I think Tesla Motors has a brilliant future, but when I look at the company, the Model X/S and beyond, the one thing that worries me is all the extras that people expect to have in a $100k+ car.
The Roadster doesn't have to have too many extras, it just has to be electric and a good car to drive. Tesla has done well in that respect. But now they are moving into areas where the game is fairly different. Audi, BMW, etc have all been in the car market for decades and decades, and have developed all sorts of advanced extras. HUDs, thermal imaging, collision avoidance, etc. All these sorts of things take a lot of money and resources to develop, and you need to be able to put this tech into a lot of cars to make it pay off. Tesla is at a disadvantage. The one good thing for Tesla is technology sharing agreements, but even so, the cost for Tesla to adopt all the technology can be quite high, and will eat at the profit margins.
What do you think?
The Roadster doesn't have to have too many extras, it just has to be electric and a good car to drive. Tesla has done well in that respect. But now they are moving into areas where the game is fairly different. Audi, BMW, etc have all been in the car market for decades and decades, and have developed all sorts of advanced extras. HUDs, thermal imaging, collision avoidance, etc. All these sorts of things take a lot of money and resources to develop, and you need to be able to put this tech into a lot of cars to make it pay off. Tesla is at a disadvantage. The one good thing for Tesla is technology sharing agreements, but even so, the cost for Tesla to adopt all the technology can be quite high, and will eat at the profit margins.
What do you think?