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> The Economist is under estimating Musk and they should give him a little more credit given his track record. Telsa is not a slam dunk but it's also nowhere near as fragile as they make out. Musk also has a bit of equity in SpaceX he could lean on if the markets demur at the end of 2019.

https://static.seekingalpha.com/uploads/2018/3/1/37229846-15...

Tesla is going to run into issues in 2019 if they are unable to ramp up the Model 3. Tesla lost $1.6 Billion last year, and they only have $3 millionish in cash. Furthermore, Tesla has debt that is due in 2018 (~$300 million or so) and early 2019 (~$900 million).

Over the next year, Tesla needs to pay off $1.2 Billion in debt, AND needs to increase revenue by ~$1.6 Billion or so to stay even. They're not exactly in a good situation.

I'm relatively confident that Mr. Musk can raise another $3 billion in capital through stock offerings or rolling over their debt in the short term, but those options have some risks involved. Furthermore, people will not want to lend money to Tesla if they think that the company is sinking.

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All the while, Tesla has bought SolarCity and also inherited all of its debt and issues. Tesla was having enough issues ramping up Model 3, but now they ALSO have to make the solar company profitable too. It was a bad time to buy SolarCity.

> smaller and lighter motors mean more interior space and better performance

Except you need a whole lot fo heavy battery. The model S is not a light car.

You can make anything sound amazing is you ignore every drawback.

> Except you need a whole lot fo heavy battery. The model S is not a light car.

And that heavy battery concentrated at a very low point makes Teslas (or, for that matter, most E vehicles) excellent in handling.

I’m not sure I’d agree. The Model S is quite prone to understeer, and it’s not just slight understeer but real unrelenting understeer. I’m not sure how though because there isn’t a lot of weight over the front axle that would cause the nose to push wide so perhaps it’s because of how the suspension is setup. This is quite unlike the BMW M5, for example.

> b)Large automakers know this but simpler for them translates into less maintenance which means lower profits. Automakers therefore will pay lip service to electrics, drag their feet and kill off any real electric competition if they can. The world's environment is not a shareholder in the large automakers.

If I'm not mistaken, maintenance translates to profits for dealers which are completely different from manufacturers (unless you're talking about Tesla). From the standpoint of the manufacturers, it's in their interest to force people to buy new cars instead of buying them, so they should be making cars that fall apart quickly--except the evidence is that car quality has dramatically improved over the past 40 years.

>Large automakers know this but simpler for them translates into less maintenance which means lower profits. Automakers therefore will pay lip service to electrics, drag their feet and kill off any real electric competition if they can.

That might have been the original plan, but nowadays it would be suicidal. That is because the Chinese government is totally committed to EV's. I am sure the mainstream auto execs are totally aware of that.

I recently learned that he was into ultracapacitors in college and very early wanted to go into EVs. He's often portrayed as a rich internet dude that learned rocketry but he had an actual serious background. That's not everything but it's a bit less shallow foundations and Tesla battle is not against the elements but against markets, a tad different.

Zetsche, Mercedes Benz CEO, just admitted to Shareholders that they will switch to electric cars, but it will be bad for their bottom line. That's why they are dragging their feet.

The only reason to switch are moronic German politicians, who require fleet CO2 standard and want to ban ICEs completely.

Electric/Electronic is not better than ICE.

Most of the problems in my modern car come from failures in the electrical / electronic subsystems.

Meanwhile my grandpas no bs 1980's Honda Accord is still going with just some lube and gasoline.

When you make a motherboard that works properly for more than 5 years, let us know.

1. Electric != electronic. Electrical engines have been a staple of engineering for about 200 years, about as long as ICE. Integrated circuits, on the other hand, have only been around for some 60 years, and while those are pretty reliable on the hardware side, we're still figuring out how to manage the complexity that they enable, and how to make software that's not shitty.

2. One anecdote does not a rule make.

3. "When you make a motherboard that works properly for more than 5 years, let us know." Maybe you should stop buying bottom-shelf. I've seen 10-year-old Thinkpads work like they did on the first day. And my current Asus notebook is already 6 years old and shows no sign of old age at all. Even the battery still holds over 80% charge.

You’re both right. Industrial electric motors run 24/7/365 for decades in all sorts of harsh conditions. The motors should not be an issue.

On the flip side these cars are filled with electronics. Just look at the dash... I don’t trust those to last more than the warranty period. However, I feel the same about most modern cars, especially luxury cars.