The Tesla discussion
11-05-13, 10:59 PM
#212
Lexus Fanatic
iTrader: (20)
in q3, they sold 5500 vehicles, and lost $38 MILLION.
that's a loss of about $7000 per car.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/...arter/3445745/
that's a loss of about $7000 per car.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/...arter/3445745/
11-07-13, 01:25 PM
#213
Third Tesla fire is a Tennessee CarBQ
Third Tesla fire is a Tennessee CarBQ
It's been a pretty hot year for Tesla. Car of the Year awards, crazy stock price rise, and lots of media attention. Now, though, it may be getting a little too hot. As in, cars-going-up-in-flames hot.
We saw it happen in Washington when a Model S had its battery pack pierced by a metallic piece of road debris, and again in Mexico, when a driver (accidentally) tried his best to destroy a concrete wall, then a tree.
Well, it's happened again, this time in Tennessee, just outside of Smyrna. Yesterday afternoon, A Twitter user witnessed a scene, the likes of which is sure to break the heart of any Tesla fan: a Model S CarBQ. The fire seems a little less dramatic than the two previous incidents and Reuters is now reporting that, according to the Tennessee Highway Patrol, the driver "ran over a tow hitch" that "hit the undercarriage of the vehicle causing an electrical fire." We can't say at this time whether the battery or high voltage systems were involved, or whether it was contained to the 12-volt system.
Tesla said the blaze occurred following an accident and has issued the following statement:
We have been in contact with the driver, who was not injured and believes the car saved his life. Our team is on its way to Tennessee to learn more about what happened. We will provide more information when we're able to do so.
While we still feel this is a pretty ordinary sort of event for an automobile – thousands of cars burn every year in the US – it may still have an out-sized effect on Tesla, since appearances oftentimes count for more than they ought to. Although it's hard to be certain how this might be affecting Tesla's (TSLA) stock, especially after yesterday's dramatic fall, we note that it is down -6.81 percent further today at $140.87 as of this writing.
http://green.autoblog.com/2013/11/07...ire-tennessee/
11-07-13, 03:44 PM
#214
Lexus Test Driver
Thread Starter
in q3, they sold 5500 vehicles, and lost $38 MILLION.
that's a loss of about $7000 per car.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/...arter/3445745/
that's a loss of about $7000 per car.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/...arter/3445745/
11-07-13, 04:54 PM
#215
they need to strengthen the battery pack as it is obviously a problem.
11-07-13, 05:09 PM
#216
Could happen to a lot of vehicles. This tow hitch they ran over or whatever. We have a family friend who had a Miata and was driving on the freeway when all of a sudden a metal stake shot up through the passenger floor. He was so happy he didn't have family or a passenger in there as they could of been really hurt.
11-07-13, 05:10 PM
#217
Lexus Test Driver
I did a quick google search and while there are figures for fire department responses to vehicles on fire, this includes vehicle arson, so that data is not useful for determining rates of accidental vehicular fires. Maybe when I have more time, I'll try to look some more into it.
Either way, what worries me is the fact that the battery pack appears to be quite vulnerable to damage from road debris.
It'll be interesting to see what Tesla does in response to this issue. Hopefully it's something more than their current MO of trying to dismiss it by saying that non-EVs catch fire too.
11-07-13, 05:26 PM
#218
Agreed. I thought North American sales through 3Q 2013 were just 18,000 units? So this is 3 out of 18,000 - and only the ones we know about.
I did a quick google search and while there are figures for fire department responses to vehicles on fire, this includes vehicle arson, so that data is not useful for determining rates of accidental vehicular fires. Maybe when I have more time, I'll try to look some more into it.
Either way, what worries me is the fact that the battery pack appears to be quite vulnerable to damage from road debris.
It'll be interesting to see what Tesla does in response to this issue. Hopefully it's something more than their current MO of trying to dismiss it by saying that non-EVs catch fire too.
I did a quick google search and while there are figures for fire department responses to vehicles on fire, this includes vehicle arson, so that data is not useful for determining rates of accidental vehicular fires. Maybe when I have more time, I'll try to look some more into it.
Either way, what worries me is the fact that the battery pack appears to be quite vulnerable to damage from road debris.
It'll be interesting to see what Tesla does in response to this issue. Hopefully it's something more than their current MO of trying to dismiss it by saying that non-EVs catch fire too.
One Volt went on fire, and GM recalled all Volts... at that point, they sold probably double what Tesla did.
11-07-13, 05:29 PM
#219
Could happen to a lot of vehicles. This tow hitch they ran over or whatever. We have a family friend who had a Miata and was driving on the freeway when all of a sudden a metal stake shot up through the passenger floor. He was so happy he didn't have family or a passenger in there as they could of been really hurt.
It is not a big deal, companies recall cars all the time... putting your head into sand and claiming "customer believes his life was saved by Tesla" is not going to work forever.
there is a reason car companies over-engineer battery pack protection, sure it is heaver and it is more expensive but at the same time, problems like this dont happen.
11-07-13, 06:00 PM
#220
i agree that you can run over something easily and it happens a lot... but not every car will self combust after that.
It is not a big deal, companies recall cars all the time... putting your head into sand and claiming "customer believes his life was saved by Tesla" is not going to work forever.
there is a reason car companies over-engineer battery pack protection, sure it is heaver and it is more expensive but at the same time, problems like this dont happen.
It is not a big deal, companies recall cars all the time... putting your head into sand and claiming "customer believes his life was saved by Tesla" is not going to work forever.
there is a reason car companies over-engineer battery pack protection, sure it is heaver and it is more expensive but at the same time, problems like this dont happen.
11-07-13, 10:06 PM
#221
That's why you don't buy the first model year. Let them work out the bugs and then buy the 2nd generation. The Model S is still the only all electric car I would buy right now. As long as these fires are not instantaneous explosions and more like a slow burn giving occupants time to escape, I don't see it as a major problem. A problem yes, but nothing I can't see being sorted out soon. I've witnessed a couple of car fires on the side of the roadways. I've always wondered how it ignited while passing by since every one I saw so far was solo cars not in an accident.
11-08-13, 12:51 AM
#222
sure, will they be Tesla after that though? Right now in a lot of things they are more advanced than anyone else, because they started with a clean sheet.... but they are finding a hard way why these car companies do what they do and how they do it.
there was an article in some big auto publication, forgot which one, on how first Tesla they tried was perfect and now other cars they tried are not so good build quality etc, and they wondered if first cars were simply checked a lot better than afterwards as now they produce 1800 per month and dont have time anymore.
Nevertheless, my point is that Tesla needs to change the way they address problems - previously Musk would publicly attack anyone that complained and now that you sell 25k cars per year, your owners wont always be electric car aficionados and you have to be proactive and fix problems.
In other words, just accept that you have a problem and fix it. it is not a common or normal for car to be so sensitive by road debris, which is plentiful. Sooner they fix it, sooner the press will move on and be forgot. And your owners will be happy about you being proactive.
there was an article in some big auto publication, forgot which one, on how first Tesla they tried was perfect and now other cars they tried are not so good build quality etc, and they wondered if first cars were simply checked a lot better than afterwards as now they produce 1800 per month and dont have time anymore.
Nevertheless, my point is that Tesla needs to change the way they address problems - previously Musk would publicly attack anyone that complained and now that you sell 25k cars per year, your owners wont always be electric car aficionados and you have to be proactive and fix problems.
In other words, just accept that you have a problem and fix it. it is not a common or normal for car to be so sensitive by road debris, which is plentiful. Sooner they fix it, sooner the press will move on and be forgot. And your owners will be happy about you being proactive.
11-08-13, 01:26 AM
#223
sure, will they be Tesla after that though? Right now in a lot of things they are more advanced than anyone else, because they started with a clean sheet.... but they are finding a hard way why these car companies do what they do and how they do it.
there was an article in some big auto publication, forgot which one, on how first Tesla they tried was perfect and now other cars they tried are not so good build quality etc, and they wondered if first cars were simply checked a lot better than afterwards as now they produce 1800 per month and dont have time anymore.
Nevertheless, my point is that Tesla needs to change the way they address problems - previously Musk would publicly attack anyone that complained and now that you sell 25k cars per year, your owners wont always be electric car aficionados and you have to be proactive and fix problems.
In other words, just accept that you have a problem and fix it. it is not a common or normal for car to be so sensitive by road debris, which is plentiful. Sooner they fix it, sooner the press will move on and be forgot. And your owners will be happy about you being proactive.
there was an article in some big auto publication, forgot which one, on how first Tesla they tried was perfect and now other cars they tried are not so good build quality etc, and they wondered if first cars were simply checked a lot better than afterwards as now they produce 1800 per month and dont have time anymore.
Nevertheless, my point is that Tesla needs to change the way they address problems - previously Musk would publicly attack anyone that complained and now that you sell 25k cars per year, your owners wont always be electric car aficionados and you have to be proactive and fix problems.
In other words, just accept that you have a problem and fix it. it is not a common or normal for car to be so sensitive by road debris, which is plentiful. Sooner they fix it, sooner the press will move on and be forgot. And your owners will be happy about you being proactive.
11-08-13, 08:55 AM
#225
yeah, but you dont see Lexus not issuing recall for cars that go bazooka on you. Thats what I am saying, cars are customer relations business, not same as Apple or Google.