First of all, the Nevada gigafactory, Tesla has so far only received a few million in subsidies. Not the 1.3 billion claimed. That is because that 1.3 billion subsidies are over the span of 20 years!

How do you know my dream world? Did you probe me in my sleep?

NHTSA classifies Google cars as Level 3. The Tesla Model S is Level 2. It is capable of some Level 3 but those things are locked at this point. So it is a Level 2 system.

That is cool, but Tesla advertises a Level 2 system. Not a Level 3 system.

Volvo’s issue is this. Tesla and Volvo both have Level 2 systems. Tesla has a far superior Level 2 system.

Tesla advertises autopilot as Level 2. It is capable of doing Level 3 stuff according to Tesla, but they have kept it at Level 2. They do plan to release a full self driving car within a few years.

So Volvo’s complaint is that Tesla has a superior system then they have?

Last I checked Tesla advertises it as Level 2. And last I checked Tesla’s data shows a 50% reduction in crashes with it.

Do they really care if they fail? How many automakers are still run by the families who founded them? The ones running the show, all they care about is that they will be fine for a few years to collect their cash and golden parachutes and jump out with glory.

The material cost for the battery cells is about 60$ per kwh.

The notion that you think Tesla needs the tax credit subsidies to be viable is ridiculously silly. Tesla is not even advertising the tax credits for the Model 3 because at end of the day it is irrelevant to them.

Considering GM has pretty much went bankrupt and got bailed out, and the whole thing about knowingly killing people. I’d say GM still has a thing or 2 to learn about making cars.

It has nothing to do with fearing of litigation or cutting corners. The difference is that they are thinking outside the box. Technology has advanced a lot, if you read the articles about the team up of Toyota and Tesla, you will quickly see the disconnect they had where Tesla offers suggestion to improve things while…

You have no clue what you are talking about do you? Tesla reports their accounting under GAAP accounting. They include non-GAAP accounting to account better for their finances, since Tesla does not do much leasing themselves and have no dealer middleman, they get 100% of the cash upfront but lease accounting forces…

I don’t know why he is so shocked, he might be getting batteries at cost from LG, but end of the day when you consider SCALE at cost from LG is not good enough, here is battery sales by manufacturer:

I see little reason for the Model 3 not to hit the roads in 2017. So far they are ahead of schedule.

This isn’t the first time Musk talked about Gen 4 platform. That said, considering it will be completely new platform, the Gen 4 cars would have no impact on Gen 3 cars. Just like Model 3 had no impact on Gen 2 cars.

He never said if it will be or won’t be under the Tesla brand. Personally I think it would be time for Tesla to offspin a new brand for the lower models. But if Tesla makes it say a small compact 2 seater, maybe 2+2 coupe they could get away with it under the Tesla brand.

So what does he consider them? Aliens? Super beings?

Hint: Musk was born in South Africa.

He is obviously talking about people in the car market.

It is out, which is why Volt sales began to recover. Volt sales are up 112.8% YTD. But Leaf on the otherhand while it did get a minor upgrade, people are waiting for the 2017 model, which is causing a decline in sales there.

I think the biggest issue was since the transistor was not invented until 50 years later, that EVs had problems with top speed. The lack of topspeed pretty much made it a non-starter, thus all R&D went into ICE. It wasn’t until the mobile era and invention of the lithium ion battery that EVs became practical again due…