Posted on 04/04/2015 9:42:47 AM PDT by Red Badger
Electric carmaker Tesla announced Friday it delivered a "record" number of vehicles in the first quarter, as it began more timely reporting of sales figures.
The California firm started by tech entrepreneur Elon Musk said it sold 10,030 cars in the first three months of 2015.
"This was a new company record for the most cars delivered in a quarter and represents a 55 percent increase over the first quarter last year," the company said in a statement.
Going forward, Tesla said it would publish the number of new car deliveries within three days of quarter end.
"We have decided to take this approach, because inaccurate sources of information are sometimes used by others to project the number of vehicle deliveries," the statement said.
The statement noted that "this is only one measure of our financial performance and should not be relied on as an indicator of our quarterly financial results, which depend on a variety of factors, including the cost of sales, foreign exchange movements and mix of directly leased vehicles."
While Tesla produces relatively few vehicles, it has become a star in the sector due to keen demand and a reputation for high quality.
The company currently produces its luxury Model S, costing upwards of $69,000 but it is planning new vehicles including a more affordable model.
Last year the group sold some 55,000 vehicles.
Tesla has offered to allow rivals to use its patents for free in an effort to boost the electric car sector, and has made efforts to improve the range of the vehicles to ease concerns that they could lose power without a nearby charging station.
Earlier this week, Musk tweeted that the company would unveil a "major" new product line next month, leaving analysts guessing.
Some reports said Musk was likely referring to a home battery based on a design used in the Tesla vehicles, which he spoke about during a February earnings call.
Tesla Model S
Tesla makes their profits from the sale of “ev credits” to other car manufacturers. Without the California and NE State Compact mandates for a minimum percentage of electric vehicles sold by each mfgr, they would have no profit.
So it’s the very definition of “crony capitalism”
Tesla Model S P85D vs Lamborghini LP570-4 Super
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4CnSS4OG4A
The Lambo not only smokes the Tesla, but it can be “recharged” in about three minutes. Lexus makes some awesome hybrids with half million mile durability. And a nationwide dealer network.
“..Even if it’s $10k, it’s way cheaper than a new $100k automobile. And they can afford it............”
Heck, if I had $100K to spend on a car, it sure as hell would not be an electric car. You can buy a lot of car, AND a lot of gasoline for $100K. :-)
But then you couldn’t lord it over you friends and relatives as to how Eco-sensitive you are!............
Several hybrid supercars will beat the Tesla on speed, but at a price that would buy you a whole caravan of Teslas.
Scientists create quick-charging hybrid supercapacitors
http://phys.org/news/2015-04-scientists-quick-charging-hybrid-supercapacitors.html
BFL
Can somebody explain to me why so many conservatives are so hostile to anything that is environmental friendly?
Why are we so quick to cede this high ground to the liberals and reinforce the false narrative that conservatism is inconsistent with environmentalism?
As conservatives, we should be celebrating innovation and the development of new sources of energy.
Yes, there are plenty of fossil fuels, coal and natural gases that will last us at least hundreds of more years. I get it. But that doesn't mean we have to close our minds to things like solar power and battery-powered automobiles.
It is easy to scoff at the battery-powered automobiles of today but this is an industry still in its infancy and we shouldn't discourage people from being early adopters. The early adopters are the ones who will create the market and will eventually drive incremental and even exponential improvements in the technology.
I think back to 1976 when Kodak invented the digital camera. At the time, it was something like .001 megapixel and it took hours to process and view a digital image on the prehistoric computer equipment we had back in that day.
It was easy to laugh at the technology then, when film-based cameras ruled the day. In fact, Kodak put the technology on the shelf and forgot about it, while their competitors made the necessary capital investment to make digital photography appeal to the masses.
The result, as many of you probably know, was that Kodak went bankrupt as their film and camera business collapsed virtually overnight.
Now film based cameras still get the job done. Just as gasoline-powered cars get the job done today. But the convenience of digital photography renders the film-based method obsolete for the average consumer. Though a tiny percentage of professional photographers still swear by film, it's wasn't enough to keep Kodak in business.
Progress on batteries will continue to be slow because Moore's law does not apply here. We are up against the laws of physics and chemistry and so progress remains incremental. But slowly and surely, a battery powered car will be developed that will effectively compete with the internal combustion engine.
Conservatives should not be ridiculing the effort. It makes us seem like those narrow-minded fools from the past who insisted that the Earth was flat and that manned flight was impossible.
Elon Musk said it sold 10,030 cars in the first three months of 2015 and a million short to making a profit ?
It's not that we are 'hostile' to environmental friendly causes or devices, it's the smug, hypocritical, self aggrandizing people who promote these things like Algore and other celebs and their private jets and and huge mansions telling us common folk WE are the problem because WE use too much this or that..................
I’m not ridiculing the effort, there’s plenty of fine engineering in Tesla cars. My buddy’s daughter has one, I’ve driven it, and they have produced an excellent product.
But it’s still heavily subsidized via state and federal tax credits and state ev mandate credits, and it’s not obvious to me that a Tesla is any more environmentally friendly than a Lexus.
Add in the fact that Musk is a Baraqqi partisan and there’s plenty of reason to take shots at Tesla.
http://www.floppingaces.net/2012/12/23/elon-musk-obamas-triple-dipper-reader-post/
There is tech coming from one of the major manufacturers that will make Tesla look like a Stanley Steamer.
2016 North American International Auto Show in Detroit.....you heard it here first
The Tesla is a heavy sedan, the Lambo is an exotic light sports car.
The Tesla beats the Lambo 0 to 60.
The Tesla is 1/3 the price of the Lambo.
“It’s not that we are ‘hostile’ to environmental friendly causes or devices, it’s the smug, hypocritical, self aggrandizing people who promote these things like Algore and other celebs and their private jets and and huge mansions telling us common folk WE are the problem because WE use too much this or that.................. “
Then how come 98% of the anti-electric car posts are critical of the technology and NOT critical of the politics?
There's nothing wrong with the technology, the problem is with the suitability of that technology to serve as a solution for people's transportation needs as they exist in 2015.
Right now, and electric car is best suited as a secondary vehicle for those occasions when it's limitations aren't critical. For those people who don't want or can't afford a second or third vehicle, an EV simply isn't a good choice. In 5 or 10 years, it might be, but not now.
As for the politics, virtually everybody who posts on this forum is already critical of the politics, so there's no need to continually beat that dead horse.
I’m not sure about 98% but I’m always throwing a sharp elbow at Musk for being a Baraqqi partisan on every Tesla thread I post on.
“There’s nothing wrong with the technology, ...
As for the politics, virtually everybody who posts on this forum is already critical of the politics, so there’s no need to continually beat that dead horse.”
If there is nothing wrong with the technology, then why do so many bash the technology?
people carry over their disagreement in politics over to the technology
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