Now you’re proposing to drop the death watch?

WTF are you guys smoking?

This is the only place we can get “car guys”-oriented info on the company instead of the screaming green spew that other news outlets deliver. If you discontinue the Death Watch, How the hell are we going to get any information that is believable?

You REALLY need to re-think this one.

JGD

When did TTAC start wetting a finger and sticking it up in the air to see which way the wind was blowing? (:surprised look/mouth open:)

I started coming here for the GM Deathwatch articles…around #60 or so. Robert was the only one telling the truth, for Christ’s sake! (:true-dat, hands on hips:)

Seeing some of the auto boneyard/junkyard photos was a little bit of a downer, but negativity? No way. Reality, yes; negativity, no. (:finger_wag/shame on buff rags:)

You certainly didn’t stop writing the GM/DW or F/DW or C/SW articles to satisfy anybody’s delicate sensitivities; why get squeamish now? (:Confused smiley/WTF?:)

Sometimes these things take time to come about; saying the truth is never the wrong thing to do, even if it takes a long time for the end-result to become apparent to the common man or woman.

I didn’t read most of the Tesla Death Watch articles, but only because of time constraints and because Tesla wasn’t yet a major market player. But that does NOT mean that the TDW’s shouldn’t have been written, nor that they were negative.

I say killing off the TDW was a mistake, but I must have missed that poll question. It’s your site, though. I just hope it’s the first AND LAST content decision you leave up to the readership. At least until 2011. (:arms crossed in front; So there!:)

Oooh, but taking my advice would be like turning a content decision over to me, part of the readership…wouldn’t it? Okay, maybe I don’t want that responsibility. (:throwing_hands_up!:)

I enjoy the death watch. You call it negativity, I call it news. I will miss the Death Watch, I hope the others stay.

It also misses the point on Tesla technology. Tesla’s technology is primarily software. THis will be more valuable as battery technology improves along the projected cost curve. Probably by 20-30% a year.

No, I think some of us get the point.

The roadster brings in no revenue – 100 cars at $100K. Most of which goes right back out of the checkbook for the body, motor, and batteries.

Whitestar. Not gonna happen. They can’t even get roadster production going.

Software? Really? Show me one Tesla patent that’s worth licensing. Don’t see Toyota or Honda lining up. They are already light-years ahead of Tesla. Who are the potential licensees? Beyond that, if you know anything about the auto industry, manufacturers are loathe to license anything from anyone. Ever. Even if it is the most cost-effective solution set.

More importantly, once again, just add up the numbers and the burn rate. Then figure out how much they have to sell just to get back to zero.

I was in Silicon Valley during the ‘just throw money’ days. Tesla has no more viable business plan than dozens of kids who blew through tens/hundreds of millions back then.

I would like to see the Tesla Death Watch live, so I could still easily find all the Tesla stories. If you want to cut down the snark a bit, why not merge the Birth and Death watch into a single Tesla Watch category?

I don’t think there’s any question that Tesla has performed its mission in making the electric car more interesting to all of us, and reassuring us that driving fun will not die with the internal combustion engine.

I for one would like to see what Tesla does with whatever share of the bailout money it receives. At least it has been making a good faith effort at doing what the Big Three have not.

So I hope you continue covering Tesla at the same level of intensity – even though I still support the company and think it’s capable of doing great things.

D

Thanks for listening to your readers and keep up the good work!

All of the comments on Tesla miss the point. The roadster is just to bring in revenue and get the company going. The WhiteStar sedan, built at a new factory in San Jose on a newly designed proprietary chassis in 2012 was to be the big car, at $60k and competing with BMW, followed by the Blue Star, a Prius competitor.

It also misses the point on Tesla technology. Tesla’s technology is primarily software. THis will be more valuable as battery technology improves along the projected cost curve. Probably by 20-30% a year.

Maybe calling it a Death Watch is jumping the gun,…

At the risk of debating the likelyhood the sun will like rise tomorrow, please, please tell me the scenario in which Tesla Motors survives.

Just survives, mind you. Not ‘is profitable’ or ‘thrives’ producing massive ROI for the chumps, err, investors.

Just do the simple math of amount invested, profit per car and then let me know how many $100K low margin rebadged Lotii need to be sold. Just to get back to zero.

They have no cutting edge licensable tech so that avenue is closed too.

Tesla is in the gas chamber chair right next to GM. John Wayne Gacy had a better chance of hearing good news on the phone.

Send in the clowns.

The engineering’s fine. You’re spot on about the accountability and management, though.

RF — Maybe calling it a Death Watch is jumping the gun, but the negativity is definitely called for when people throw around massive sums of money so recklessly. But good call.

Keep reporting on Tesla good or bad news with different and pithier headlines.

People, read the fucking article. RF plainly states that he will continue to highlight news from Tesla “if and when the situation merits” so rest assured that should evidence of Tesla’s continued dance with the inevitability of its doom come to light, you will read about it here.

All he is doing is dropping the title and the category from new posts. Which is a good thing.

Please excuse my language, but few things piss me off like people who will jump all over someone for writing something that they couldn’t be bothered to understand.

Let’s all yawn and move on. What’s new with Morgan these days?

And,now with gas a $1.50 a gallon….
Who cares

Don’t worry. It’ll be $3.00/gallon by next summer and will keep going up after that.

“Blessed are the meak for they will inherit the earth.” I for one certainly hope not.

I hope y’all keep the attitude even if you lose the headline.

You’re welcome to start a “Matthew Sullivan Death Watch” in its place. I think (hope) you should be able to milk that for another 30-40 years.