Comments on: Tesla Birth Watch 48: Done.

By: Potemkin

Potemkin — Sat, 24 May 2008 16:35:57 +0000

Check out Jay Leno’s garage. He claims to have the first production Tesla. He also has a vid of him driving it on the streets.

By: GS650G

GS650G — Fri, 16 May 2008 13:46:09 +0000

I’ll wait for i to be on Barrett-Jackson someday with a huge starting price.”Look, only a few remain and this is the first one delivered!”

By: doug

doug — Fri, 16 May 2008 00:08:40 +0000

#charleywhiskey :May 15th, 2008 at 7:43 pm

Hmm, maximum torque at 0 RPM; that must be fun to drive on icy roads.

It’s called traction control. See vid here:
http://www.autobloggreen.com/2008/03/03/video-tesla-engineer-talks-about-developing-ev-traction-control/

By: Mullholland

Mullholland — Thu, 15 May 2008 23:59:01 +0000

Kudos on the caption.

By: charleywhiskey

charleywhiskey — Thu, 15 May 2008 23:43:25 +0000

Hmm, maximum torque at 0 RPM; that must be fun to drive on icy roads.

By: doug

doug — Thu, 15 May 2008 22:47:55 +0000

A full update was given here:
http://www.teslamotors.com/blog2/?p=59

Their production plan:
VIN# Planned Production Month
Founders’ Series March-June 2008
Signature 100 #1 July 2008
Signature 100 #100 October 2008
VIN #200 November 2008
VIN #300 December 2008
VIN #400 February 2009
VIN #500 March 2009

By: Samir

Samir — Thu, 15 May 2008 22:29:00 +0000

An important (if un-verifiable) milestone, to be sure. But what about the other investors, Siry? Can you tell us if

1. They’ve been given delivery dates
2. Their cars are at least in production
3. The transmission issues have been resolved to the point where cars are sold with production transmissions

I know it seems cruel and harsh and what not, but after 2.5 deliveries, at least one of which we know for a fact was not made to an Arm’s Length Party, Tesla is still operating on OPM. In other words… show me the money!

By: geggamoya

geggamoya — Thu, 15 May 2008 21:51:11 +0000

The driver in the video says that car is Tesla CEOs car. Or something, it’s not his car, he’s still waiting for his.

By: AGR

AGR — Thu, 15 May 2008 20:34:44 +0000

Could he be the 3rd owner…Click

By: David Holzman

David Holzman — Thu, 15 May 2008 20:16:57 +0000

I’m with PCH101 and Roger Hislop. But rooting for Tesla.

By: Roger Hislop

Roger Hislop — Thu, 15 May 2008 16:14:58 +0000

If it’s a little premature on the Death Watch, how about “Spin Watch”… at least keep ‘em honest as they madly wiggle around putting lipstick on it.

And who knows, maybe the spin will turn into some straight torque.

Ah ha ha…sorry.

By: Jeff G

Jeff G — Thu, 15 May 2008 15:48:54 +0000

Even though an electric motor makes maximum torque at 0 rpm, gearing allows that torque to be multiplied.

By: Robert Schwartz

Robert Schwartz — Thu, 15 May 2008 15:38:19 +0000

You are giving up to easy Frank. Call me when a buyer who is not looking for an opportunity to pump and dump his stock takes delivery.

P.S. Can someone explain why an electric car needs a transmission?

By: SunnyvaleCA

SunnyvaleCA — Thu, 15 May 2008 15:32:24 +0000

Did this car have the 2-speed transmission or the 1-speed? If it is the 1-speed, I wouldn’t quite consider it done, as people don’t normally spend $100k for a “sports car” that doesn’t even keep up with the Lotus from which it is based.

By: dean

dean — Thu, 15 May 2008 15:31:00 +0000

I agree with others that it is too early to give up on a “birth” watch. It also strikes me as more than a little cynical (even for me, and I’m a pretty cynical guy) and pessimistic to go straight to a “death” watch.

How about a Credibility Watch? Then once the company demonstrates a lack thereof, bring on the Death Watch. And if they succeed, more power to them.

By: jkross22

jkross22 — Thu, 15 May 2008 15:30:47 +0000

Goodwill? This site’s in the business of the truth. Rock on.

By: RayH

RayH — Thu, 15 May 2008 15:11:29 +0000

In case you hadn’t noticed, we are not in the goodwill business.

Point taken and understood.

By: Robert Farago

Robert Farago — Thu, 15 May 2008 14:30:19 +0000

RayH:

I know we may not know the full story behind true independent verification, but I’d advise toning back that language in the name of goodwill.

In case you hadn’t noticed, we are not in the goodwill business.

By: Pch101

Pch101 — Thu, 15 May 2008 14:29:39 +0000

In my opinion, delivering one car doesn’t mean much.

A fully functioning production line that is fulfilling orders, yes. One vehicle? A bit early to say.

Even Vector delivered one vehicle. Technically, they’re still in business. It remains one of our oldest and best known vaporware companies.

By: guyincognito

guyincognito — Thu, 15 May 2008 14:25:30 +0000

I disagree. According to Eberhard’s story, Roadster 3 is a refurb of a prototype and not a real production unit. Until a ground up production unit reaches a paying customers hands the car has yet to be born, IMHO.

By: RayH

RayH — Thu, 15 May 2008 14:23:53 +0000

The Tesla Birth Watch is officially over. The Tesla Death Watch begins.
If they met your target of 1 car delivered to a customer, give them some props, at least at first! A lot of people thought that wouldn’t even happen. I know we may not know the full story behind true independent verification, but I’d advise toning back that language in the name of goodwill.

By: siry

siry — Thu, 15 May 2008 13:52:49 +0000

this is a sad day indeed

By: kazoomaloo

kazoomaloo — Thu, 15 May 2008 13:44:34 +0000

Yay delivery. Starting a Death Watch is a little harsh, though it’s a very real possibility, considering how the company has been run to this point. I hope they do well, you know, for the sake of humanity.

By: jthorner

jthorner — Thu, 15 May 2008 13:44:00 +0000

” …. delivered to someone (who prefers not to be named) who is not associated with the company on a day to day basis ….”

Sounds like pre-production unit #3. But hey, Corbin pushed almost 300 Sparrows out of the nest before going under.

By: Juniper

Juniper — Thu, 15 May 2008 13:44:00 +0000

You guys are really mean. Give them at least a week to bask in their glory.