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Tesla Deal Boosts Chinese Presence in US Auto Tech (reuters.com)
From a Reuters report:China's Tencent has bought a 5 percent stake in U.S. electric car maker Tesla for $1.78 billion, the latest investment by a Chinese internet company in the potentially lucrative market for self-driving vehicles and related services. Tencent's investment, revealed in a U.S. regulatory filing, provides Tesla with an additional cash cushion as it prepares to launch its mass-market Model 3. Tesla's shares were up 2.9 percent at $277.03 in midday trading on Tuesday, enabling it to rival Ford as the second-most-valuable U.S. auto company behind General Motors. The deal expands Tencent's presence in an emerging investment sector that includes self-driving electric cars, which could enable such new modes of transportation as automated ride-sharing and delivery services, as well as ancillary services ranging from infotainment to e-commerce.
I expect ... technology transfer to China faster than you can swear.
ELOI, ELOI, LAMA SABACHTHANI!?
Since you asked.... and speaking strictly for myself of course, because I am probably not in Tesla's (or any electric car manufacturer's) target demographic for an electric car. I live in an apartment, and I can't charge it at home because the parking stalls for the building residents don't have individual electrical outlets. Basically, anyone who lives in an apartment building that wasn't built in about the past 10 years or so is probably in the same boat. I know that newer buildings do have outlets in the parking stalls, but there's still one hell of a lot of older buildings around that aren't going anywhere.
I would totally get an electric car if I lived in a place where I could charge it over night, but that's just not going to happen anytime in the foreseeable future.
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
"Once they release that model 3 for under 30,000"
That's going to take a while. They'll be fortunate to get it released at the promised $35k - although they were promising $30k some years ago and then quietly upped it.
There are more than a few Tesla-bashers who complain extensive auto experience that have been saying that selling the base model at even $45k would be barely profitable, if at all.
Pain is merely failure leaving the body