Tesla Model S To Be Delivered In June - If It Does Crash Alright
Tesla is sitting on more than 10,000 orders for its all-electric Model S sedan. Tesla might finally deliver the first units next month, slightly ahead of plan, says Reuters. The only thing that keeps the production from starting is a successful completion of crash tests required by U.S. safety regulators. If the car doesn’t bomb during the crash, customers can soon flaunt their high-priced environmental responsibility while tooling down the car-pool lanes in solitary fashion.
“Once we complete and document the tests, we will be able to sell our vehicles in the United States,” CEO Elon Musk told shareholders. Tesla will take a “slow, methodical” approach to the launch. By the end of the year 5,000 Model S sedans are expected to be delivered, half of the pre-orders.
Tesla needs the money. Tesla reported a first-quarter net loss of $89.9 million, or 86 cents per share, compared to $48.9 million or 51 cents per share a year earlier.
Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.
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from the article: "By the end of the year 5000 Model S sedans are expected to be delivered" I get the slow and methodical thing, but waiting nearly three millennia to get a car seems a bit ridiculous.
Where are the 'vaporware' critics now? That Elon Musk is a real charlatan, launching real rockets into orbit and to the $100 billion International Space Station: http://www.space.com/15615-spacex-dragon-capsule-crew-mockup.html
I would hope the nature of battery advancement will make it easier to update an electric car than it would be to update an internal combustion car with a new engine and the rest of the drive train. A properly maintained, rust free car could be updated easier than Doc Brown's DeLorean.
For Tesla so far, I have bought the stock but not the product. It is up about 75% from my purchase so it is a better investment than the car at this point. I learned my lesson when I worked out that if I had invested the same amount In Apple stock that I did spend buying a trick Apple Cube desktop one day in 2000, that the stock would now be worth $240,000.00. That computer is now wrapped in visqueen on a shelf in a closet.