Tesla Model S waffling

[JST]

Originally Posted by ZBB

I'm going to sleep on it…

If I lived in BC, OR or WA, I'd get it in a heartbeat. There is a great network of CHAdeMO chargers every 50 miles on most major routes.

But in AZ, there are only CHAdeMO units in the Phoenix and Tucson metro areas (and a couple in between -- I guess for the Leaf drivers that decide to try a short trip). I don't need them in town, but the 3 in Tucson would be helpful since the closest Supercharger is in Casa Grande (about 1/2 way between Phoenix and Tucson)…

But there are tons of CHAdeMOs all over CA -- which opens up better destination charging options for trips there. We'll likely spend a week in San Diego or Carlsbad this summer, but there will be Superchargers there by then…

Did you end up ordering one?

[ZBB]

Originally Posted by JST

Did you end up ordering one?

Nope.

Just can't see needing it enough to warrant paying $450 up front and $7-30 a charge. Rates wildly fluctuate -- even the same networks have different rates in different states (Blink is $6.95 per session in AZ, but $0.69 per kWh in CA...). It would take 20+ uses for the "cost per charge" to be under $50. For reference, I've now used Superchargers >50 times, so the cost of the option is now under $40 per charge. We'll visit Superchargers another 10-12 times in the next 6 months too -- so that will just keep going down...

I'll reevaluate in June... We're probably doing a week on SoCal this summer, likely Disneyland or San Diego. We're fine with charging at Disney (~20 J1772s in the Disneyland garage, some hotels with chargers nearby too). San Diego currently doesn't have a Supercharger, but the first is under construction, with another listed as "coming soon"...

So I probably won't need one. I might see if I can borrow/rent a unit from one of the local owners here who got one -- offer him $50 to use it for a week...

[dan]

Apple making a strategic investment in Tesla? That's the chatter...Dubious but TSLA just went up 7 points.

[TD]

Originally Posted by undefined

Apple making a strategic investment in Tesla? That's the chatter...Dubious but TSLA just went up 7 points.

I'm sure you all saw this- http://appleinsider.com/articles/15/...rs-after-party

[dan]

yup

[JST]

Originally Posted by TD

I'm sure you all saw this- http://appleinsider.com/articles/15/...rs-after-party

A strategic partnership makes some medium term sense. It gets Apple into the car business without having to actually learn how to make cars, and it gets Tesla a lot of software and marketing prowess (and access to a huge new retail channel). It also would allow them to stop poaching engineers from one another.

In the longer term? Eh, I don't know. First, remember Apple's first foray into the mobile phone world, the ROKR? I suspect that Apple would in the long run prefer to be in control of the hardware design. Since the rumors of the iCar have started swirling around, it's struck me as a very interesting possibility that Apple would apply its "Designed in California, Built in China" model to the automotive world. There are plenty of carmakers in China that could be enlisted to help, and the automotive space is ripe for a shakeup like that, just like the mobile device space. That's why the bleating from Dan Akerson warning Apple not to get into manufacturing never made sense to me--if anyone in the world knows how to outsource manufacturing, it's Apple.

Second, on Tesla's side, I can't imagine a megalomaniac like Musk taking a back seat to *anyone,* whether it's Tim Cook or Jonny Ive or Jesus. Inviting input from Apple on significant design decisions sounds like a disaster waiting to happen.

On the other hand...

One of the knocks against Apple post-Jobs has been questions about whether it can come up with visionary products the way that it used to. There's no doubt that Musk is a first-class visionary. A "strategic collaboration" might have intriguing benefits for Apple beyond simply getting into the automotive sector.

[TD]

Hey, I had a ROKR.

[JST]

Originally Posted by TD

Hey, I had a ROKR.

LOL, really?

[clyde]

Originally Posted by JST

A strategic partnership makes some medium term sense. It gets Apple into the car business without having to actually learn how to make cars, and it gets Tesla a lot of software and marketing prowess (and access to a huge new retail channel). It also would allow them to stop poaching engineers from one another.

In the longer term? Eh, I don't know. First, remember Apple's first foray into the mobile phone world, the ROKR? I suspect that Apple would in the long run prefer to be in control of the hardware design. Since the rumors of the iCar have started swirling around, it's struck me as a very interesting possibility that Apple would apply its "Designed in California, Built in China" model to the automotive world. There are plenty of carmakers in China that could be enlisted to help, and the automotive space is ripe for a shakeup like that, just like the mobile device space. That's why the bleating from Dan Akerson warning Apple not to get into manufacturing never made sense to me--if anyone in the world knows how to outsource manufacturing, it's Apple.

Second, on Tesla's side, I can't imagine a megalomaniac like Musk taking a back seat to *anyone,* whether it's Tim Cook or Jonny Ive or Jesus. Inviting input from Apple on significant design decisions sounds like a disaster waiting to happen.

On the other hand...

One of the knocks against Apple post-Jobs has been questions about whether it can come up with visionary products the way that it used to. There's no doubt that Musk is a first-class visionary. A "strategic collaboration" might have intriguing benefits for Apple beyond simply getting into the automotive sector.

That all makes sense, but... Musk has quite the history of doing many mostly unrelated things. How long has been Tesla been going now? Apple also has a long history of buying companies that have developed visionary devices or technologies and making them brand new from Apple. Could this just be the first bite of the Apple, er, um...you know what I mean. I'm also kinda reminded of the pre-Android Apple/Google collaborations and Schmidt on Apple's BOD.

Originally Posted by TD

Hey, I had a ROKR.

You were the one, huh?

[TD]

Originally Posted by JST

LOL, really?

Originally Posted by clyde

You were the one, huh?

Actually, I liked what I could do with it at the time.

I loaded up music and then had this Bluetooth receiver unit plugged in to the aux input in my car. I was able to wirelessly send my "iPod" music to the car stereo way before that was a thing.

Sure, the iPod interface was REALLY clunky. And the phone itself was just a candybar shaped RAZR. But at the time, that wasn't an insult.

Was it Apple-caliber slick? Of course not. And that's the dig on it today. But for what it was, it wasn't bad.