Comments on: Tesla Death Watch 16: Number Five is Alive!

By: David Dennis

David Dennis — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 18:10:06 +0000

The owner appears to be Mark Templeton, CEO of Citrix Systems. I thought the video was well done. I was particularly entertained by the window sticker “32kwh/100 miles”. Where I live, that means it would cost $2.40 to go 100 miles. Even in California, where electric rates are absurd, it’s looking like under $5.

That name was in the me.com URL he was using to share the pictures, and his appearance seems to match well with the corporate picture:

http://www.citrix.com/English/aboutCitrix/leadership/leader.asp?contentID=679450

Oddly enough, I don’t see anything about him and Tesla other than this video, but it does look like they are shipping cars, since I don’t think if they did a fake it would be with an easily identifiable individual.

By: doug

doug — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 15:33:34 +0000

This car is Founders’ Series #16 (F16) as it states clearly at the start of the video. You can see a bunch of (sadly blurry) photos of it here.
Car number 5 went to Kimbal Musk as he showed on his blog here. That would have been a better time to use the Johnny Five reference. At this point over 12 cars have been delivered to paying customers (though, these people are also significant investors in the company).

Usta Bee :
August 13th, 2008 at 10:45 pm

7500 lithium batteries ?!!!.

And they’re good for what, probabably around 500-1000 (at most) recharging cycles unless they’ve come up with some new super technology cells.

It’s actually 6831 cells in the battery pack. Guess what, 500 cycles times 200 or so miles per full charge is over 100,000 miles. How long did you want it to last? This is why it’s actually harder to get a shorter range (40 mile) battery like in the GM Volt to have a reasonable lifetime.

By: Domestic Hearse

Domestic Hearse — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 14:59:21 +0000

Could this be Tesla wagging the media dog?

“Our statements of future and current success aren’t fooling anyone. Team, I need your ideas.”

“Boss, what if we made a video?”

“We’ve spent lots of money on videos…”

“No, I mean, we make a video that looks like a customer made it. We hire a few actors, do a lot of shaky cam, do a patch-work edit, and put it out there on YouTube. It’ll look like an authentic delivery.”

“Can’t hurt. Line it up.”

By: shaker

shaker — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 12:28:34 +0000

You can’t deny the “cool” factor of flooring the pedal and getting a smooth whine and an “Oh Jesus” from your passenger. It’s probably the same “O.J.” that comes from the mouths of first-time Shuttle Astronauts at lift-off…
Thanks, Early Adopter! Maybe I’ll get a chance to drive something like this before shuffling off the Mortal Coil.

By: Khutuck

Khutuck — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 09:42:07 +0000

I hope Tesla lives long enough as a pioneer. If Tesla can float, bigger companies may probably pay more attention to electric cars. I don’t want to see 60 Celsius (140 F) on my room thermometer even when the air conditioner is open.

By: Usta Bee

Usta Bee — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 02:45:27 +0000

7500 lithium batteries ?!!!.

And they’re good for what, probabably around 500-1000 (at most) recharging cycles unless they’ve come up with some new super technology cells. I’d like to see the price of a replacement battery pack.

By: Robert Schwartz

Robert Schwartz — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 01:15:54 +0000

If you have enough money, your people can follow you every where in a chase car (Black Suburban with dark windows) with a trailer. And, if you run out of juice because you stepped on the accelerator too many times, they can trailer your car home and give you a ride too.

By: dolo54

dolo54 — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 22:35:33 +0000

Haha the ending. Sounds like my girlfriend when driving. Then there’s the “OH GOD NO PLEASE”.

By: Edward Niedermeyer

Edward Niedermeyer — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 22:18:52 +0000

Sweet car, but Short Circuit reference FTW.

By: seoultrain

seoultrain — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 21:50:55 +0000

gotta love the “Oh, Jesus” from the wife under hard acceleration.

By: Areitu

Areitu — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 21:48:03 +0000

Good to see cars in real peoples’ driveways.

Not sure where “beautifully appointed” interior comes from though…maybe compared to the back of a spartan shield.

By: Robert Farago

Robert Farago — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 21:32:05 +0000

N85523:

Wouldn’t you know. The text was amended to make my first post irrelevant.

Sorry about that. When I’m out of the office or otherwise engaged, some posts get put up without Farago filtration. When I touch down, I get out the editorial scalpel.

And did I really just talk about myself in the third person? That’s not good…

By: N Number

N Number — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 21:24:29 +0000

Wouldn’t you know. The text was amended to make my first post irrelevant.

By: N Number

N Number — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 21:22:51 +0000

…though that’d just go back to the company anyway, since they are the dealer

When I start my own car company, this is how I would sell cars if only to eliminate that loathsome third party that is the American car dealership. One car, one price, no negotiations, just like buying a couch or a set of tires.

That’s all beside the point. Good find on the video.