What has Telsa done that is completely novel? Telsa looks just like another car company. You mentioned Daimler pioneering the ICE but where are the Telsa inventions?
I think Telsa's greatest contribution will be moving the electric car and renewable markets. Whether or not the company itself will be successful is yet to be seen. To me they only make products that are affordable by the rich but they've certainly been successful in moving markets.
They made the first fully electric sports car (Roadster).
They made the first fully electric luxury car (Tesla S).
They created the first super-charger network. It's still the largest network of its kind.
They are the first car company to also be a large-scale battery manufacturer.
They are the first car company that pre-sold half a million cars.
They are on track to deliver fully electric mass market (as defined by volume) car. Tesla 3 is expected to reach production/sales of 0.5 - 1 million a year, easily surpassing any single competing, fully electric car.
Yes, Tesla is a car company but they already did plenty to deserve a little more than "just another".
Your statements read like a Tesla marketing pamphlet.
In 1900 28% of the cars produced in the US were electric. Albeit only a little more than 4,000 were produced. In those days all cars were luxury items, a horse was non-luxury. They also held the land speed records vs ICE prior to 1900.
Didn't Telsa partner with Panasonic to build the battery factory? Panasonic has been making batteries for years.
They've only built 200k cars total! Probably more since March.
On track to deliver...let's see if they can meet their target.
Apple has proved itself over the past 3 decades with everything from PCs, MP3 players, and now phones.
I could afford the later 2 devices on a sub 20k a year college restaurant jobs salary. At the time I bought both of them.
Telsa is not affordable by the majority of people with their currently available models. While a Nissan Leaf is pretty affordable especially adding in the tax break the government and my state used to offer.
> I could afford the later 2 devices on a sub 20k a year college restaurant jobs salary.
> Tesla is not affordable by the majority of people with their currently available models.
By that standard, the company who invented fidget spinners made a bigger contribution to society than Tesla because more people can afford their products.
They've pushed battery technology further than any other manufacturer in the last decade. And furthermore, "they've been successful in moving markets" is a novel thing in itself.
>>To me they only make cars that are affordable by the rich but they've certainly been successful in moving markets.
What do you think the first people said about Daimler?
>They've pushed battery technology further than any other manufacturer in the last decade.
Not really. They've done a lot to bring down costs by simply increasing the scale, but at the end of the day Tesla battery packs are just a bunch of standard 18650 cells that have been used for years. Panasonic, LG, and AESC are responsible for most of the advances in the actual chemistry.
>>You could even buy the same types of cells on amazon that Telsa uses, 18650.
This is a lot like saying you can buy the same food resources that go into world class restaurants. Technically true, yes. But does not diminish the accomplishments of Tesla in the least.
Exactly, just like that uninventive louse they are named after. Wires? Existed before. Magnets? Long history. Rotating fields? Over 75 years old at that point. All he did was come up with a winding pattern. Pfft, big deal.
We didn't point out tires as the revolutionary new Telsa addition to the stack. Wires and magnets are irrelevant. Batteries and cars are the items Telsa claims to revolutionize.
Show me a couple examples where Tesla has invented something new or become the market leader without outside help. Meaning if you say home battery market I'd argue Panasonic is the leader.
Not really, it would be like Tesla (world class restaurant) partnering with Blue Apron (Panasonic) to develop a world class factory to supply all of Teslas restaurants.
What I've heard from people associated with Tesla over the years is that the battery management and packaging technology is their main technical innovation.
It allowed them to use existing battery chemistry and cells to provide incredibly high power output (Ludicrous mode) while also preserving the lifetime and capacity of the battery, which is no simple feat.
Someone who works at Tesla/Solarcity told me recently that the same approach is behind the Solar Roof: existing PV cell technology but with very novel packaging.
This is, in general, Tesla's real advantage: top class systems engineering. EV's will be a commodity item in the near future, but the underlying systems will not be. I expect Tesla to dominate the software side of things, including battery management, autonomous, etc.
From a technological perspective, they're simply applying green solutions via battery innovation into the automotive industry. Simple as that. Anyone else can also do it, such as Chevrolet with the Bolt.
What makes them different is how they have captured the public's imagination via creating incredible supercar-like performance purely using electricity.
What they've essentially done is solidified the public perception of Tesla being at the forefront of a revolution.
It's the same thing that makes something like Apple special. On a cost-performance ratio, if you build your PC from scratch, you will likely get better specs and performance for a much cheaper price. But it won't be an Apple device or enact within the apple ecosystem.
Someone will probably build a better 100% electric car (eventually) but nobody will have the same level of cultural cache. There will always be nitpickers who can say that the eventual BMW/Audi/Ferarri electric car is hotter than the Tesla, but it will never be as revolutionary as Tesla.
Tesla, Apple, Google, Facebook. These, and likely a few more companies, have transcended their mediums to make them truly special not only within their respective industries but societally as well.
While it's not that sexy, I think that distributing the batteries throughout the very bottom of the vehicle was a novel and very useful innovation.
The Tesla cars have a much, much lower center of gravity than any ICE car could have and that is a figure/measurement that seems to matter enough to people that car magazines discuss CoG when reviewing new cars. It helps a lot with handling and safety.
All wheel drive with multiple motors, while not a Tesla innovation, is also something they are doing that is a pretty big leap forward in that space. It's hard to get excited about Quattro when the Tesla gets AWD from two different motors.
Im not excited by Quattro, I prefer a transfer case and complete control over the system instead of a viscous coupling doing the thinking for me. The ground clearance, maintenance cost, and oil burning issues of the 4 cylinder was a deal breaker on an A4.
Well I did opt for an engine that didn't have an ELSD available in the 2016 model or lockers in any configuration. Should've bought a Wrangler.
They are the Apple of the car industry (vertically integrated, focusing on top of market). Apple, after decades of being "beleaguered", is now the most valuable company in the world by market cap (and has been for the last 5+ years).
Tesla is poised to have it's Apple moment soon, driving the industry forward while taking the cream off the top and profiting handsomely.
Novel is something new or not resembling something formally known or used. Just because they have the best spec sheet at the moment doesn't make it novel or revolutionary.
If you look at Wikipedia it says electric cars were faster than gas cars until about 1900.
I think Telsa's greatest contribution will be moving the electric car and renewable markets. Whether or not the company itself will be successful is yet to be seen. To me they only make products that are affordable by the rich but they've certainly been successful in moving markets.