Tesla's New Battery Isn't What They Said It Would Be | Hacker News Reader

Tesla's New Battery Isn't What They Said It Would Be

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21 pointsVagueMag7 comments

I don't think he promised Rome would be built in a day; 33% cheaper at this point doesn't worry me; it's the other tech being missing that does. Doesn't mean it won't show up later, of course, but it is worrying. He didn't say batteries would instantly be half the cost, he said in time they'd be half the cost as all these techs were perfected.

Still, as he never tires of repeating; actually producing new inventions in volume is usually a bear-sized problem; the invention is (in some ways) the easy part.

Other car companies have had severe problems with their batteries recently as well. Tesla won't hesitate to switch to other tech if it proves better; as it may. I haven't seen any indication that other techs have been all locked up with exclusive contracts that prevent sales to Tesla; nor do I expect to. Tesla's the big EV market and will probably keep that lead, it would be unwise to just refuse to sell to them. Still, that is a possibility and the most likely way for Tesla to fail (which I don't expect.)

>I don't think he promised Rome would be built in a day

This is Elon we're talking about. He's made all kinds of promises that never turned out to be (yet, but how many years are we supposed to wait for something coming next year).

He's fulfilled many promises, too many to list. Start with the world's first full-flow rocket engine. Outside of China, maybe, I think it's true to say that every other EV company is further behind on its promises, often due to battery problems, but sometimes software, etc.

If you've ever built anything, you know the end of the tunnel ain't all that predictable.

Yes, he is too optimistic, people who get things done first usually are; but he lands on his feet, with it done. The optimism lends his companies urgency and that gives us advances faster. If you get fooled every time, that's you.

Is anyone really surprised? The list of things announced by Elon Musk that actually where delivered as described by him is awfully short.

short but impactful. the three that come to mind are the launch of the original roadster, getting model 3 production up to 5k/wk, and getting reusable rockets working.

Yeah, but what have the Roman’s ever really done for us?

Musk had little to do with the original Roadster. Tesla was originally founded by Tarppening and Eberhart. Musk was an early investor who won the right to call himself a founder after a lawsuit. Reusable rockets where invented a long time ago, the challenge is making them profitable, and SpaceX have yet to demonstrate that.

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