The pressure of being tesla.

[trutolife27]

First of all, I think every one of us feels like without tesla the EV push would still be 10 years away.

Yes, there were other EV cars and hybrids but nothing on the level of tesla.

Anytime a company makes something new and groundbreaking, it takes the other companies time to catch up and compete. Finally, Tesla now has competition in each segment of its vehicle market. 3 years from now there will be triple the choices.
With all the prices drops" which is great for the consumers" tesla now has to worry about losing sales and how long will the lead they had last.

Yes, they have a rabid fan base. But in China and Europe, they are not king. Ford is held in very high regard in china is a luxury item there. Some lincoln navigators sell for 200,000. We had special in machines and special trim items that only get put on and used for china sales.

At the end of the day, it is great to have companies compete for our business.

On a side note thing back in time at something, you purchased that was so overpriced but there was nothing to compete against them at the time.

The first iPhone, The first VCR, man is way expensive. The walkman. What else do you guys have thoughts on?

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[jhalkias]

I bought an Apple IIe when I was in college with an 80 column card, big floppy drive, and an ImageWriter printer with a monochrome monitor. I wanted a computer so bad. I still have it in my basement. $2,500.

That was in 1983 right before the Mac came out. In 2020 dollars, that is over $6,500 according to the inflation calculator. I should have bought Apple stock instead. I would be buying a ME in every color now.

 

[Jolteon]

First of all, I think every one of us feels like without tesla the EV push would still be 10 years away.

Yes, there were other EV cars and hybrids but nothing on the level of tesla.

Anytime a company makes something new and groundbreaking, it takes the other companies time to catch up and compete. Finally, Tesla now has competition in each segment of its vehicle market. 3 years from now there will be triple the choices.
With all the prices drops" which is great for the consumers" tesla now has to worry about losing sales and how long will the lead they had last.

Yes, they have a rabid fan base. But in China and Europe, they are not king. Ford is held in very high regard in china is a luxury item there. Some lincoln navigators sell for 200,000. We had special in machines and special trim items that only get put on and used for china sales.

At the end of the day, it is great to have companies compete for our business.

On a side note thing back in time at something, you purchased that was so overpriced but there was nothing to compete against them at the time.

The first iPhone, The first VCR, man is way expensive. The walkman. What else do you guys have thoughts on?

I agree that Tesla has done more than any company so far to push EVs forward, but I think that title is now quickly transferring to Volkswagen over the next few years as the MEB ramps globally.

Tesla was a "last resort" for me, because nobody else made a 250+ mile BEV with actual fast charging that wouldn't make me want to drive it off a cliff during a road trip instead of sit for another hour+ "fast" charging session. What I mean is, I'd have bought a Bolt if it had even 100 kW DCFC, but 50 kW (that throttles to like 25 at 50% SoC) was totally unusable to me.

I could point to so many things on my Model 3 that I dislike.

I could point to so many things about the way Tesla operates that I dislike.

I could point to so many Tesla fanboys that I dislike.

But the biggest thing I can thank them for is that I know there wouldn't be a Mach-E to buy if they hadn't launched the Model 3. If they'd have stayed in the Model S/X ultra luxury space, the industry wouldn't have pushed forward on EVs, and instead would have spent that money lobbying even harder against CO2 regulations, claiming "look, nobody's made a BEV work so why should we have to" and I bet regulators would have agreed, just like back in the 1990s.

So yeah, I owe Tesla a lot, even though they weren't at all my first choice for a car, hasn't been a great experience, I dislike the brand, and I won't ever buy another car from them. Because of the Model 3, we have other good EVs to pick now.

 

[timbop]

They don't call it the "bleeding edge" for no reason. First, I absolutely concur that there would be no BEV revolution happening without Musk and Tesla, and he deserves huge kudos for that. With that said, history is replete with innovators who create a new product segment, only to be crushed by larger companies that are able to scale up from that initial niche product to mainstream. It doesn't always happen, but it seems that often the skills needed to create something that never existed (ie imagination) are far different than those needed to efficiently mass produce that product. Smartphones are a perfect example - the "crackberry" was THE first smartphone and it seemed its future was unlimited. Then the iPhone came out.

 

[JamieGeek]

They don't call it the "bleeding edge" for no reason. First, I absolutely concur that there would be no BEV revolution happening without Musk and Tesla, and he deserves huge kudos for that. With that said, history is replete with innovators who create a new product segment, only to be crushed by larger companies that are able to scale up from that initial niche product to mainstream. It doesn't always happen, but it seems that often the skills needed to create something that never existed (ie imagination) are far different than those needed to efficiently mass produce that product. Smartphones are a perfect example - the "crackberry" was THE first smartphone and it seemed its future was unlimited. Then the iPhone came out.

In some cases the innovating companies get consumed by the larger ones as well (Facebook buying just about everyone including Instagram and Oculus for example).

 

[jhalkias]

In some cases the innovating companies get consumed by the larger ones as well (Facebook buying just about everyone including Instagram and Oculus for example).

Anyone still on "Myspace"?

 

[SnBGC]

First of all, I think every one of us feels like without tesla the EV push would still be 10 years away.

Yes, there were other EV cars and hybrids but nothing on the level of tesla.

Anytime a company makes something new and groundbreaking, it takes the other companies time to catch up and compete. Finally, Tesla now has competition in each segment of its vehicle market. 3 years from now there will be triple the choices.
With all the prices drops" which is great for the consumers" tesla now has to worry about losing sales and how long will the lead they had last.

Yes, they have a rabid fan base. But in China and Europe, they are not king. Ford is held in very high regard in china is a luxury item there. Some lincoln navigators sell for 200,000. We had special in machines and special trim items that only get put on and used for china sales.

At the end of the day, it is great to have companies compete for our business.

On a side note thing back in time at something, you purchased that was so overpriced but there was nothing to compete against them at the time.

The first iPhone, The first VCR, man is way expensive. The walkman. What else do you guys have thoughts on?

I think there is a valid concern for Tesla's position in the industry. I don't think they can stand toe to toe with the legacy automakers but I don't blame them for trying when the time comes.

If I were part of their management team, I would explore ideas to pivot their business plan to be more like McLaren where they can produce exclusive vehicles for their customer base. Then open up a new revenue stream by becoming a tier one supplier to legacy auto makers. Just seems to make sense to me.....but what do I know?

 

[FredT]

In some cases the innovating companies get consumed by the larger ones as well (Facebook buying just about everyone including Instagram and Oculus for example).

And don't forget WhatsApp.

 

[Matthewmohan]

In the US-Tesla is synonymous with electric cars. Frankly it is astounding it took this long for other automakers to offer up any real competition. GM had it-They really did. Does anyone remember the Bolt concept? Not the watered down Bolt they delivered. It was a beautiful and provocative car, but they chickened out. Tesla did the opposite, they took chances. They still do. It’s a shame they are also still so bad at making cars. Tesla was a game changer, just like the iPhone. But within 2 years there were all the Android based competitors to the iPhone. That competition was better for everyone. It drove prices down and drove innovation. I can’t figure out how the Teslaratti don’t understand that. If they love Tesla they should want some real competition. I have never owned anything but an iPhone, and I would probably never leave the apple ecosystem, but I am thankful there is competition. Elon seems to understand that-he congratulated Ford when they unveiled the Mach E.

 

[Jolteon]

In the US-Tesla is synonymous with electric cars. Frankly it is astounding it took this long for other automakers to offer up any real competition. GM had it-They really did. Does anyone remember the Bolt concept? Not the watered down Bolt they delivered. It was a beautiful and provocative car, but they chickened out. Tesla did the opposite, they took chances. They still do. It’s a shame they are also still so bad at making cars. Tesla was a game changer, just like the iPhone. But within 2 years there were all the Android based competitors to the iPhone. That competition was better for everyone. It drove prices down and drove innovation. I can’t figure out how the Teslaratti don’t understand that. If they love Tesla they should want some real competition. I have never owned anything but an iPhone, and I would probably never leave the apple ecosystem, but I am thankful there is competition. Elon seems to understand that-he congratulated Ford when they unveiled the Mach E.

I don't even hate what the Bolt became when they launched it - except they forgot to invest in actual fast charging, so I had to buy the Tesla to road trip.

My first EV experience was in a Bolt - I wasn't even looking to buy a BEV at all, but the Bolt sold me - on a Model 3, ironically, due to the slow "fast" charging.

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