As I struggle to understand why we are propping up a clearly flawed model in our automakers, I am very excited by what I see from the newbies. Though still too expensive for me at over $57,000, the new Tesla Model S is still extraordinarily impressive — 300 miles on a 45 minute charge and able to go zero to 60 in 5.5 seconds.
Given what we know now, it boggles the mind that Ford dropped Th!nk from its portfolio because it decided to get out of the electronic car business in 2003. Th!nk has struggled along, mainly in Europe, but has recently secured new financing and plans to push into the U.S. market shortly. Where they seem to excel is from the modularity of their technology. They have basically built the core functionality of a car and allowed the battery source and outer shell to be just about anything. Thus, they are poised for both a B2B and B2C play or both.
It is this kind of ingenuity and innovation, not just in the auto industry, which gets me up in the morning lately. If we continue to bankroll failed models, however, we prevent or at least delay new innovations and new ideas from reaching viability. It is easy to play it safe, hard but possibly more rewarding to be out on the edge…
UPDATE. “Electric car startup Tesla Motors has a new partner: German giant Daimler.“
It really is disturbing to me that our government spends so much time bailing out a failed business model and attempting to put well run companies (like Exxon) out of business – amazing how government gets this exactly backwards. But I am ranting a bit. I am very excited about the Tesla as are a few of my friends, but sadly, until I pay out about 8 years of college tuition, it;s not on my horizon. I think that people want to own these new technologies, but what business doesn’t understand (and they should) is that it is a simple matter of economics. The reality is that the average person will buy a hybrids if represents a good value to them. Most will not pay 10k more for a similar car unless they are driving enough to make up the difference in gas savings. I made this decision when I chose between an Infiniti and a Camry hybrid, and I know of others that made similar choices. By trying to charge a premium I belive they are missing a huge opportunity to take these technologies mainstream, more quickly. .
Tesla’s a technical tour de force but their pricing won’t make them much of a factor in the marketplace. How many people can afford $60K for a car? In 2009?
The one that I think just might (emphasis on might) pull it off is Aptera. With “OMG, did you see that?” styling, +200MPG in some situations and a sticker that’s south of $30K, this could change alot. My fingers are crossed for them and I wish they were available for pre-order outside of California.
Check out http://www.aptera.com for more.