Dying, and going down in a nasty way.
http://jalopnik.com/5064700/automaker-lays-off-detroit-office-with-blog-post
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Oct. 16, 2008 7:42 p.m. foxtrapper SuperDork
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Oct. 16, 2008 8:05 p.m. grtechguy SuperDork
ouch...
they better figure out that tranny issue fast and start selling those cars
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Oct. 16, 2008 8:10 p.m. Capt Slow Reader
Wow, That sucks layoff notice via blog
harsh
I had hoped Tesla wouldn't be yet another fly-by-night electric car company. But it seems that it is...
I actually applied to work there several months ago. I am really really glad that they didn't bother to call me back...
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Oct. 16, 2008 8:27 p.m. Woody Dork
"Financiapocalypse"?!
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Oct. 16, 2008 8:38 p.m. ae86andkp61 New Reader
Bummer...
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Oct. 16, 2008 8:51 p.m. bluej HalfDork
wow. "good communication" in deed. :rollseyes:
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Oct. 16, 2008 9:30 p.m. carguy123 HalfDork
Well, who but the stars could afford one?
And then they only bought them to get the publicity so they could be shown to be eco friendly.
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Oct. 17, 2008 6:51 a.m. Jensenman UltimaDork
Tesla did the same thing Cannondale did with dirt bikes, they tried to reinvent the wheel.
They should have licensed someone else's hybrid technology and ridden that wave, making some income and building a dealer network while developing their own stuff to be sold at a later date.
But I'm just a lowly service advisor; what do I know?
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Oct. 17, 2008 7:35 a.m. HappyAndy New Reader
too bad :( I hoped that they would be around long enough to have an impact on electric car production.
BTW, I work on eletric forklifts, and I belive the current motors and control systems are ready for automotive use, but batteries are still the problem. (run time and very high weight)
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Oct. 17, 2008 7:56 a.m. confuZion3 Dork
HappyAndy wrote:
too bad :( I hoped that they would be around long enough to have an impact on electric car production.
They were! Every automobile manufacturer in the world has gotten smacked in the face by the thing. A Silicon Valley start-up built the best electric car in the world. Not GM, not Ford, and not Toyota.
Chevy Volt is coming and I think it's due, in a major way, to the success of Tesla Motors.
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Oct. 17, 2008 8:01 a.m. Junkyard_Dog Reader
confuZion3 wrote: Chevy Volt is coming and I think it's due, in a major way, to the success of Tesla Motors.
Layoffs+closings= success? You sir have a bright future with the domestic auto industry!
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Oct. 17, 2008 8:05 a.m. confuZion3 Dork
grtechguy wrote:
ouch...
they better figure out that tranny issue fast and start selling those cars
It looks like they already have. Now it's got one forward speed --- "Fast".
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Oct. 17, 2008 8:18 a.m. confuZion3 Dork
Junkyard_Dog wrote:
confuZion3 wrote: Chevy Volt is coming and I think it's due, in a major way, to the success of Tesla Motors.
Layoffs+closings= success? You sir have a bright future with the domestic auto industry!
They successfully created an all-electric car with a huge range, great performance, and breakthrough technology which promises to become affordible by the masses in the near future (provided mass production can begin).
I believe that it is the obsessive, idiotic management from the newest owner of the company that delayed production and will probably kill the company. When Tesla started, it had one goal in mind. This man came in and completely changed it, RIGHT as the car was scheduled to go into production.
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Oct. 17, 2008 8:33 a.m. GameboyRMH Dork
I heard the new CEO decided to make his mark on the company (CEOs do this the same way dogs do, by pissing all over it) by totally screwing up the design of the Roadster into a bigger, heavier pseudo-sports-car.
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Oct. 17, 2008 10:10 a.m. Jerry From LA Reader
HappyAndy wrote:
Not to mention the environmental disaster created by building and recycling electric car batteries on a massive scale.BTW, I work on eletric forklifts, and I belive the current motors and control systems are ready for automotive use, but batteries are still the problem. (run time and very high weight)
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Oct. 17, 2008 10:16 a.m. kreb Dork
My impression (having done a little business with Tesla and talking to their guys), is that they are like so many silicon valley startups - Which is to say that they've got a bunch of real smart guys and they piss way too much money down the drain. In addition, there's some primary players within the organization that have personality and ego issues.
Let's not write them off yet, but I've been worried about them for some time, and the odds of financial success seem to be turning real bad.
btw - in an age when there are many thousands of Billionaires, I don't think that price is that big of an issue.
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Oct. 17, 2008 10:19 a.m. kreb Dork
btw - I went to a seminar with some Toyota alt fuel people, and they're spending $1 Mil/day on battery R&D. For EVs and Hybrids to become ubiquitous, they're going to have to come up with better battery systems, that's for sure.
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Oct. 17, 2008 11:20 a.m. neon4891 Dork
Jerry From LA wrote:
Not to mention the environmental disaster created by building and recycling electric car batteries on a massive scale.
hybrid owners hate it when you point that out. I love knocking those smug shiny happy person down a notch.
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Oct. 17, 2008 11:42 a.m. alfadriver Reader
confuZion3 wrote:
They were! Every automobile manufacturer in the world has gotten smacked in the face by the thing. A Silicon Valley start-up built the best electric car in the world. Not GM, not Ford, and not Toyota.
And? It's was and would be a VERY marginal vehicle in the acutal industry. Making 10 cars a week is basically not making cars at all. When you are closer to 10 an HOUR, then we are talking.
Making the "best" electric car and making 10 a weeks has no impact on anyone, anywhere. Or you would see Ferrari kind of things in real cars (read Carbon Fiber, pushrod suspension, etc, etc).
Chevy Volt is coming and I think it's due, in a major way, to the success of Tesla Motors.
Not exactly. That would be the hybrids of the world. The Volt is a different version of a hybrid. Not an electric car.
Very predictable. Much like the Segway was going to revolutionize transportation. Many, many promises, but one never realizes how VERY difficult making a lot of super high quality product for a reasonable price it really is. (mind you, compare software quality to even the worst car quality- even the best of the best software crashes every so often for no good reason. If 0.1% of a model car had serious problems like not running, it would be a national problem....
Eric
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Oct. 17, 2008 1:37 p.m. procainestart HalfDork
neon4891 wrote:
Jerry From LA wrote:
Not to mention the environmental disaster created by building and recycling electric car batteries on a massive scale.
hybrid owners hate it when you point that out. I love knocking those smug shiny happy person down a notch.
I'd be interested in reading about the "environmental disaster" referred to above. Can someone point to a few science-based articles that discuss this? By science-based, I mean peer-reviewed, as distinguished from journalistic or from a "think tank." (Don't bother with a link to the widely-discredited "Hummer v. Prius article; thanks...)
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Oct. 17, 2008 4:40 p.m. beaulieu New Reader
Tesla was a pyramid scheme , build a few cars to get potential investors interested , build a few more to get the public ready to put down payments ,
problem is the had 50-100 million invested (probably more) and ended up with a handful of electric Lotuses,
cost per Tesla was crazy high ,
So like they say in business , we lose on every sale but make it up in volume !
Will spmeone pick up the pieces ?
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Oct. 17, 2008 5:24 p.m. aircooled Dork
Maybe they can start building these:
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Oct. 17, 2008 11:30 p.m. Canute New Reader
Just another failed startup killed by missteps in their execution. I love the Tucker. A replica would be cool. I have an idea. How about a series hybrid powered Tucker replica :)?
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Oct. 18, 2008 2:02 a.m. Apexcarver SuperDork
funny enough i was stuck at the local wally world with a friend and perused the toy isle for hotwheels booty (recent 240z finds.. mmmm) and noticed a hotwheels tesla.
now, if i could just find that hotwheels bricklin
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Oct. 18, 2008 8:08 a.m. 7pilot New Reader
They suckered Lotus into their scheme. Hopefully Lotus learned enough about alternative power platforms to compensate for their usual faulty business accumen. m
