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My understanding is the charger network is subsidized by the tax payers. GM and the other automakers have kept Tesla from going broke with carbon credit cash. And about the time Tesla comes out with a car for the masses the 200k tax credits will be gone.
The green subsidy program's most successful investment to date is an electric car manufacturer that has yet to profit solely from the sales of its product. Instead, it is a company built on loan guarantees, sustained on subsidies and profitable only through a system of credits designed to benefit electric car manufacturers at the expense of their competitors. Take away all of the recent hype surrounding Tesla's recent loan repayment, and you are left with a company built to cash in on the privilege and favors from politicians.
http://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/economic-intelligence/2013/06/03/teslas-success-is-the-result-of-political-favoritism
http://my.teslamotors.com/service#/tesla-service
In San Diego there is a Tesla service center. No sales or charging stations. I doubt they will put in a free charging station with our 37 cents per KWH electricity. If you have the 85 KWH battery that will cost about $31.45 to charge in San Diego. If you get the maximum miles of 265 the cost is 12 cents per mile. My current cost for diesel in my Touareg TDI is 9 cents per mile.
This Tesla owner is right on the money. I assume he lives in a state that does not rip him on electricity.
To cover 15,243 miles, I used 5,074 kWh of electricity, for an average of 333 watt-hours per mile. That's a bit better than the car's EPA-rated efficiency of 350 Wh/mi, and converts to precisely 3 miles per kWh.
I used about 1,275 kWh of free Supercharger power on three long road trips totaling about 4,000 miles. So about 3,800 kWh of the 5,074-kWh total came through my electric meter.
Just forget about the time spent at a supercharger on that 400 mile trip, doesn't count.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/8_lfxPI5ObM?rel=0
“There may be a 'tipping point' that causes customers to seek an off-grid approach,” Morgan Stanley wrote last March. “The more customers move to solar, the remaining utility customer bill will rise, creating even further “headroom” for Tesla’s off-grid approach.”
This new Tesla battery will power your home, and maybe the electric grid too (Washington Post)
Florida Makes Off-Grid Living Illegal – Mandates All Homes Must Be Connected To Electricity & Water Grid
http://www.collective-evolution.com/2014/03/09/florida-makes-off-grid-living-illegal-mandates-all-homes-must-be-connected-to-an-electricity-grid/
My grid is frozen at the moment
I see GM is now fully in electric car market: 200 mile range, $30K price range. Tesla, look out.
http://insideevs.com/200-mile-30000-electric-chevrolet-bolt-expected-to-debut-at-2015-naias/
Apple has 'several hundred' workers designing new electric car, codenamed 'Titan' - report
The Journal's report follows hours after a similar missive from the Financial Times, which revealed a "top-secret research lab" staffed with automotive executives. Among those who have made the move is former Mercedes-Benz R&D head Johann Jungwirth, who joined Apple as a Mac systems engineering leader last fall.
Apple design chief Jony Ive is believed to have been personally recruiting automotive executives. Tesla CEO Elon Musk revealed earlier that Apple has tried "very hard" to poach engineers from the electric carmaker, offering $250,000 bonuses and 60 percent pay raises.
http://appleinsider.com/articles/15/02/13/apple-has-several-hundred-workers-designing-new-electric-car-codenamed-titan---report
I have to agree with you there. I have watched Apple since the beginning. I opted for Atari as a better product for less money. However, it will be interesting to see just what they come up with in an EV. For Mac Nuts an iCar may be worth sitting out in the cold for hours to buy the first one. With GM entering the fray with their EV Orion. I have to wonder if the market is even close to there. Nissan Leaf the most practical affordable EV has saturated the market. Sales are way off for them. An EV van may have appeal in the right price range.
I still think that's the bottom line for an EV renaissance. Or even a naissance.
I'm not predicting this will happen, but I see it as a logical scenario, particularly if oil prices remain low for a long time. That's because financing could become Tesla's scarce resource, its point of weakness. It seems to me that Tesla is boxed in by expenses that are growing faster than sales, low oil prices, and much larger, more diversified competitors with deep pockets.
Regarding financing, maybe Musk can con something from the gubbamint - having no MSRP cap on the tax break is definitely fishy IMO.
EV tax break is pretty much limited to above median wage earners. A family making under the $52k median income are not going to pay $7500 in Federal Income tax. EV tax incentive is only for upper middle class and wealthy people.
Tesla, the crony capitalist car company that couldn’t… without government intervention, is still performing spectacularly. And by performing spectacularly, I mean it’s losing enough money every year to build a car company that makes flying cars.
Tesla doesn’t actually make money, it resells California’s mandated energy credits. So if you’re buying a regular car, you’re basically paying rich people to drive a Tesla.
That’s how environmentalism works and Big Green is slaving over the thought of doing this on a national level with Carbon Credits.
http://www.frontpagemag.com/2014/dgreenfield/tesla-loses-50-mil-gets-250-mil-in-environmental-wealth-redistribution/
http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/tesla-motors-ends-2014-with-a-loss-after-building-35-000-electric-cars-1.2954866
http://www.autonews.com/article/20150217/OEM06/150219864/apples-electric-car-dreams-may-bring-auto-industry-nightmares
Musk has another thought that could explain Apple’s car project. On Tesla’s earnings call, before news of Project Titan became public, he said Apple is “just running out of ways to spend money. They spend money like it’s water over there and they still can’t spend enough of it.”
"These reports have raised more questions than answers. Who would they partner with to build it? Cars are harder to build than phones. Has Apple registered any autonomous vehicles? They'd have to if they're testing an autonomous car on the streets. Hiring an engineer from Ford (who worked on the iPhone), one from Mercedes, and some from Tesla doesn't mean a car is coming. Maybe they went to Apple because they got tired of cars. Who knows for sure. Apple might be working on a car, but they might also be working on connected car technology to sell to existing OEMs or mapping software or autonomous car retrofits. It could be literally anything. But to say Apple is definitely building a car is a lot premature.'
Another tidbit:
"Marc Newson, the famous designer who once drew up a sweet concept car for Ford, now works at Apple. Newson’s gone on the record saying Jonny Ive hates the design of American cars."
So, awash in money, a secret lab with "100s of employees" code-named Titan, and they already are well along with CarPlay.
Wanna be an auto mechanic? Start coding.
There is still a requirement for Grease Monkeys. And they will stay in the lower pay schedules. As far back as 2005 while talking to the service manager at the Buick/VW dealership in Portland Oregon, he was lamenting the loss of their top technician. Seems the Cadillac dealer offered him $150k per year to come run their shop. I guess he was a whiz with a laptop in analyzing computer problems in GM cars.
As for Apple in a car. I have not heard all good about their mapping. Didn't they go back to Google maps?
Wired also made the statement that Tesla was the first profitable automaker since Chrysler. Seems Tesla will have to overcome $1.3 billion in losses before they are profitable.
The investors may be tired of hearing all the hype. I see TSLA has lost about $84 from the peak of $286. Which I thought was about $200 more than it was worth. Who knows I am wrong about stocks at least half the time. The one time the media was bragging about a profitable quarter for Tesla they had gotten over $80 million in credit cash mostly from the other auto makers. The old Robbing Peter and Paul and give it to Elon.
Four states win Luddite Award for blocking Tesla from opening stores
"Alvin Kowalik has purchased many General Motors Co. pickup trucks over the years. But last year, the cattle rancher in Selma, Texas, tried something new, and purchased a pickup through GM’s Shop-Click-Drive website.
“I found the truck, listed my trade-in and was given the sales price. A nice lady from the dealership calls me, we made a deal, they drove it out and I signed the papers,” Mr. Kowalik said."
Why GM Hired 8,000 Programmers (WSJ - may be a registration link)
Sounds a whole lot like how Tesla does business.
"We can give you the out the door price but we would need you here..."
At least they emailed me instead of calling.
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2015 Subaru Outback 3.6R / 2024 Kia Sportage Hybrid SX Prestige
I am surprised you cannot get a Tesla through Amazon.