Comments on: 4 Elon Musk Statements From Friday That Caught My Ear (Podcasts)

By: Ivor O'Connor

Ivor O'Connor — Thu, 22 Aug 2013 16:27:00 +0000

Thomas Edison was similar to Steve Jobs from what all I have read. In other words he would lie, cheat, steal, sabotage, and do anything to get his way.

For instance look at the broken promises Thomas Edison made to Tesla. Or the sabotaging of the World Fair. Or all the patents he took credit for.

By: Zachary Shahan

Zachary Shahan — Thu, 22 Aug 2013 14:49:00 +0000

Agreed. I did, too. Would love to dig in and get more details on that as it progresses. Just read today that a parts bottleneck is the biggest hold-up on Leaf manufacturing, too. Takes time to build that huge supply chain.

By: Zachary Shahan

Zachary Shahan — Thu, 22 Aug 2013 14:48:00 +0000

Agreed. It’s a huge story in several niches. And Musk is actually a huge story beyond this niche… a leader in other segments we don’t cover. Pretty amazing.

By: Zachary Shahan

Zachary Shahan — Thu, 22 Aug 2013 14:47:00 +0000

I do agree that there is much more value in helping to educate the masses and shift the tide in the way we are doing… that the work is “undervalued.” But have to feel lucky that I’ve found a niche that I think needs my work, am able to make a decent living off it, and enjoy the heck out of it. Happy I’m finding a path that others are getting some value from.

By: Zachary Shahan

Zachary Shahan — Thu, 22 Aug 2013 14:46:00 +0000

Haha Yeah, wouldn’t count on ever becoming a billionaire or even millionaire, but love what I do and try to do it the best I can.

By: Zachary Shahan

Zachary Shahan — Thu, 22 Aug 2013 14:44:00 +0000

I agree. Think very few people grasp what he has done… and is doing today.

By: Zachary Shahan

Zachary Shahan — Thu, 22 Aug 2013 14:42:00 +0000

Haha, I wish. Think you’d see a lot of Tesla advertisements if we were.

Elon Musk is considered by many to be something like a Henry Ford or Thomas Edison (or Ford + Edison) person of our day. He will surely be written up in the history books. He was this year put on TIME’s top 100 list. Millions of people follow him and pay close attention to what he says. He’s probably the biggest name in the cleantech biz, as well as the auto biz, these days.

http://evobsession.com/teslas-elon-musk-named-one-of-times-100-most-influential-people/

http://cleantechnica.com/2013/04/08/obama-elon-musk-bloomberg-me-on-a-top-20-list/

We just try to cover his most notable statements.

By: Bob_Wallace

Bob_Wallace — Tue, 13 Aug 2013 21:10:00 +0000

Zach is doing something that is at least as valuable as what Elon is doing. Maybe more important.

He’s starting with the acknowledgement that we have a severe problem and we need solutions. He’s gathering up the answers from here and there and putting them in one central place where people can find them and presenting them in a form that most people can quickly comprehend.

We need to transition off fossil fuels ASAP. Zack is out there with his LED lantern and rechargeable batteries, showing us the path.

By: mds

mds — Tue, 13 Aug 2013 20:14:00 +0000

Oh Zach is right up there with Elon Musk in my book. They are both awe inspiring! Am I laying it on ya too thick Zach? Just stay humble and you’ll be fine.

By: mds

mds — Tue, 13 Aug 2013 20:09:00 +0000

Yeh, you’re right, Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla were bums too.

By: Bob_Wallace

Bob_Wallace — Tue, 13 Aug 2013 18:01:00 +0000

Can you name another car company that set out to create an affordable car by beginning with a luxury car?

I can name a number of companies that built and build luxury/exotic cars but I don’t know that any of them have stated that they are doing so in order to eventually produce a car “for the masses”.

(You’ll have to excuse us if we find successful ideas interesting.)

By: cmu

cmu — Tue, 13 Aug 2013 17:46:00 +0000

Actually I read cleantechnica from time to time, and am very well versed in sustainability, alternate energy sources and EV. The site’s bias towards Tesla is obvious. Tesla has produced a potent andvery niche-sucessful car, of course, but its success will not be by “Start[ing] producing for those with the deepest pockets because you can earn higher margins there.” Name one other niche car company that’s done that. If Tesla is mass-market successful, it will be because of investors and he’ll need a lot of them. Bugatti Veyron, anyone?

And, so, mds, is he saving us from oil addiction or wasting our resources on his spacecraft? Do you really think going to Mars in any way helps any of us? Btw, ‘don’t read if you’re not interested’ is a juvenile comment and betrays some reading incomprehesion as well.

I haven’t drunk the Musk Koolaid yet. Must be pretty potent.

By: Ivor O'Connor

Ivor O'Connor — Tue, 13 Aug 2013 16:35:00 +0000

Point 4 I find most interesting. I suspect there are some real juicy stories there waiting to be reported on.

By: Ivor O'Connor

Ivor O'Connor — Tue, 13 Aug 2013 16:33:00 +0000

You made a good point about Zach. Zach is doing an amazing job in a different niche. However I think Zach still has a ways to go before he becomes a billionaire…

By: Marion Meads

Marion Meads — Tue, 13 Aug 2013 14:01:00 +0000

I often see Tesla as overhyper and misleading advertisers, but overall, I see them as excellent startup company. Even if they do not become successful, they have already made the greatest contribution to us all by forcing the rest of the automakers to jump start the EV revolution in more ways than one. There is no turning back, the EV is here to stay, thanks to Elon Musk! Thus, I love the articles to keep coming about Tesla and Elon Musk. I will be here to counteract what I feel or know that some of their claims and promises are overhyped or have not been delivered, and for sure I will be critical for their own good. I wish the company great success. So keep the articles coming.

Already, Elon Musk is making the statement “somewhat affordable”, and as I have predicted and criticized, the hint of upcoming price increases from their original goal of mass market affordability. I told you so!

By: mds

mds — Tue, 13 Aug 2013 08:16:00 +0000

cmu
You are confused. Boy did you step in it. No, cleantechnica isn’t owned by Elon Musk, he and Tesla are just doing amazing stuff. I’m not going to list it all our for you. Don’t read’em if your not interested. Duh!
Zach,
Please keep them coming, Tesla and Elon are amazing! I was blown away by the model s. I’m dying to see how far they get on cost verses performance with the model x. Very funny that Elon is getting overwhelmed and is trying to reign in is scope a little. I was really wondering if he had any bandwidth limit at all. Let’s see:
1. Completely revolutionary and wildly successful EV startup: check.
2. Very successful solar installation/3rd party financing startup: check.
3. Completely revolutionary and wildly successful space launch startup: check.
Yeh, think will give him some time before he completely revolutionizes intercity, across continent travel …simply amazing.
(Ever visited the spacex web site? Ever seen a multi-storied rocket blast-off, hover, and then land? Have you seen the simulation of their long term plan? He humbly mentioned in an interview that he’s working on a “2 order of magnitude reduction in launch costs” …A FRIGGIN FACTOR OF 100!!! WOW!!! …and Tesla’s accomplishments with EVs are equally incredible!!! Sorry, but I don’t think many people have much idea what this really means, how exciting it really is. This guy is going to help save us from our deadly oil addiction and then he’s going to help us colonize Mars. Talking about exciting times! Forget Hollywood! Forget football! THIS IS EXCITING! THIS IS COLUMBUS or THE VIKINGS FINDING THE NEW WORLD EXCITING! …sorry, little carried away there

By: patb2009

patb2009 — Tue, 13 Aug 2013 02:45:00 +0000

The Tesla stuff is sexy. Look, I’m driving my low cost Honda Insight, but,
Tesla is way further then most startups. The car market is littered with technology dead-ends (EV-1, Quadrasteer, Corvair) and startup companies
(DeLorean, Bricklin, Dynamaxion, Tucker, Sterling). Tesla is both a technology story (EV, Superchargers, Battery Swap) and it’s a startup story.

You have to give them some real credit for this. All the other green cars are coming from the majors or not quite the tech push. Making all that work,
is not easy.

By: Bob_Wallace

Bob_Wallace — Mon, 12 Aug 2013 22:40:00 +0000

Let’s see.

Not owned by Elon, best I can tell.

Devote so much scarce space to him and his company? Could it be because Elon makes a lot of very interesting stuff happen? Should we the use space on people who do nothing, in your opinion?

Overpriced toys for the 1%? Well, that’s part of his very successful plan. Start by producing for those with the deepest pockets because you can earn higher margins there. Then use that income to build your base and reputation which will allow you to develop more affordable EVs.

Are other EV companies not covered here? Looks like you fired off before getting to know the site. There’s tons of stuff on other companies. When they make news tat gets reported.

Read the site. Lots of stuff. Thousands of articles and less than 99% of them are about Elon.

By: cmu

cmu — Mon, 12 Aug 2013 22:16:00 +0000

I’m confused. Are you owned by Elon Musk? If not why does your website devote so much scarce space to him & his company? I mean, let’s look at this from a ‘normal person’s viewpoint…tesla cars are for the 1%, overpriced toys that have a cachet of green (and, note, I’m a car person myself, and love driving, but I’m also one who cannot dream of speding Tesla-level). This is exactly the same as peopl who build 5000 sq ft ‘green’ housing with Italian marble and German pseudo-double-hung windows…greenwash. So why slaver over him?

HInt: there’s plenty of other, more socially responsible companies you might give press to.