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06-30-2008, 06:53 PM
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#31 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2006 Posts: 863 | Quote:
Originally Posted by BBHighway  Whitestar is now to be known as the Model S, according to SF Gate. | I can see an alphabetical progression here. . . .
Model R = Roadster
Model S = Sedan
Model T = the electric "Model T" for the masses | 
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06-30-2008, 09:32 PM
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#32 | | Head Moderator
Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Stanford, California Posts: 3,604 | | |
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06-30-2008, 09:39 PM
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#33 | | Head Moderator
Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Stanford, California Posts: 3,604 | | |
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07-01-2008, 01:55 AM
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#34 | | Head Moderator
Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Stanford, California Posts: 3,604 | New Mexico is not happy. ABQJOURNAL BIZ: Tesla Motors Plans To Stay in California Quote:
The “Governator” has prevailed at New Mexico's expense.
Tesla Motors, which planned to build an electric car factory in Albuquerque, will instead build it in California, where the company has been offered millions in incentives by a state eager to invest in energy alternatives.
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Tesla's founders and key investors, including PayPal founder Elon Musk, joined Gov. Bill Richardson in February 2007 to announce plans for a $35 million plant here, which they said would employ up to 400 and begin production in fall 2009.
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New Mexico had offered a smaller package of incentives, including about $7 million in capital outlay for infrastructure at a planned West Side plant, tax breaks and job training funds.
That announcement drew national attention, but the company's attention was soon diverted to last-minute fixes to its flagship $100,000 roadster, the first of which was finally delivered earlier this year.
In December, as it faced ongoing delays, the company unceremoniously ousted co-founder Martin Eberhard, who had made several visits to New Mexico on Tesla's behalf.
“This decision by Tesla is not surprising, given the recent instability of its management,” New Mexico Economic Development Secretary Fred Mondragón, said in a statement.
“Still, it's unfortunate that Tesla backed away from its commitment to the state.”
Toni Balzano, a spokeswoman for the New Mexico Economic Development Department, said Tesla informed Richardson's office of its decision before Monday's announcement.
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Last edited by doug; 07-01-2008 at 02:05 AM..
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07-01-2008, 09:48 AM
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#35 | | '08 #383
Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Cupertino, CA Posts: 364 | Sounds like sour grapes to me ;-).
The biggest part of the deal is that California will actually buy the equipment and lease it back to Tesla, with Tesla having the option to buy it later. That, in many ways, is more important than the "9 million in incentives", as it means much less capital up front on the part of the company.
That, and you don't mess with the governator. | |
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07-01-2008, 12:42 PM
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#36 | | Head Moderator
Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Stanford, California Posts: 3,604 | Quote:
Originally Posted by SByer Sounds like sour grapes to me ;-). | Given the tone of that statement (in bold above), it most certainly is sour grapes. But you can also understand their disappointment. NM announced their agreement to great fanfare, and then they waited around for a long time and nothing happened.
At any rate, I'm happy to have Tesla local. Quote:
Originally Posted by SByer That, and you don't mess with the governator. | Sure enough.
Last edited by doug; 07-01-2008 at 01:38 PM..
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07-02-2008, 12:36 AM
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#37 | | Waiting for P121
Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Oslo, Norway Posts: 768 | The fact that this Whitestar announcement was completely toothless (except for the building in California part), is that a sign that the Roadster is delayed again? It seems they don't want to announce any major Whitestar information and allow someone to BUY a Whitestar until they've got the Roadster production up and running. Doesn't that imply that the Roadster production is still having problems or running late ?
In July they should have started on the Signature series and started ramping up to a few cars a week. Shouldn't this be something they celebrate instead of hide?
Cobos
Last edited by Cobos; 07-02-2008 at 12:38 AM..
Reason: Typos
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07-02-2008, 02:03 AM
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#38 | | Junior Member
Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 21 | I figure the Roadster production schedule is for PR purposes. Until the 1.5 drivetrain is ready, they probably want to produce as few Roadsters as PR can allow..
Isn't September the target for having the 1.5 drivetrain ready for production? | |
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07-02-2008, 03:32 AM
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#39 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 1,239 | Well although this represents minimal news for those of us who have followed Tesla for some time, it is a significant step up in terms of publicity.
In the same way that the original Wired article created an online sensation, the involvment of the Governator puts Tesla on many more people's radar.
You could argue that the impact of the Wired piece hindered such a small company as much as it helped. Yet employees such as Lisa Pavey were willing and able to diversify and give time to things like blog editing. Darryl took things further with implementing the Think, Feel, Touch and Hear channels.
The relaunch of the Whitestar program will cause different pressures but I'm sure there will be existing and new staff able to give it their full attention. In this regard, I do hope that Elon is able to step down from / sell SpaceX (this probably requires a successful launch  ). As product architect of Model S he needs to focus on the one game. | |
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07-02-2008, 06:55 AM
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#40 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Slovenia, Europe Posts: 783 | As things are shaping, not even 100 Roadsters will be delivered this year.
Tesla is making much much more loss by not delivering the cars at all than they would by replacing the drivetrain latter.
I hope they are at leaste fixing those water leaking and wind noise problems. | |
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