In deep w/ Tesla CEO Elon Musk: Financials, Falcon doors & finding faults in Model S

[Trnsl8r]

The Design Studio shows Supercharger hardware included.

1. Elon misspoke.

2. There is optional Supercharger software.

3. Elon was referring to usage charges for the Supercharger network.

4. The Design Studio is wrong.

5. The article quoted Elon incorrectly.

Given how ragged Elon has been running lately, I'd suggest the most likely is #1 with a saver on #5. Charge and no-charge went back and forth for a long time and the Design Studio used to say TBD for the 60 kWh pack.

My money is on #3.

 

[Norbert]

The interview was done the last week of August, if I remember correctly. I think Elon just misspoke.

Remember from where? I haven't seen any date mentioned anywhere. To me it seems older in terms of the general situation being described, but it seems difficult to tell with any certainty.

 

[EarlyAdopter]

The Design Studio shows Supercharger hardware included.

1. Elon misspoke.

2. There is optional Supercharger software.

3. Elon was referring to usage charges for the Supercharger network.

4. The Design Studio is wrong.

5. The article quoted Elon incorrectly.

Given how ragged Elon has been running lately, I'd suggest the most likely is #1 with a saver on #5. Charge and no-charge went back and forth for a long time and the Design Studio used to say TBD for the 60 kWh pack.

My money is on #3 (free access to Supercharger stations) being a bonus for Signatures, not 85 vs 60 kWh. But that's complete speculation on my part.

 

[FalconNinetyD]

Any idea how the Superchargers would know whether they should charge you or not? RFID cards?

 

[jerry33]

Any idea how the Superchargers would know whether they should charge you or not? RFID cards?

My assumption is that their plug will only fit a Tesla (at least to start with) so there isn't a lot of validation required. A credit card reader if they have a charge charge.

 

[FalconNinetyD]

Maybe I wasn't clear in my question. With speculation that 85kwh battery owners could charge for free, but 60kwh owners would have to pay, I was wondering how Tesla might differentiate which customers would be prompted for payment, and which wouldn't.

 

[dsm363]

I'd assume each keyfob has a unique signature that they could tie to your account and decide if you qualified for free charging.

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

Maybe I wasn't clear in my question. With speculation that 85kwh battery owners could charge for free, but 60kwh owners would have to pay, I was wondering how Tesla might differentiate which customers would be prompted for payment, and which wouldn't.

Maybe the charger will recognize the 60kWh, communicate to get an id, and when it finds the car isn't recognized displays a message "Your car is not permitted to use this charger. Unplug now. You have 10 seconds to comply."

 

[Trnsl8r]

Maybe the charger will recognize the 60kWh, communicate to get an id, and when it finds the car isn't recognized displays a message "Your car is not permitted to use this charger. Unplug now. You have 10 seconds to comply."

"... your car will self-destruct in 8... 7... 6... 5..."

 

[TEG]

After I just read the interview, and drove to pick up dinner, started looking at some cars I passed. Both Audi A7 and Mercedes E Class (I believe) seem to have one piece bright moulding, so wonder what he was comparing against...

Porsche Panamera seems to have one giant (seamless) piece on the rear door as well...

 

[Lloyd]

Can you say "WELD" and "BONDO" ?

 

[arg]

Porsche Panamera seems to have one giant (seamless) piece on the rear door as well...

That piece is big, but it's only on the rear door, so it's smaller in total (slightly) and much less long in its longest dimension. Model S piece starts at the bottom of the A pillar, goes round the top of the front door, down the C pillar and loops back to the bottom of the rear door.

You could probably pick up that Porsche part with two hands and have no problem with it, while the Model S part is so long you'd have trouble carrying without bending and maybe damaging it.

 

[pete8314]

After I just read the interview, and drove to pick up dinner, started looking at some cars I passed. Both Audi A7 and Mercedes E Class (I believe) seem to have one piece bright moulding, so wonder what he was comparing against...

I don't think the E does:

But in all the images of the A7, I can't quite tell if there's a seam towards the back, so you might be right. On my A5 there's a seam, but it's very well done, it's difficult to see from any distance. In any case, one could argue that while the extra big bright work is great (and I admire Elon's obsessiveness over details that 98% of people wouldn't notice), perhaps a little less obsessiveness there, and a little more on the cup-holder ergonomics might have been a better use of time & effort :-/

 

[ElSupreme]

I don't think the E does:

View attachment 9827

Well you HAVE to have the one you circled in the middle. That is if you want either door to work. :wink:

 

[pete8314]

Well you HAVE to have the one you circled in the middle. That is if you want either door to work. :wink:

Technically you could just have a really long sticky-out bit of chrome on the front door, but it would be a bit annoying, and un-Mercedes like

 

[TEG]

That piece is big, but it's only on the rear door, so it's smaller in total (slightly) and much less long in its longest dimension. Model S piece starts at the bottom of the A pillar, goes round the top of the front door, down the C pillar and loops back to the bottom of the rear door.

You could probably pick up that Porsche part with two hands and have no problem with it, while the Model S part is so long you'd have trouble carrying without bending and maybe damaging it.

Yeah, different shape, but still big: