Tesla to announce new product - not a car - on April 30

[Romulan_spy]

Elon Musk tweets that Tesla will announce a major new product on April 30. It won't be a new car. https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/582581865682350080

Speculation? What could it be?

 

[YellowSubmarine]

Well, the twitter feed speculation suggests a home battery pack, which is reasonable, because batteries are what they do best. Motorcycle is another possibility that seems very likely.

What isn't possible, but I am rooting for: Road-ready electric aircraft.

 

[Romulan_spy]

Well, the twitter feed speculation suggests a home battery pack, which is reasonable, because batteries are what they do best.

This seems like the most plausible possibility. If true, it has me very intrigued for sure. The concept of your home running on a battery is thought provoking.

Motorcycle is another possibility that seems very likely.

Agree. Not very likely.

What isn't possible, but I am rooting for: Road-ready electric aircraft.

Personally, I would love this the most for the cool factor alone. Sadly, we are not there yet in terms of regulations. And I doubt Tesla would invest in a flying car when only a very small handful of people would actually buy.

 

[DarthTom]

I thought that this was pretty much already leaked. Tesla is going to introduce a home storage battery in conjunction with a home solar charging unit.

Bloomberg

The problem from my point of view for Musk and his home consumer products - his car currently - and likely this home solar/battery is that his prices are astronomically outside of what average consumers can afford.

A Tesla, albeit is a good car, is more pricey than a Mercedes. Sorry Elon, if I had $75K to buy a car I'd buy the Benz not your car. I'd wager this battery unit will also be too expensive for most consumers.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

New technology usually is expensive when it first comes out, yes. That's pretty normal.

 

[YellowSubmarine]

A Tesla, albeit is a good car, is more pricey than a Mercedes. Sorry Elon, if I had $75K to buy a car I'd buy the Benz not your car. I'd wager this battery unit will also be too expensive for most consumers.

And some people would do exactly the opposite. Which makes this a little bit of an uncalled for snide remark at their cars, which they don't have much problem selling. Other than politics. And they are going to help in making long-range electric cars affordable for the rest of us.

 

[DarthTom]

And some people would do exactly the opposite. Which makes this a little bit of an uncalled for snide remark at their cars, which they don't have much problem selling. Other than politics. And they are going to help in making long-range electric cars affordable for the rest of us.

Personal preference. A friend of mine dropped the $75k to buy one of his cars and it's been a hassle and 1/2 owning the car. Firstly for such an expensive vehicle- and because Tesla doesn't have many service stations, at least here in Georgia-it's a major pain to get the car serviced and comparatively against the top notch service / repair / customer service your average Mercedes Dealer would provide to anyone who paid that much for a vehicle - a terrible experience.

Secondly, for all the hype of easy charging when you go in the boonies here in GA and take the car on a spin in rural areas-not easy to find a charging location.

Hey man, it's break through technology when it comes to the battery tech - but for me I'd rather spend the $75K on a car that has a lot more prestige than a Tesla for that kind of cash.

Regarding the up-coming tech related to the home battery. Exciting shit. When will it though be in most people's income bracket to buy this stuff?

 

[Romulan_spy]

A Tesla, albeit is a good car, is more pricey than a Mercedes. Sorry Elon, if I had $75K to buy a car I'd buy the Benz not your car.

A Tesla and a Mercedes are very different cars. If someone is ok with a luxury gas guzzler, a Mercedes is fine. But some people want the quietness and fast acceleration of an electric car and also want to go "green", in which case a Tesla might be their preference. If you live in California where fast chargers are more and more common, a Tesla makes sense since you will be able to drive virtually anywhere without range anxiety. Of course, if you live in the midwest with a lot of rural areas and very few chargers, an all-electric car does not make sense since your range would be pretty limited. I live in Indiana so as much as an electric car really appeals to me a lot, I would more likely buy a hybrid or an extended range vehicle like the Chevy Volt. That way, I get the best of both worlds: the benefits of electric driving on short trips but the benefits of gas driving on long trips.

 

[publiusr]

Don't get your hopes up too high.

Remember when everyone thought Kamen's little Segway was some kind of anti-gravity craft before the roll-out?

 

[Mudd]

A Tesla, albeit is a good car, is more pricey than a Mercedes. Sorry Elon, if I had $75K to buy a car I'd buy the Benz not your car. I'd wager this battery unit will also be too expensive for most consumers.

And some people would do exactly the opposite.

And most people wouldn't, which is sort of the point. For all the technological progress on batteries and the attempts to build support infrastructure that Tesla is doing, electric cars remain a niche market and will do so for quite some time. Ten years ago they didn't have the range and took too long to refuel. Today they don't have the range and take too long to refuel.

 

[Snaploud]

A Tesla, albeit is a good car, is more pricey than a Mercedes. Sorry Elon, if I had $75K to buy a car I'd buy the Benz not your car. I'd wager this battery unit will also be too expensive for most consumers.

Prices will apparently be coming down with future models:

The Chevrolet Bolt is being painted in the press as a Tesla competitor. It's not and Elon Musk agrees. And while GM says its 200-mile EV will be priced at $30,000, there's a big asterisk on that sticker – it includes incentives – incentives that Musk isn't including in the price of the Model 3

Musk has said in the past that the Model 3 would cost $35,000, but tonight he clarified that figure doesn't include any state or federal tax incentives.

Just the Feds will give you $7,500 for going electric, which puts the real sticker price of the Bolt at $37,500. And if Tesla used the same math GM is promoting, that would mean the Model 3 would come in at $27,500 after current incentives.

Obviously, Tesla has a long way to get there. It still needs to deliver the already delayed (twice) Model X before getting really serious about the Model 3...

http://jalopnik.com/elon-musk-says-model-3-will-cost-35-000-before-incent-1679351127

 

[fonzob1]

How are Tesla's products considered good for the environment? We get most of our electricity from coal, which might just be worse on the environment than gasoline.

 

[sojourner]

So you're saying that coal fired cars would be more environmentally friendly than gas powered cars?

 

[Lindley]

How are Tesla's products considered good for the environment? We get most of our electricity from coal, which might just be worse on the environment than gasoline.

That's probably why Elon Musk also owns Solar City.

In any event, one problem at a time. Solving energy density in cars without fossil fuels is a separate challenge from improving our overall electric grid.

 

[Mudd]

How are Tesla's products considered good for the environment? We get most of our electricity from coal, which might just be worse on the environment than gasoline.

Well, one can generate electricity from a lot of fuels - eventually, probably mainly nuclear.

We're at the beginning of an oil glut. That has massive economic implications for all of this.

 

[Romulan_spy]

It seems to be confirmed that the new product line will indeed be a home battery:
http://money.cnn.com/2015/04/22/technology/tesla-home-battery/index.html

 

[Taylirious]

http://www.teslamotors.com/powerwall

Interesting. For some reason I first read it as "Powerball".

 

[Mudd]

SolarCity says 'No thanks!' to Tesla's new battery

We were impressed. But the company that Musk is actually chairman of, SolarCity, so far isn't.

According to Bloomberg's Tom Randall, SolarCity doesn't think one of the new Tesla batteries is right for its solar-panel business.

"The new Tesla Powerwall home batteries come in two sizes—seven and 10 kilowatt hours (kWh)—but the differences extend beyond capacity to the chemistry of the batteries," Randall wrote.

"The 7kWh version is made for daily use, while its larger counterpart is only intended to be used as occasional backup when the electricity goes out. The bigger Tesla battery isn't designed to go through more than about 50 charging cycles a year, according to SolarCity spokesman Jonathan Bass."

In fact, Bass said that the smaller battery "doesn't really make financial sense," Randall reported.

The 10kWh battery is useful for SolarCity because it can provide a fall-back power supply. The 7kWh version, alone or grouped with other batteries, could appeal to customers who want to store grid electric power when it's cheaper and consume it when it's more expensive.

That view was supported by another detractor, who nonetheless was impressed by Tesla's creation of the product. "It's a luxury good—really cool to have—but I don't see an economic argument," Brian Warshay said, as quoted by Randall.

 

[Tom Hendricks]

Tesla to reveal the Model 3 in March 2016.

CEO Elon Musk announced the target date during today's call with Tesla investors. "We are hoping to show the Model 3 in March of next year," he said. Musk emphasized that the date is tentative and plans could change in the months ahead. But right now, that's the goal. Production of the Model 3, which will be able to drive 200 miles on a single charge, would start in mid or late 2017. "Late 2017 is probably more realistic," Musk added. It's been rumored that Tesla is targeting a price around $35,000.

http://www.theverge.com/2015/5/6/8562127/tesla-plans-to-unveil-its-35000-model-3-in-march-2016

I'm really holding out hope for the Model 3. That Tesla can deliver a BMW 3 level quality and size, probably starting at $35,000.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I really have no opinion on the actual Tesla gear, but I can't help but wonder: why is it so damn hard for people to buy their cars? So many states have laws against Tesla selling their own cars. What's the big deal?