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Virgin Could Take On Tesla With Electric Car
According to a story at Ars Technica, Virgin empire founder Richard Branson says 'teams of people' are working on electric cars. Says the article:
Virgin is working on electric cars and could one day take on Tesla, according to company founder Richard Branson. Speaking at a racing event in Miami, Branson said Virgin had "teams of people" working on electric cars but refused to be drawn on specific details. The company's Virgin Racing team already competes in the all-electric Formula E championship, a high-speed, battery-powered spinoff of Formula 1. Branson has now hinted that Virgin's involvement could lead to the company selling its own electric cars. ... Branson's business has continued to expand in recent years. As well as trains and planes, Virgin now has a fledgling space operation and is soon to launch its own cruise ships.
Stay away from the tapioca!
“He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
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It said "Virgin could take on Tesla", so I thought it was about a fellow Slashdotter forming his own company.
Slashdotter, ID #101. UIDs are in binary, right?
Keep it cool, keep it cool...
Yeah, because if you're looking for modest and agreeable, Richard Branson is your man...
Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
you may find Virgin competing with the Tesla in the car business as we do in the space business.
Sure, except that Virgin isn't competing in the space business. Virgin's business is suborbital fun rides.
I was on my high school's electric car team. We had a '73 Porsche 914 converted to use 24 deep-cycle lead-acid batteries located in the trunk and in the engine bay. The DC motor was a starter for an aircraft small jet engine if memory serves. There were six of us, seven if you count the auto shop teacher that was the sponsor.
So I guess we could have counted as one of Branson's teams, strictly speaking, had he sponsored us.
Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
Get the stick out of your ass. They're trying to change one of the most powerful manufacturing industries ever, from the outside.
Arrogant? Obnoxious? How exactly? You not being able to afford one of the current cars is not relevant.
Funny that so many companies who built millions of cars, even millions yearly, aren't able to be "real competitors" to a Silicon Valley upstart.
First, it was already 'desecrated' when I got there. Second, when it was donated to the school by a parent it had a blown engine, body damage, a destroyed interior, and most of its trim was missing. It was on its way to the crusher when it detoured to here as a tax-writeoff for the owner instead.
Besides, a Porsche 914 is not exactly the pinnacle of Porsche technology or appreciation. Hell, that one-off front-engine model is better liked than the 914.
Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
It still would have looked great on GP commenter's front lawn on cinder blocks. Probably the best on his block!
This is the marriage of two mature technologies -- electric motors and automobile chassis -- plus modern batteries. So all you need to create an electric car is the will and enough money to hire the engineers.
The trick will be to create a car that is practical and successful in the marketplace.
It's easy for an engineer to create an amazing car on paper. What's hard is for a company to actually produce an amazing car (electric or otherwise) that people actually want to buy and to make money at it. That requires so many things to go right at so many levels, and that's what's impressive about the success of Tesla.
I look forward to seeing what Virgin comes up with. I wish them success. But I don't particularly expect it.
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"You should be shot for desecrating a Porsche like that."
Unless it was a 914 6, there's plenty out there. Most had issues with rust, even in dry climates. Aside from that, only US cars were branded Porsche. ROW were branded VW-PORSCHE.
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Musk is confident and realizes he has little time to waste. I wish I were like him instead of the neurotic, depressed introverted mess I am at the same age.
Mostly random stuff.
" Hell, that one-off front-engine model is better liked than the 914."
I'd have to disagree. The 914 was a heck of a lot more fun than a 924, 944 or a 928. It sat low, felt like it was glued to the road and still gave ya the boxer, oil-cooled feel. It was a bit scary to drive at the edge due to the fact of the mid-engine. If you start to lose it, it's a 50/50 shot whether brake or throttle input will bring it back. Aside from that, who wants their Porsche to pump water?
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why is it that the collective think that Tesla are the only ones making electric cars like some lone pioneer, every car company has at least one model, and some sell fairly well being just on either side of Tesla's extremely thin market of 20 something's
I've been incredibly impressed with what Tesla has done in getting an American public who flat out did not want to give up its gas guzzlers interested in the concept of an electric car. I'll be even more impressed when the Tesla competitors come around, and the question shifts from "Do I want an electric car?" to "Which electric car should I buy?"
You insensitive clod.
Please. Porsche is one of the most overated pos going.
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
Seriously, he came to O and begged for America to focus on the IFR, back when dems controlled it.
Yet, if he would spend just $.5B, he could have transatomic up and running before 2020.
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.