LA Times article on Elon Musk, SpaceX & Tesla Motors

chimpanzee · Aug 3, 2012

Elon Musk of SpaceX: The goal is Mars - latimes.com

Apropos of Tesla Motors, you've said in 20 years half the new cars produced will be electric. What, we'll still have to drive cars? We won't move by means of molecular disassembly?
That'd be nice! There may be something cooler than a car in 20 years, but the most likely outcome is that we'll still have cars and they'll be predominantly electric.
Where will that electricity come from?
I think solar will be the largest source [he owns a solar company, SolarCity]. It's not obvious that solar will be a majority of power generation, but I think it'll be a plurality. [The rest will] come from a combination of some nuclear, wind, hydroelectric, geothermal. Power generated by burning hydrocarbons we'll use more sparingly, as it should be used, as something that's not going to come back; because it's not. We are being complete wastrels [with fossil fuel]. It's like some heir to a fortune who had nothing to do with creating the fortune and so gives no care to its consumption.

Commercializing space, electric cars — aren't you spread a little thin?
I've been going past the red line on the gauge for a while now. It's honestly not been fun, but I have to continue for a bit longer, because for Tesla in particular, we're at the stage where the company's survival is in question. The market has given us a good evaluation. We have great supporters and great detractors. The detractors have a point, that the last successful car company started in America 90 years ago. DeLorean and Tucker brought cars to market, but they were unable to scale up their production and reach profitability. The next six months will decide whether Tesla will be the first new [successful] car company in a century.

brianman · Aug 3, 2012

On molecular disassembly...

That reminds me. Why is it we never saw a Star Trek episode that used transporter technology for medical purposes (tumor removal, etc.)?

Iz · Aug 3, 2012

brianman said:
On molecular disassembly...

That reminds me. Why is it we never saw a Star Trek episode that used transporter technology for medical purposes (tumor removal, etc.)?

I think there was an episode where the medical transporter on Voyager was used to transport a baby from one womb to another in order to save someone's life.

Doug_G · Aug 3, 2012

brianman said:
On molecular disassembly...

That reminds me. Why is it we never saw a Star Trek episode that used transporter technology for medical purposes (tumor removal, etc.)?

<off-topic geek mode>Sure we did; for example, they used it to cure Doctor Katherine Pulaski of extreme aging caused by exposure to the immune system of modified humans.</off-topic geek mode>

blakegallagher · Aug 4, 2012

Thanks for posting article I had not seen this yet. Great article ! Squirmed a little bit when Elon mentioned the detractors have a point lol

xhawk101 · Aug 4, 2012

I don't think Elon meant to imply he believes the detractors view is correct from the context of his discussion however.

Grendal · Aug 4, 2012

xhawk101 said:
I don't think Elon meant to imply he believes the detractors view is correct from the context of his discussion however.

I agree. I think Elon was just trying to understand where those detractors were coming from. Just a smart guy understanding someone else's point of view.

Norbert · Aug 4, 2012

I think he is serious about the decisive importance of the next six months. Success is not guaranteed yet. It'll require mostly everyone in the company to give their best.

tray loader · Aug 5, 2012

Commercializing space, electric cars — aren't you spread a little thin?
I've been going past the red line on the gauge for a while now. It's honestly not been fun, but I have to continue for a bit longer, because for Tesla in particular, we're at the stage where the company's survival is in question. The market has given us a good evaluation. We have great supporters and great detractors. The detractors have a point, that the last successful car company started in America 90 years ago. DeLorean and Tucker brought cars to market, but they were unable to scale up their production and reach profitability. The next six months will decide whether Tesla will be the first new [successful] car company in a century.

That must have been one of the most reckless statements I ever read of Elon.
Totally out of mind.
Either he knows something we don´t know,is dangerously tired out, or is simply resignated, which would be worst case scenario.

You simply CANNOT make these statement, on the eve of ramp up.
Man-he is the boss-
if he DOES NOT belive in success of Tesla, why should the public?

Steve Jobs would have turned in his grave.
Monday Tesla stock will be punished.

Damn!

Norbert · Aug 5, 2012

tray loader said:
That must have been one of the most reckless statements I ever read of Elon.
Totally out of mind.
Either he knows something we don´t know,is dangerously tired out, or is simply resignated, which would be worst case scenario.

You simply CANNOT make these statement, on the eve of ramp up.
Man-he is the boss-
if he DOES NOT belive in success of Tesla, why should the public?

Steve Jobs would have turned in his grave.
Monday Tesla stock will be punished.

Damn!

Another pointless dooms day prediction. You were already wrong about the safety ratings.

It just means that Tesla has to do well in the next six month. And they will.

ckessel · Aug 5, 2012

tray loader said:
That must have been one of the most reckless statements I ever read of Elon.

I'm guessing you haven't followed him for very long? He's said very similar things repeatedly for years. He's never been shy about stating the realistic possibility Tesla would fail. Or SpaceX.

artsci · Aug 5, 2012

Surely you're so naive to take literally what the reporter said he said he said. Remember, this is a media interview, summarized in the reporter's language. If you have any experience with the media you would know that reporters very rarely get it right. Most likely those were the reporter's words, not Elon's.

tray loader said:
Commercializing space, electric cars — aren't you spread a little thin?
I've been going past the red line on the gauge for a while now. It's honestly not been fun, but I have to continue for a bit longer, because for Tesla in particular, we're at the stage where the company's survival is in question. The market has given us a good evaluation. We have great supporters and great detractors. The detractors have a point, that the last successful car company started in America 90 years ago. DeLorean and Tucker brought cars to market, but they were unable to scale up their production and reach profitability. The next six months will decide whether Tesla will be the first new [successful] car company in a century.

That must have been one of the most reckless statements I ever read of Elon.
Totally out of mind.
Either he knows something we don´t know,is dangerously tired out, or is simply resignated, which would be worst case scenario.

You simply CANNOT make these statement, on the eve of ramp up.
Man-he is the boss-
if he DOES NOT belive in success of Tesla, why should the public?

Steve Jobs would have turned in his grave.
Monday Tesla stock will be punished.

Damn!

Krugerrand · Aug 5, 2012

Even if that statement is verbatim, I see nothing wrong with telling it like it is...or, in other words, telling the truth. Nothing reckless about the truth. Indeed, it's refreshing and it's not like this is the first time Tesla, or SpaceX for that matter, is facing a do or die situation. Risk nothing, gain nothing.

Rifleman · Aug 6, 2012

tray loader said:
Commercializing space, electric cars — aren't you spread a little thin?
I've been going past the red line on the gauge for a while now. It's honestly not been fun, but I have to continue for a bit longer, because for Tesla in particular, we're at the stage where the company's survival is in question. The market has given us a good evaluation. We have great supporters and great detractors. The detractors have a point, that the last successful car company started in America 90 years ago. DeLorean and Tucker brought cars to market, but they were unable to scale up their production and reach profitability. The next six months will decide whether Tesla will be the first new [successful] car company in a century.

That must have been one of the most reckless statements I ever read of Elon.
Totally out of mind.
Either he knows something we don´t know,is dangerously tired out, or is simply resignated, which would be worst case scenario.

You simply CANNOT make these statement, on the eve of ramp up.
Man-he is the boss-
if he DOES NOT belive in success of Tesla, why should the public?

Steve Jobs would have turned in his grave.
Monday Tesla stock will be punished.

Damn!

I could not disagree more. Everyone with half a brain knows that if the Model S flops, so does Tesla. If Elon denied this fact, it would call into question everything else he has said. Elon is doing incredible things, and asking alof of us to trust him. He must be honest with if he wants to keep our trust. Being honest about the road ahead is the only way to keep that trust, and Elon is following the right path with this statement.

brianman · Aug 6, 2012

The general discussion taps into something generally at play in politics:
People often vote against the truth-tellers because reality is often uncomfortable.

Cobos · Aug 7, 2012

brianman said:
The general discussion taps into something generally at play in politics:
People often vote against the truth-tellers because reality is often uncomfortable.

I dare say the fact that almost half the stock is being shorted, shows someone else sees this and has less belief than "us" in that Musk will manage to pull it off.

Cobos

Tesla229 · Aug 8, 2012

It's reassuring, though not surprising, to hear Elon recognize and acknowledge the importance of the next 6 months in deciding the ultimate success (or demise) of TM!

William13 · Aug 9, 2012

One of the reasons Tesla will likely succeed is that Elon is honest and able to see the dangers ahead. That is why he had to remove Eberhart to actually build the Roadster.

Cobos · Aug 11, 2012

Not knowing the details of that conflict I always got the impression that Eberhard was more an engineer and Musk was more a businessman in outlook. Hence why v2.0 of the Roadster had quite a few changes that made the car cheaper. Both in actual money for Tesla but also for the customer, though they prioriticed stuff that the customer would be less likely to notice.

Cobos

brianman · Aug 11, 2012

Cobos said:
Not knowing the details of that conflict I always got the impression that Eberhard was more an engineer and Musk was more a businessman in outlook.s

My impression (from various discussions on this forum and Elon's quotes) was that Eberhard was about design/aesthetics not engineering/technical.

LA Times article on Elon Musk, SpaceX & Tesla Motors

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