My argument about the "twisted ideas about owning a vehicle" was directed at the notion that one would buy a truck in order to "haul stuff". I cannot tell you how many times I have heard this argument from various people who were in the market for a pickup truck. When I asked them how many times they would "haul stuff" per year, they would tell me that a couple times. They never considered the fact that you can actually rent a truck to "haul stuff," and it would cost you much less than buying a truck just to "haul stuff" a few times per year.
You can buy a truck that seat 5 people comfortably so why is it wrong for them to want a vehicle that supports their year-long needs, not just their commute to work needs?
You don't need to own a home. 4 months after I got my Model S I sold my home and moved to a high rise apartment building downtown. I chose this specific building because they have 3 public chargers in the parking garage. If you rent like I do then make it a prerequisite for the apartment.
[quote name="sirozha" url="/t/162068/apple-secretly-met-with-tesla-ceo-elon-musk-also-working-on-tech-to-predict-heart-attacks/120#post_2475445"My argument about the "twisted ideas about owning a vehicle" was directed at the notion that one would buy a truck in order to "haul stuff". I cannot tell you how many times I have heard this argument from various people who were in the market for a pickup truck. When I asked them how many times they would "haul stuff" per year, they would tell me that a couple times. They never considered the fact that you can actually rent a truck to "haul stuff," and it would cost you much less than buying a truck just to "haul stuff" a few times per year.[/quote]
You can buy a truck that seat 5 people comfortably so why is it wrong for them to want a vehicle that supports their year-long needs, not just their commute to work needs?
That's where my "if you are not lazy ..." statement was directed. A huge 5-seater truck bought to "satisfy both needs" is a bad financial decision. Compare the gas mileage of such a truck to a regular family sedan, the price premium, the difference is sales tax, property tax, insurance, etc. It makes no financial sense to purchase a pickup truck that "serves both needs". By the same token, purchasing a Tesla Model S at today's price makes no financial sense. It does make sense to buy such a car for other reasons - if you are not trying to save money, you are environmentally inclined, you are into new technology, you love the way the electric car drives, etc.
That's where my "if you are not lazy ..." statement was directed. A huge 5-seater truck bought to "satisfy both needs" is a bad financial decision. Compare the gas mileage of such a truck to a regular family sedan, the price premium, the difference is sales tax, property tax, insurance, etc. It makes no financial sense to purchase a pickup truck that "serves both needs". By the same token, purchasing a Tesla Model S at today's price makes no financial sense. It does make sense to buy such a car for other reasons - if you are not trying to save money, you are environmentally inclined, you are into new technology, you love the way the electric car drives, etc.
No financial sense? None? It's odd with all these fringe use cases for an electric car that you can't think of a single fringe use case that might require a 5 seat pickup truck that doesn't need to haul much in the bed day to day. Off-road and towing capabilities readily come to mind.
Again (and for the last time), I'm all for electric vehicles. If Tesla doesn't make it I think their legacy will and electric cars are the future (even though hybrids will make a lot more sense to most for the foreseeable future, even if the engine is just a quiet compressor to charge the battery at night from a remote location), but I think there is a lot of emotion going into these pro-Tesla arguments that isn't helping your case.
It's a good argument and definitely makes more sense than Apple buying Tesla outright. I really do hope Apple is one of the partners for the Gigafactory. I also hope Tesla uses iOS in the car along with A8 processors to run the entertainment system.
It's a good argument and definitely makes more sense than Apple buying Tesla outright. I really do hope Apple is one of the partners for the Gigafactory. I also hope Tesla uses iOS in the car along with A8 processors to run the entertainment system.
If anyone were to get iOS as part of the in-dash system I'd think it would be Tesla, but I'm betting that it'll just be iOS in the Car which I think is essentially AirPlay that will overlay onto a wide range of automaker in-dash systems.
The only real criticism they have against a buyout is a potential culture clash but it's not as if they'd have to be in the same offices and Tesla has under 6,000 employees vs 55,000+ HQ staff at Apple. I wouldn't even expect them to rebrand anything because Tesla is a great brand. It could be like the Claris setup.
Tesla might not need cash support any more though. They released their 10K for 2013:
$2b revenue with a net loss of $74m, which is a huge improvement over 2012. They also have over $1b in cash so if their losses stay better than 2013, they can survive a while. Although it's still loss-making, when you are building cars with the potential to be driverless for the blind, you don't think about the bloody ROI.
If Tesla can go it alone, that would be the easier route to go down for both. If they do just use batteries, I wonder if they'll be branded Tesla inside Apple's products. That would be neat and passes the blame to them if they go on fire.
Comments
You can buy a truck that seat 5 people comfortably so why is it wrong for them to want a vehicle that supports their year-long needs, not just their commute to work needs?
Not possible in my price range..
[quote name="sirozha" url="/t/162068/apple-secretly-met-with-tesla-ceo-elon-musk-also-working-on-tech-to-predict-heart-attacks/120#post_2475445"My argument about the "twisted ideas about owning a vehicle" was directed at the notion that one would buy a truck in order to "haul stuff". I cannot tell you how many times I have heard this argument from various people who were in the market for a pickup truck. When I asked them how many times they would "haul stuff" per year, they would tell me that a couple times. They never considered the fact that you can actually rent a truck to "haul stuff," and it would cost you much less than buying a truck just to "haul stuff" a few times per year.[/quote]
You can buy a truck that seat 5 people comfortably so why is it wrong for them to want a vehicle that supports their year-long needs, not just their commute to work needs?
That's where my "if you are not lazy ..." statement was directed. A huge 5-seater truck bought to "satisfy both needs" is a bad financial decision. Compare the gas mileage of such a truck to a regular family sedan, the price premium, the difference is sales tax, property tax, insurance, etc. It makes no financial sense to purchase a pickup truck that "serves both needs". By the same token, purchasing a Tesla Model S at today's price makes no financial sense. It does make sense to buy such a car for other reasons - if you are not trying to save money, you are environmentally inclined, you are into new technology, you love the way the electric car drives, etc.
No financial sense? None? It's odd with all these fringe use cases for an electric car that you can't think of a single fringe use case that might require a 5 seat pickup truck that doesn't need to haul much in the bed day to day. Off-road and towing capabilities readily come to mind.
Again (and for the last time), I'm all for electric vehicles. If Tesla doesn't make it I think their legacy will and electric cars are the future (even though hybrids will make a lot more sense to most for the foreseeable future, even if the engine is just a quiet compressor to charge the battery at night from a remote location), but I think there is a lot of emotion going into these pro-Tesla arguments that isn't helping your case.
It's a good argument and definitely makes more sense than Apple buying Tesla outright. I really do hope Apple is one of the partners for the Gigafactory. I also hope Tesla uses iOS in the car along with A8 processors to run the entertainment system.
If anyone were to get iOS as part of the in-dash system I'd think it would be Tesla, but I'm betting that it'll just be iOS in the Car which I think is essentially AirPlay that will overlay onto a wide range of automaker in-dash systems.
The only real criticism they have against a buyout is a potential culture clash but it's not as if they'd have to be in the same offices and Tesla has under 6,000 employees vs 55,000+ HQ staff at Apple. I wouldn't even expect them to rebrand anything because Tesla is a great brand. It could be like the Claris setup.
Tesla might not need cash support any more though. They released their 10K for 2013:
http://ir.teslamotors.com/sec.cfm
$2b revenue with a net loss of $74m, which is a huge improvement over 2012. They also have over $1b in cash so if their losses stay better than 2013, they can survive a while. Although it's still loss-making, when you are building cars with the potential to be driverless for the blind, you don't think about the bloody ROI.
If Tesla can go it alone, that would be the easier route to go down for both. If they do just use batteries, I wonder if they'll be branded Tesla inside Apple's products. That would be neat and passes the blame to them if they go on fire.
I see what you did there.