Now’s the time to watch this movie….. now that some time has gone by. Now that the Leaf has proven that people were not lined up 3 miles deep to buy such a car…. and now… will they say the Leaf is nowhere near as advanced as that old EV1 that many said was the perfect car for their needs?
Grand Daughter Ava says “Dad Needs this car”
Yes, that was Dan Neil at the end, you can always pick out a car guy, one who understands cars and the car business.
And what am I saying here? Nothing more than It’s time to review Who killed the Electric Car. I think the value of watching it grows with each passing day. The only positive comment that counts for Fisker, Volt, Leaf, and others is a Purchase Order Agreement followed by payment. It’s a very sad note that Toyota was the only manufacturer that did the leg work to understand who the real buyers were, and what they could afford to pay. Dan Neil either did .. or could have predicted the outcome of Fisker, Volt, and the Leaf.
It’s always been this way. Studebaker didn’t make covered wagons because a group of people demanded they be built. They built them because the Wagons were in demand, and people could afford to buy them, and did.
Who didn’t love the Tucker?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_Neil
GB
Exactly, they will sell you what sells. Some technologies are troublesome and lose their luster, like hydrogen dirigibles. I just don’t want to be anywhere near one of these electric cars when the battery torches. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4DlUUZxFvs
From today’s Wall Street Journal, please note the Obama loan language below. I do like the body styles of the Tesla, but will they make money? “Tesla Motors Inc. TSLA -9.01% cut its revenue target for 2012, warning that it has fallen behind on its production goals for its Model S sedan.
The luxury electric-car maker now expects revenue for 2012 of between $400 and $440 million, “primarily reflecting a decrease in the number of Model S vehicles we plan to deliver in 2012,” Tesla said in a regulatory filing. The company’s previous revenue forecast for 2012 was between $560 million and $600 million.
The all-aluminum body Model S is the company’s second vehicle and is designed and priced to sell in higher volumes than its existing Roadster, which costs about $109,000. The company earlier had hoped to produce this year 5,000 of the Model S cars, which are priced between $50,000 and $98,000 including federal tax credit.
The Palo Alto, Calif., car maker also disclosed in a federal filing that it has sought a waiver from certain conditions of the loans it received from the U.S. Department of Energy. In 2009, the Obama administration granted Tesla an up to $465 million federal loan; the company had drawn about $360 million of the loan as of May.
Tesla make money?
As soon as the effects of QE3 are felt, they’ll need charge about $250,000 a copy to make a profit. The only people who will have the money to buy them are our elected officials, no doubt they’ll take great care of themselves, with COLAs and far more..
I think investing in a chrome muffler bearing plant would make you as much money as investing in Tesla..
It turns out investing in Tesla was a pretty good idea but those proceeds will be not be going into a Tesla but instead a 5th gen Prius prime.
I’m told it’s already on the ship.
I hope this earthquake doesn’t interfere with production.
The scarcity we’ve been experiencing for the last few years is dystopian and too much like something from any Ayn Rand novel.
Jack,
I remember it so clearly.. but not the person who said it….
Back in the day when people in office decided to rescue Chrysler.. A wise man said.. “My fear is not that it will fail, but that it will suceed!”
Here we are, and now we have a population of voters that for the most part don’t know the difference between printing money and creating wealth. Apparently, we have a President that doesn’t know the difference either.
What I think we learn from watching “who killed the electric car” now is just who it is that demands the EV be built. With the Leaf, Volt, Tesla, Fisker, and more, why is it that the sales are so poor? My Answer…sales will be great when the car gets down to the price of real support…around $18,000. As Dan Neil and others point out.. consumers want to pay less for a car that does less.. after all.. it’s just an electric motor and some lap top batteries stuffed in where all that complexity once lived.
It reminds me of a conversation I had recently with a man who doesn’t believe in God. He is a firm believer in ‘God Given Rights’, as he is well aware of how many people were butchered, starved, and shoved in a hole while under the rule of man. I’m not sure the majority of our voters even understand the value of God given rights. Some seem to be working hard to destroy all the corner stones that made us great. And all those who fled the horrors of their homeland…… are they helping to destroy their Island of refuge? Young Mothers everywhere might say.. “OH quit trying to scare people.”
It’s so much bigger than the EV… it’s about having raised a class of people who believe in Peter Pan and Fairy Dust. That guy who recently jumped from the Tram into a Tiger’s cage…. He’s represenative of many who will vote this fall…
The Spanish are finding out about reality as the magic money runs out: NYTimes: Spain Recoils as Its Hungry Forage Trash Bins for a Next Meal http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/25/world/europe/hunger-on-the-rise-in-spain.html?_r=2&pagewanted=2&hp
I wonder what the Spanish appetite for electric cars is these days?
The Greek protestors are a little tougher than the Spanish. Although bankrupt they still have petrol.
http://www.youtube.com/share_popup?v=rAfhOSNp16g