SteveF

I'll answer my own question, since I don't know if "Eric and Renee" from the owners community post here:

"The meeting last night was very civil with invited prospective customers asking a lot of basic questions. There were no loud voices and the Pro-Tesla camp outweighed the anti-price increase dissenters.

The upshot from Elon. We had to do it. That's the way it is. You can have a refund.

There was a lot of talk from the front and in groups afterwards but honestly, the whole time there was a loud voice in my head screaming, "I don't care it's another 7.5 thousand dollars for me".

It's been said that the CEO does not know how to deal with people. I say he is actually quite manipulative.

Posted by Eric and Renee on Today at 09:20 AM. "

Not what I was hoping for.

doug

Thanks for passing on the info. I guess those going to the Menlo Park meeting now have an idea of what to expect.

TEG

Who did they invite? Everyone local who has a deposit down on a 2008, but hasn't yet picked up their car?

Bradleybang

2009 depositors are also included. I will be going.

SteveF

I understand that people who have already taken delivery are also included, as there are new options that some may want to consider....

doug

What time is that meeting again this afternoon?
Don't suppose someone calling in wants to live blog it for us.

James

Someone on the TeslaMotors message board reported that the 220 volt 30 amp recharging cord is going to be included as standard.

That will recharge the Roadster in 8 hours or about 4x faster than the 110 volt 15 amp recharging cord.

__________________
Tesla Roadster Foundry aftermarket accessories

The Roadster Foundry Mobile Connector (RFMC)

Tdave

Menlo Park Meeting just concluded moments ago. Here are my notes from the call without further explanation, which I expect may prompt questions in some cases. Ask away. I'm sure other attendees will chime in as well. I will say though that were a few times of elevated emotionally charged discussion about the price increases. I think Elon handled them well.

My notes...

Electric Smart, Daimler Deal Discussion
Investment from large well respected company to be announced within the next week or so
March 5 reveal of Model S in LA at SpaceX facilities, Tesla customers and select VIPs only invited
Discussion about charger stations around LA
Charge cables are expensive due to low volume and all the safety features in them.
working on more cost efficient HPC around end of this year, "a little cheaper"
220V 30A cable should be all most people will need
"So if you don't need HPC, it may not be worth getting."
next year high voltage DC 45 min charge capability (car change required)

15 cars / week now
30 cars / week ramp up by early Spring

Model S orders taken first from Roadster owners beginning March 5

Very difficult decision to raise option prices and remove standard features from base price
Last round of financing was difficult to obtain.
"If you can get financing by not making money, I'd like to talk to your investors."
"We had no choice"
Latest round of funding closed on Christmas Eve, and we had no money.
My first obligation is the viability of Tesla. Without that we have nothing.
There's no question our communication should have been better.
Tom Saxton published his blog after Tesla gave him info in confidence. Tesla implored him to wait. He refused.
Explanation of negative margin.
This is a compromise. Not compromising would be to raise price to $109k AND take options out of base price.
Reasonably confident we'll still be around (in a few years).
Sold out through end of October 2009
Amount of money raised is enough to get to profitability with a little bit of cushion.
Can't give general investor option to car owners or Tesla would then be a public company.
Last round of investment capital coming at end of Jan (including a few car owners who inquired directly)
Will be market to service cars even if Tesla is no longer around.
Tesla needs to survive, and that is the purpose of all the current actions.

Questions from callers...
Any more negative shocks coming? No.
More on investing options.

Roof would under certain circumstances fly off, so we had to redesign and retool it.
Wind sealing needs to be better, still (on soft top presumably)
Owner doesn't like the headlights. Elon not thrilled about the headlights either.
Technical risks for Model S are much more reasonable due to technology leveraged from Roadster

powertrain 2.0 primary goal is cost reduction
also iterating motor design, battery refinements, but changes are small
really should be called powertrain 1.2 (should he have said 1.6?)

true next generation is what they're doing for Daimler
water cooled

Standard charger is 110V, not 220V
Improvement needs to occur with connector and outlet on car

$40M will last to profitability on Roadster
Powertrain business is already profitable
Current Model S expenditures will be from current profit cash flow until further funding (gov't) arrives.
Title 17 funding should be settled in Q2 (after land impact assessment). This is plan B
ATVM Funding is plan A. Timing is very uncertain pending Congress.

How many customers would you have to lose to prove option price increase was a bad idea?
The only way to get the $40M funding at end of Dec was to show vehicle profitability.
If I didn't get more people on board, the company would be toast.
"There won't be any more price increases"

New options in showroom in March
Next generation Roadster not for at least 3 years from now.
Some European sales will be delivered before 2009 US owners, but quite minimal.
Powertrain shipped from US to Europe for final assembly of European cars.

Deposits not returned if Tesla goes out of business. Become unsecured creditors of liquidated company.

First Model S rolls off line 24 months after they get funding for the Model S program.
A few thousand in first year. 15k-20k production rate by end of 2011.
Model S Platform is a skateboard type with different top designs that could be fitted for different future models (e.g. SUV, etc)
Drivable prototype of Model S on March 5 unveiling.

Roadster customer will automatically be put in front of the Model S queue, even 2 years from now.

MPT

I jotted my notes down at Tesla Town Hall meeting with owners - News - PlanetTesla

The message; It's a business, there's risk, this is life... sorry about that.

dpeilow

Nice write ups guys, thanks. Guess I can sleep now