to a Tesla dealership some years ago to take a look at the Tesla. I asked him how much it would to produce a car like the Model S at this very large Japanese automaker. He said each car would end up costing in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. At first I didn't believe him, but as he proceeded to explain every single detail of R&D, prototyping, testing, dealing with suppliers, manufacturing, dealing with the factory (or many factories, being the more likely case), retooling, etc, and all the manpower, meetings, executive approvals, and other costs involved at a company as large as his... it was very obvious that he knew exactly what he was talking about.
There is a certain myth about scaling. Big companies know how to scale? Of course they know how to scale. But I'm sure many people here can imagine how starting fresh with a small team, and scaling *that*... is faster and cheaper than modifying a gigantic already-scaled process to output something completely different.
Larger scale *leads to* lower costs.
But big companies don't *scale up* at "lower cost".
Tesla has an absolutely *enormous* advantage by manufacturing many parts of the car themselves. The infotainment system, the battery packs, they stamp their own metal, etc. You might not believe me if I told you that automobile companies need to fight with their factories to implement changes to the production line, because the factories are separate companies that operate independently from the actual car company (Ford, GM, Honda, Toyota, etc). Any changes means less cars produced and less profit. Just because of this fact alone, Tesla can scale production MUCH cheaper and quicker than *any* large car company, American or not, just from the fact that they run their own factory.
Smaller companies are better at scaling. They can do it quicker and cheaper.
Large companies, especially car companies, not so much.
In the past I've had a Porsche and a Land Rover that were each more expensive (adjusted for inflation) than my Tesla as well as a bunch of less expensive German cars. The Tesla is by far the best car I've ever owned. The whole driving experience (power, handling, comfort, etc.) is incredible... an order of magnitude better than anything I've ever owned.
The fact that it is environmentally friendly is just icing on the cake (but was the primary reason I bought it).
I don't read your sig. Why are you reading mine?