The Nay Sayers!

AC1K · Aug 20, 2014

You should raise your eyebrows when Tesla suggests a 45-minute charging time or the notion that battery swapping might be built in.

Tesla is suggesting that it could offer quick charging in 45 minutes, and an option to extend driving range to 300 miles. But these things, and a number of other futuristic features, are examples of Tesla getting ahead of itself.

Tesla Motors is an Environmental Fail (and More!)

and perhaps the 5.5 figure is only for a sports version, we don’t know

Tesla claims that you can drive cross country while stopping to charge the batteries. According to the company this only takes 45 minutes. However, that is with the (expensive) 440 volt plugs, which you won’t be able to find anywhere you don’t have it specifically installed.

This time figure is also likely for the smallest battery pack size. Do you even want to stop every 2 hours for 1 hour to charge your electric car?

I’m not bashing electrics, but Tesla shouldn’t pretend the car is what it’s not

Tesla CEO Says Model S Equivalent Cost to a $35,000 Gas Car: Does This Mean Volt Will be $21,000?

The Tesla will be a neat car if it is ever produced. But without a range extender it will be a minor niche product.

The Tesla Model S Won't Be Real Unless Elon Musk Has a Few Hundred Million to Spare

But even if Federal funding does not pan out, Musk emphasizes that the Model S "WILL come to market."
Well, we'll see.

Tesla Will Go Hybrid - HybridCars.com

the company is reportedly planning to utilize a more mainstream gas-electric hybrid powertrain in its upcoming Whitestar sedan.

VWVortex.com - Tesla's Model S: 'Mass-market' electric car unveiled today

zerind said:
Meh. More Vaporware

zerind said:
Hah. Tesla is the last company GM is going to have to worry about when it comes to stealing Volt sales.

Now what do you have to say?

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cant believe i forgot to post this one

Teslas Model S Ponzi Scheme Rakes in $2.6M. At Least | The Truth About Cars

rehposolihp April 2nd said:
As it is, I think they will probably go belly up in the next year and a half.

fallout11 April 2nd said:
The depositors would have done better in Vegas with the same $$ (and better odds of ever seeing a nickel of their ‘investment’ again)

Brownie April 2nd said:
The future may be electric, but that doesn’t mean the future is Tesla. I do want them to succeed, but I would never do business with a company that behaves like this.

First logical answer

TZ April 2nd said:
Ponzi scheme? I don’t think that term means what you think it means. If they deliver product, it isn’t a Ponzi scheme.

Daniel R. Lucas · Aug 20, 2014

There are several kinds of naysayers that I've seen:

- The Oldfashioned Nayser: anything good has been tried and tested. Tesla is new so it's probably bad.
- The Pessimist Nayser: will find any and all faults possible for anything.
- The Political Nayser: will be against it until more people have/want electric cars than not.
- The Jealous Nayser: is against anything that is unaffordable.

Most people just look at the price tag on a Tesla and dismiss the car from there without any consideration for time, maintenance, environment, safety, long-term ownership costs, etc.

AmpedRealtor · Aug 20, 2014

The world moves so fast nowadays that you have to get with the program or else get out of the way. The above snippets are roadkill.

Johan · Aug 20, 2014

Status quo bias is a common and widespread problem with the human psyche. It means that we often inherently think that the status quo is preferrable to any change, but when challenged we can't explain why.

Great list of quoted BTW!

ChadS · Aug 20, 2014

Similar (though not identical; seems more focused on investors) thread HERE.

RiverBrick · Aug 20, 2014

Some of those quotes are from 2009, but amazingly you can still find similar content from 2013 and 2014. When Tesla went public in 2010, an interviewer said to Musk that "the experts say you can't deliver the sedan." Musk replied that Tesla had continuously confounded its critics and at some point the naysayers would get tired of being wrong.

Now we can say that the critics are still wrong AND Musk was wrong about them---the haters seemingly never get tired of making fools of themselves.

Rockster · Aug 20, 2014

RiverBrick said:
Some of those quotes are from 2009, but amazingly you can still find similar content from 2013 and 2014. When Tesla went public in 2010, an interviewer said to Musk that "the experts say you can't deliver the sedan." Musk replied that Tesla had continuously confounded its critics and some point the naysayers would get tired of being wrong.

Now we can say that the critics are still wrong AND Musk was wrong about them---the haters seemingly never get tired of making fools of themselves.

As a friend of mine is fond of saying, "I don't have a shovel large enough to fill the world's intellectual void."

astrotoy · Aug 20, 2014

Over the past couple (or more) years Seeking Alpha writers have been recommending shorting TSLA. It happened again today. I was trying to google the dates of previous columns advising shorting TSLA and when there were columns from the same writers advising to cover the shorts. Interesting to see whether there is a clear track record here. Or whether those who followed their advice are still short today (short interest has fallen quite a bit - to 19% according to the column).

AbeFromin · Aug 20, 2014

this is how WE do...

karmamule · Aug 20, 2014

At least those articles were several years ago. I'm astounded how many people post objections about the Model S out of such abject ignorance *TODAY*! I see people routinely posting nonsense that shows they aren't aware of superchargers, they aren't aware of the cost of electricity, they aren't aware of how well the Model S drives, and so much more.

I've been around the internet long enough not to be shocked at the ignorance. But, it still depresses me now and again when I run into it.

flashflood · Aug 20, 2014

@AbeFromin: No idea what that means. The man who bailed out America's least efficient ICE maker said what?

galangg · Aug 20, 2014

All amusing quotes

Dutchie · Aug 20, 2014

Haven't heard from John Petersen in a while, may be he is silenced now?

gg_got_a_tesla · Aug 20, 2014

Dutchie said:
Haven't heard from John Petersen in a while, may be he is silenced now?

Surprised there's no article from him yet about the drivetrain warranty extension, the necessary warranty reserves and the impact on Q3 numbers, etc. all backed by some bad math and inflated estimates. Remember his article earlier in the year about the titanium shield?!

Going back to the naysayers from years past, back in 2009/early-2010, those were dark days indeed. I was laughed at by many of my friends for "sinking" $5,000 into a foolish dream. When Tesla finally got the DoE loan and then the Fremont factory, those were really the turning points. Many writers such as Brad Berman have come around since then.

Adm · Aug 20, 2014

Dutchie said:
Haven't heard from John Petersen in a while, may be he is silenced now?

John Petersen might be busy explaining to AXPW shareholders why AXPW stock is still near an all time low.

Electroman · Aug 21, 2014

I am sure he will come with a bang on a new 'the emperor has no clothes" article based on the new extended warranty.

He will be certain this will sink the company, just like as he was on dozen other things on Tesla

He uses a famous 'hype-cycle' graph from Gartner on startups. And accordingly Tesla is heading towards the valley of death which is littered with corpses of Delorian, Fisker and likes. Tesla will emerge out of that as a small company making motor parts to GM.

He has used that graph and also a quote from Edison on battery technology and investing, over a hundred times.

Electroman · Aug 21, 2014

Adm said:
John Petersen might be busy explaining to AXPW shareholders why AXPW stock is still near an all time low.

He has an explanation and
a quote ready for all that: 'The market can remain irrational longer than you can remain solvent'.

You see once that BMW order comes through, AXPW will take off like a rocket and cross TSLA in no time.

Johan · Aug 21, 2014

Had a more personal experience today that was, in the end, kind of entertaining.

I work as an MD (GP/Family practice). I patient of mine came for an appointment today morning. This is a guy in his 50's, college education and a good job. He came to renew a prescription and have me check a mole.

Within a minute he asked me if the Tesla parked outside was mine. "Yes, it's great" I reply (don't like to get too "personal" with my patients). "Do you know how bad that thing is for the environment?" he says. "Really?" I reply trying to be polite. He goes on about how production of the car spews out CO2, all the heavy metals in the batteries, how the batteries will be an expensive pile of environmental waste after 7 years, how electricity production creates more CO2 than fossil fuels (really dude? Norway is self sufficient with hydro electricity, this is a commonly known fact) etc. etc. I correct him on some of this, still trying to be polite (but starting to get annoyed). He says he knows all these things from reading a lot of scientific studies. I reply that I've read quite a bit about these things as well and we'll just have to agree to disagree.

Then, of course, he turns to money. "Do you know how much a car like that costs?!?". "Yes, I do" (what do you think it was given to me for my birthday???). So he says: "The government is making some serious money off of those cars!". I reply "how so?". He says the taxes and fees on these things are outrageous. I quietly inform him that in Norway electric cars are exempt from all registration fees as well as VAT, so the government makes absolutely nothing on these cars. This seems to blow his mind completely, and he's lost for words. So he leaves, looking flabbergasted and shaking his head in disbelief. Made my day

Red Sage · Aug 21, 2014

Great story, Johan!

Tucker, DeLorian, Fisker, Coda... The Naysayers want so desperately to throw Tesla Motors into the same pile with the rest. A shame they don't understand just how wrong they are...

galangg · Aug 21, 2014

Great story!

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I had a co worker that was saying the same things about batteries in general, how the production and disposal put the use of eletrical vehicles above that of internal combustion. I couldn't convince him with evidence that he was wrong. At least you were able to bewilder your patient.

The Nay Sayers!

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