Track test performance figures for Mach-E Premium AWD EX (by Motor Trend)

[GoGoGadgetMachE]

so is "parsec" but that didn't stop a certain famous character from famously using it very wrong so...

tbf this is a harsh assumption on my part.

it may have been he was saying "I am the only one that took a straight line - everyone else went some kind of crazy roundabout way."

I've just always assumed the worst.

 

[JellyBelly]

don't you know Teslas never have problems? so there's no need for service centers.

I learned that from YT so it must be true.

Tesla the new Maytag man?

 

[GoGoGadgetMachE]

Tesla the new Maytag man?

No no no, that is Sheriff Jack Carter from Eureka, OR (or WA in the case of the pilot or CA in the case of one episode).

 

[macchiaz-o]

No no no, that is Sheriff Jack Carter from Eureka, OR (or WA in the case of the pilot or CA in the case of one episode).

I just assumed the town was moving from one moderate climate to another with no one thinking twice about it, because science.

 

[Raymondjram]

I don't think there is any way that the Mach E will get the two thousand and eleven car of the year award.

I corrected the year in the original post.

 

[Kamuelaflyer]

I don't think there is any way that the Mach E will get the two thousand and eleven car of the year award.

Yeah, Delorean’s are as hard to come by these days as a Mr. Fusion.

 

[JamieGeek]

Yeah, Delorean’s are as hard to come by these days as a Mr. Fusion.

Don't need a Mr Fusion, just some handy terrorists.

(Hmm why do I see "FBI Surveillance Van" in my WiFi lists now??)

 

[GoGoGadgetMachE]

I just assumed the town was moving from one moderate climate to another with no one thinking twice about it, because science.

that's not a terrible explanation tbh

 

[Randy E.]

The car that never needs service is found at overfilled service centers with a chronic and unending lists of flaws. The Tesla bubble could very well burst if it refuses to focus on quality control, improved communication services at their service centers and with the growing emergence of alternative EV choices.

I’ll ask this question again, as it continues to rise to the surface of possible validity: Could Tesla become the Blackberry of the auto industry?

If you are old enough to recall, BB (BlackBerry) was a revolution in phones - a “smart phone” as you could read your emails and kinda peck themout also! The internet was horrible, but if lucky, one could find a company phone number or address with it.

Business folks older or a bit older than me at the time loved them - they were so loyal and swore to them, as they were fondly called Crackberrys.

At the time it seemed inconceivable they could be taken head on, let alone toppled.

Then Steve Jobs showed off the iPhone, and it made my BB look like Fisher Price, My First Smartphone. And it was over.

Granted, the auto industry moves like molasses compared to mobile high tech, but I think the parallels may be there.

And could it be irony calling, that It is Apple that actually BB’s Tesla?

Remember, Apple rarely is the first enterant in a given market space, rather, Apple waits for a market to emerge, then Purple Cows it.

 

[RonTCat]

I’ll ask this question again, as it continues to rise to the surface of possible validity: Could Tesla become the Blackberry of the auto industry?

If you are old enough to recall, BB (BlackBerry) was a revolution in phones - a “smart phone” as you could read your emails and kinda peck themout also! The internet was horrible, but if lucky, one could find a company phone number or address with it.

Business folks older or a bit older than me at the time loved them - they were so loyal and swore to them, as they were fondly called Crackberrys.

At the time it seemed inconceivable they could be taken head on, let alone toppled.

Then Steve Jobs showed off the iPhone, and it made my BB look like Fisher Price, My First Smartphone. And it was over.

Granted, the auto industry moves like molasses compared to mobile high tech, but I think the parallels may be there.

And could it be irony calling, that It is Apple that actually BB’s Tesla?

Remember, Apple rarely is the first enterant in a given market space, rather, Apple waits for a market to emerge, then Purple Cows it.

Apple is only a threat because they sit on a pile of cash. They don't have "critical mass" expertise yet to challenge Tesla.

 

[ChasingCoral]

Apple is only a threat because they sit on a pile of cash. They don't have "critical mass" expertise yet to challenge Tesla.

I think the point was Tesla may be the next BlackBerry.

 

[RonTCat]

I think the point was Tesla may be the next BlackBerry.

Everyone will be the next BlackBerry, just a matter of time. Sears and Roebuck ruled the retail kingdom for many years, and now it's Amazon/Walmart. We might live long enough to see Amazon be the next BlackBerry.

 

[GoGoGadgetMachE]

Everyone will be the next BlackBerry, just a matter of time. Sears and Roebuck ruled the retail kingdom for many years, and now it's Amazon/Walmart. We might live long enough to see Amazon be the next BlackBerry.

Since we're now in "talk about industry trends and other completely-off-topic to this initial thread" territory I'll add an opinion on that here.

The world has changed over time, and we're slowly reaching a point where replacing an established vendor of sufficient size in the world marketplace is getting to be difficult, if not impossible.

Tesla is a huge fish in a small pond. The world EV market is not yet truly relevant. 2%-3% of an overall market just isn't enough to lock something in yet. Tesla knows this, which is why they are cutting prices now and talking about cutting prices more in the future. They are trying to grow the overall EV market share and want to be the owner of that share.

Blackberry as a reference point is a fair analogy for this same reason - they were a big fish in a small pond. So were Palm and Microsoft, for that matter - a thing that people often forget when bringing this up. Smartphones were a very small part of the cell phone market before the iPhone and Android (it's critical in this to not forget Google's impact here because of price - Android still absolutely dominates the smartphone OS market share and in worldwide vendor device market share, Apple is not number one or even number two in share, but they own the profit), so there was a lot of possibility for disruption - there was a large market opportunity there. But the market is such now that there are two entrenched providers, and that is not likely to change for a long time, if ever. There's not enough air for a third choice. Ask Microsoft if you don't agree.

My point in all these words is that "everyone will be the next Blackberry" is not necessarily true any more. Is there enough air for a new player to replace Facebook? Is there enough air for a new player to replace Amazon? I'm not sure there is. I could be wrong of course - this is all reading crystal balls and tea leaves.

But how many people do you know that don't use Amazon, ever? (*) You'd have to convince a substantial number of them to change away to something else to replace them, and they continue to grow and expand what they do (they just bought some more cargo planes!) and cement their position.

even when Sears was the Sears of the past, they never owned retail - Macy's, JC Penney, etc. all existed and were legitimate players in the space.

the world is different and the situation is different.

(*) AWS is a wildcard here because that's where Amazon makes a bunch of their money at this point so even if they get displaced from retail, it seems unlikely they will be going away as a company any time soon.

 

[Randy E.]

Apple is only a threat because they sit on a pile of cash. They don't have "critical mass" expertise yet to challenge Tesla.

This is what I would assume also. This leads me to my question: Without giving anything away, are you working in this EV industry, Silicon Valley perhaps, or just making an assumption as would I?

Thinking about Apple (since I do own a pile of their stock since 1998), I follow them very closely. I worked at Apple in the early 2000's also. Thus, I can at the very least tell you this: Apple's only advantage is not cash. They hire massively talented people. If you aren't the best they won't hire you.

A friend of mine was head hunted by them. He made a few rounds of interviews, flew to Cupertino, and did a face-to-face. They asked him if he was able, willing and ready to work seven days a week, often 10hrs+. He hesitated at that, tried to side step it a bit. And after that interview it was over. He's not for them. Talented? Yes. Sold out for at least a few years your entire life essentially (for what they wanted him for), nope.

Apple also has a massive amount of technology in their reservoirs. Do you think you'll need to take your iPhone with you in your car? Sure, you want your iPhone where you go AFTER you get out of the car, but it'll be your car - a duplicate in essence. The car will be set to you upon walking towards it, Apple Watch will just open it up for you. Settings, lighting, all set to you and your messages, Car Play layout, vs your wife's, etc...

That's the tip of the iceberg in Apple's tech. I wrote about some of it before and above, but their battery management technology scaled, the talent they've taken from Tesla, Porsche, BMW, and well beyond. Battery engineers from bleeding edge companies they hired five-years ago? Not only do they have money, but Bob Mansfield leading that team? Elon Musk always welcomes more EV makers. But whenever it's Apple, he bristles and has no kind words. It goes well beyond poaching, as he does it to Apple also. Rather, when Apple launches they will do so to Purple Cow the market, and launch with scale Tesla might not have.

Love Apple or hate them, it matters not. They will be a formidable player and they'll have HUD-like systems with their LiDAR tech, on and on, that's going to be impressive, and they will aim to go right over the market.

We shall see...

 

[JayTee]

Y has more range and likely much better depreciation. Tesla is light years ahead of anyone else.

If you rely on EPA ratings.

I don't know how you could possibly predict depreciation. You're aware of that Tesla loses hundreds of millions of dollars every quarter buying back its own vehicles?