3 Reasons Tesla Motors Will Dominate in 2014

fool.com ^ | January 3, 2014 | Tamara Walsh

[ckilmer]

going from 20k car delivered to 40k cars delivered isn't domination in the grand scheme of things. But it will get the attention of the major car companies who will throw more money at electric car vehicles in order to get them up to the new spec standard set by tesla.

[Gaffer]

Domination of what? To my estimation, being the leader in a pack of environmental battery, or batter/gas generator cars isn’t a total market leader. It’s a leader of a niche market, for those with the dollars to get into it.

[DManA]

There’ll be a lot of disappointed e-car owners at the end of this long cold winter.

[EEGator]

To “dominate”, there will need to be a massive breakthrough in battery technology.

For most people, an EV is simply not feasible.

[jjotto]

Major car companies know how to reverse engineer. Selling a $100,000 car for $90,000 doesn’t get far.

Real Tesla sales numbers seem not available through independent reporting agencies, unlike other car brands.

GM may buy Tesla as a way out.

[ClearCase_guy]

In fact, Tesla looks to be ahead of the mark as the company now expects to deliver 21,500 vehicles worldwide for fiscal 2013.

I think everyone who successfully signs up (and pays) for Obamacare should get a free Tesla. If they do that, they might hit six-figure sales!!!

[Cyman]

http://money.msn.com/investing/post—even-george-clooney-is-complaining-about-tesla

[freekitty]

Apparently the government doesn’t want you driving cars.

[taildragger]

To “dominate”, there will need to be a massive breakthrough in battery technology.

Yes, Graphene Super-Capacitor? perhaps.

However, I posted the other day Ford's Focus with Solar Panels on the roof, and then I spoke to my auto gnome about it and the "Concentrator" they are using. They hadn't seen it, but was enthused and thought it was brilliant in this sense. My gnome noted P-voltaic Cells are between 21% to 36% efficient, and unheard of number even 20 years ago which is about what an efficient car these days is actually getting to your rear wheels i.e. fuel burnt turned into motion. If you add the stationary concentrator, it would act as a super / turbocharger in a car, and @ Altitudes ( Denver and or sunnier climates, this might make a great deal of sense. Add to that let's say another 5% better PV-cell(s) in a few years, and the gains get better. Full blown Solar powered car? Maybe not, but a CNG powered car that has a heat pump heating cooling system driven by said roof mounted panels? Not out of the question...

[freekitty]

Push pedal cars will dominate.

[FlingWingFlyer]

What good is an electric car going to be with the Kenyan and his EPA shutting down all of the power plants. How are these idiots going to recharge their batteries?

[cripplecreek]

They’ll also need to be more successful at suing people who give them bad reviews.

[PAR35]

They left out the auto-ignition feature.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/20/business/us-safety-agency-opens-inquiry-into-tesla-fires.html?_r=0
http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1089229_tesla-irvine-fire-dept-disagree-over-cause-of-garage-fire
http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2013/10/03/tesla-says-car-fire-began-in-battery-after-crash/

[dalereed]

I wouldn’t have an electric piece of crap they call a car if i had unlimited millions!

[bigbob]

Interesting possibilities. Agree on CNG which we have in abundance as an alternative fuel, and the compressed air car also has potential for short hops. Something that I’d like to see change is the idea of “one size fits all” when it comes to vehicles. I could get excited about a non-gasoline vehicle with 20-30 mile range along with a conventional vehicle for longer trips.

Despite the number of FReepers who seem to live just to denigrate technology, we’re capable of accomplishing great things in transportation and energy. Just get the government out of the way and let private enterprise do what it does best.

[fella]

Will there be a fleet of Teslas delivering dignitaries to the stadium at the Greenbay game tomorrow?

[MasterGunner01]

Uh, Tesla Motors will dominate the 1 percent EV market with $165,000 cars? Yup. Got it...a sound business model if there ever was one.

[EEGator]

It will be interesting to see what happens in the future. Hopefully government will “mostly” keep from interfering. I say “mostly” because we all know they will to some degree.

[EEGator]

“Uh, Tesla Motors will dominate the 1 percent EV market with $165,000 cars? Yup. Got it...a sound business model if there ever was one.”

“With the stock growing in value from $32 at the start of 2013 to where it trades today, around $147, it’s hard to imagine there’s much upside left in the name.” (from the article)

Tesla knows it’s a niche market. They also know that government will be involved in the market. They started with a luxury/sports model and plan to move towards a more base model in time. How is this a poor business plan?

[adorno]

Hopefully government will “mostly” keep from interfering. I say “mostly” because we all know they will to some degree.

In fact, government would be left with no choice, and they'd have to interfere.

Imagine if EVs and hybrids were to take a huge chunk of the auto market, and then imagine what that would do to the gas revenue that government collects and depends on for road maintenance and the number of jobs that would be affected.

It would be the equivalent of the cigarette taxes all over again. Government wanted to ban cigarettes, but they still wanted the tax revenues that came from people smoking. Same with petro-fueled cars, which the government wants less of, but they still want the fuel taxes.

The consumer never wins, and government never loses.