Tesla recently invited CleanTechnica to its automotive factory in Fremont, California, for an exclusive tour that took us behind the scenes in one of the largest manufacturing facilities in the world. This is the factory that serves as the beating heart of Tesla’s automotive business.
The big news in February’s top positions was of course the Tesla Model 3 landing with a bang, and jumping right up to the leadership position, but unlike what has happened (and is happening) in the USA, the blackhole effect of the Tesla Model 3 is not absorbing sales from other BEVs (well, maybe the Model S is the exception). Instead, it appears the Model 3 is pulling customers directly from competing PHEVs and gas/diesel models.
Traditionally, February, along with January, are the two slowest months in the Chinese plug-in vehicle market, but with sales growing 58% year over year (YoY) last month, to some 53,000 units, especially in the context of a falling market (the mainstream market was down 17% last month), one can’t really complain about this market, despite the plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) market share dropping slightly to 4.7% (4.3% in February). However, the 2019 result is already above the 2018 result (4.2%).
The 1990s and early 2000s saw companies around the world extending their supply chains into global markets in a way that the world had never seen before, or perhaps even imagined. The business models that emerged from the outsourcing movement were spread far and wide, with central organizations extending some semblance of control of their supply chains through quality spec sheets, service level agreements, and detailed supplier contracts.
Journalists have been calling cars “computers on wheels” for at least a decade, but there’s a problem with that metaphor: these days, even the simplest of computers can update their software remotely, with little or no user input required. Other than the ones made by a certain California company, cars don’t do that. Today’s most “advanced” non-Tesla vehicles can do little more than update their software to fix problems, and even that usually requires a trip to the dealership.
The adoption of any new technology is a gradual process, and it always takes time for people to break free of their old ways of doing things. Early TV shows were basically filmed radio plays, and early websites looked like magazine pages with hyperlinks.
Below is an excerpt fromInsane Mode: How Elon Musk’s Tesla Sparked an Electric Revolution to End the Age of Oil by Hamish McKenzie.*
As I disclose in my bio, I do own some Tesla stock in one of my investment trusts. I own the stock because I believe the company is a promising avenue of speculation, with a lot of risk and a lot of potential reward.
Yes, that’s correct, some lucky guy out there actually won four vehicles from Tesla including a Model X, two next-gen Roadsters, and a Model S. Don’t believe us? Check out the amazing story of Bjørn Nyland, a pioneering EV evangelist and world-famous YouTuber from Norway.
Another Tesla Solar Roof Tile customer has taken to the interwebs to show off his new system, and it gives us a view of what an installed retrofit system looks like. To date, installations of the sexy new Tesla Solar Roof Tiles have only trickled out, but Tesla CEO Elon Musk said at the Model Y unveiling last week that, “this is definitely going to be the year of the Solar Roof and Powerwall.”
