Tesla investor Steve Jurvetson drives off in the first Model S

http://gigaom.com/cleantech/tesla-investor-steve-jurvetson-drives-off-in-the-first-model-s/

by mtgx • 14 years ago

80 66 14 years ago

OstiaAntica5• 14 years ago

A wealthy "investor" in a rigged game-- a company backed by half a billion dollars in taxpayer loan guarantees-- gets a new toy car. A car for which there is no market and is worse for the environment than regular cars, as it relies on toxic batteries and an inefficient power grid that is majority coal burning.

cgs1019• 14 years ago

So many citations needed

OstiaAntica5• 14 years ago

Tesla gets crony capitalist, Solyndra-type loan with the worst terms possible for taxpayers: http://www.thecuttingedgenews.com/index.php?article=53001...

http://techcrunch.com/2009/06/23/the-government-comes-throug...

Coal is majority of the U.S. power grid: http://www.ucsusa.org/clean_energy/coalvswind/c01.html

Tesla batteries are cleaner than older versions, but they contain some Cobalt, and Lithium has many impacts and risks for humans.

j_col• 14 years ago

Doesn't stop me from wanting to buy one (badly). If only they exported to Europe (hey, we send you our cars, so why not return the love?).

OstiaAntica5• 14 years ago

Actually, Daimler-Mercedes bought 10% of Tesla a month before the U.S. government announced the loan. U.S. taxpayers are going to get the downside if the company fails but the European automaker gets the upside if it makes it. Well played.

arethuza3• 14 years ago

Out of interest, what appeals to you about the Tesla S? It's clearly a lovely bit of technology but personally I can't get past the idea of the limited range (maximum of 300 miles) and obvious potential difficulties around recharging.

[NB I'm in no way implying that anyone has to justify their tastes in cars (or anything else) - I'm just interested!]

adventureful2• 14 years ago

By that standard, we should never develop any new technology, because in the process of developing ANY new technology (including wind power and solar power) you're going to generate some level of pollution, including most likely using fossil fuels. By your standard, we can never progress at all, and must eventually regress to a primitive state. If that had been followed, we could have NEVER developed solar panels, and so many other important, cleaner technologies.

OstiaAntica5• 14 years ago

Look, Tesla is billed as being greener than traditional autos but it is not. Drawing power from the grid is amazingly wasteful, and is often COAL. Trading oil for coal is not an environmental win-- Tesla's basic premise is a fraud. It reminds me of ethanol, another big government effort for the "environment" which makes things worse.

bdfh42• 14 years ago

Not exactly streaming out of the showrooms are they?

They remain very much a toy but maybe one day someone will be able to build one that will work on a practical day to day basis.

I feel there is a lot of mileage (pun intended) in the "diesel electric" combination where the juice is generated by an internal combustion engine that can be run very efficiently and then fed to the electric drive (with a small battery back-up for peak demands).

bking3• 14 years ago

I am going to assume that your first comment is directed at a "lack of interest" from buyers in "Showrooms". I am pretty sure all the 2013 models have been pre-sold, and the waiting list for the next year is 1500 deep.

lisperforlife• 14 years ago

Probably once LFTRs come in or we find other ways to get away from coal for energy this would stop being a toy and get rid of our reliance on gasoline for ever.

rdl2• 14 years ago

I think natural gas electrical generation + electric cars is a lot more likely to happen than natural gas vehicles (CNG or LNG). To the extent that NG displaces coal (which is already happening due to cost of NG being so low, at least in the US; we could accelerate it with regulation or long-term fuel contracts when building new plants), it's a big win.

From a security (vs. environmental) perspective, burning US coal is superior to importing oil.

jonknee• 14 years ago

It's strange to say there is no market for a car that has a 10,000 person waiting list (with a $5,000 down payment to be on it) before anyone had actually gotten behind the wheel. I'd say that's pretty damn good and already close to a billion dollar market.

Mercedes "only" sold 9,804 S-Class models in the US last year. Maybe they'll step it up.

jlgreco• 14 years ago

> "...it relies on toxic batteries..."

http://www.teslamotors.com/blog/teslas-closed-loop-battery-r...

linhat• 14 years ago

The key is an actual (albeit stylized) miniature version of the Model S [1], you can see it right in the beginning of the video being handed over. Why did nobody think of this before. I just love the immediate connection one makes with this object. While the features it brings to the table (unlocking car doors on approach, loading personal settings, etc.) are nothing really new, there seems to be one missing: the only thing I don't see is a way to connect it to my keychain, but that would probably only destroy its beautiful finish.

So how is this kind of design strategy called, if there is a name for it at all? I am asking, because it strikes me as really obvious, while it seems like one does not see it too often.

[1] http://www.teslamotors.com/models/features#/styling (scroll down to about half of the page)

obilgic• 14 years ago

Porsche has the same type of key

https://www.google.com/search?q=porsche+key&hl=en&sa...

Too• 14 years ago

As if todays car keys aren't big enough already!

Seriously, why is everything you have to carry with you getting bigger and bigger. Phones and car keys being the two main villains here.

rdl2• 14 years ago

I was kind of annoyed after a meeting (and an annoying electrical problem with my audi's parking sensors) the other day, so I drove over to the Tesla dealer in Menlo Park -- sitting in an awesome $100k car is a great motivator to work on a startup faster (so as to be able to buy a Tesla and a house to charge it in).

The interesting thing I learned is that a lot of the Tesla Roadsters will be available as Certified Pre-Owned, starting in Fall 2012 and pretty much into 2013. They had a bunch of them out for "lease a Roadster until your Model S is ready", and those are delivery positions in Fall 2012; there was also a lease program which will be expiring in 2013 as well (since the Roadster is no longer in production). I am still a lot more into a Model S sized car (luxury and functionality over performance and "fun"), but it would be a good option.

mhb2• 14 years ago

Why did they discontinue Roadster production?

mhb2• 14 years ago

Info on Roadster discontinuation: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/08/automobiles/08TESLA.html?_...

bking3• 14 years ago

A fortune a startup does not make. If you want the best rout to gettign a tesla you will have to work your way up the ranks. Make a startup because you want to make the product, not because you want to make money. On the brighter side, hurray Tesla!

kondro• 14 years ago

So… when do these start shipping to Australia? :-)

cynix• 14 years ago

At double the price of what people in other countries pay, I'm not sure if I should look forward to it.

andyjohnson03• 14 years ago

Rich guy get new expensive car. Why is this important?

pilif• 14 years ago

Rich guy gets to drive a car built by the company he has invested in despite the fact that what the company is doing was, until very recently, said to be completely impossible.

Now, as an engineer, I of course value actually building the thing much higher than investing into getting it built, but I still would give the investors some credit for actually believing that Tesla was able to accomplish the very unlikely.

In the context of HN, this is IMHO interesting a) because it's about the engineering feat of building that car and b) about investors investing in something they actually believe in as opposed to something to make a quick buck with.

andyjohnson03• 14 years ago

The article says nothing about the engineering technology used to construct what I agree is an impressive vehicle. And it doesn't say anything useful about how Tesla aims to get traction in the electric vehicle sector.

Instead we learn how a wealthy guy can write a cheque on impulse for a very expensive new car "...and then toss it across the table. Everyone was stunned.”.

I don't begrudge the guy his money. I'm sure he's earned it and he gets to decide how to spend it, but the fawning style of this article annoyed me.

Telsa's technology and Telsa the business are totally on-topic for HN, but this article isn't about any of those things.

planetguy2• 14 years ago

It's not about the fact that the rich guy's getting it, it's about the fact that the car is now in production.

andyjohnson03• 14 years ago

Yes, but why is this significant? Its not like this is the first time that Tesla have brought a vehicle to production. They've had cars on the market since 2008.

bking3• 14 years ago

If I were a few more years along into my career I would have preordered my Model S for sure. I will have to wait a few years I guess.

IanDrake• 14 years ago

I'm surprised by the amount of negativity here. These are some of the most advanced cars ever made and they're made in the US.

Keep in mind, Tesla is at the very beginning of the adoption curve for electric cars. When I was a kid, in 1984, my dad bought a CD player for $1K. It was an expensive "toy" for rich people. I'll spare you the rest of the story.

As for the government backed loan, I blame the government, not the corporations that take it.

srik• 14 years ago

There's more to the loan than meets the eye. Do listen to Musk's short explanation here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v...

redorb• 14 years ago

A friends dad once told me he wasn't responsible for his credit card debt because the companies kept sending him credit card offers. I believe in personal responsibility. Let the government do what it does best.. Schools, prisons (I dont like the privatization of prisons), streets, highways .... But I wish they would stay away from business loans

Tesla investor Steve Jurvetson drives off in the first Model S

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