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Old Feb 14, 2014 | 06:13 PM
  #301  
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"In this particular case, we don't yet know the precise cause, but have definitely determined that it did not originate in the battery, the charging system, the adapter or the electrical receptacle, as these components were untouched by fire," said Tesla in an official statement.

Tesla has reportedly dispatched seven employees to investigate this latest fire, so we can expect to hear even more about it in the coming days and weeks. According to Business Insider, the automaker has even offered to "take care of the damages and inconvenience caused by the fire, but the owner declined."
Someone has been talking to a lawyer and looking for a payday at Tesla's expense.


Originally Posted by yowps3
Why doesn't Tesla just get over themselves and just sell AUTOMOBILES like how the rest do?

What makes them better than everyone else?
Pretty much everything. The buying experience, owner support, and the car itself.
Old Feb 14, 2014 | 06:24 PM
  #302  
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Originally Posted by Hoovey2411
Tesla investigating the cause of Model S garage fire in Toronto




http://www.autoblog.com/2014/02/14/t...re-in-toronto/
it is quite interesting that Tesla always ends up blaming the customer. Musk needs to learn that customer is #1 priority. Before, he resorted to personal attacks when someone claimed Tesla was anything but perfect, and this seems to continue with them suggesting that it is not car's fault for the fire... basically looking at the article, you would think someone set the car on fire on purpose.

But if they thought their customer did that, they certainly would not offer to cover "all the damages and inconvenience".

He needs to be thick skinned and not take it personally. Once the number of Tesla's on road increases, there will be more and more problems, not only from fires, but just general things when cars start getting more miles on them.

He has a great car, great team, so far looking at it from here, he needs to hire someone that can advise him on how to handle PR.

Last edited by spwolf; Feb 14, 2014 at 06:29 PM.
Old Feb 14, 2014 | 06:37 PM
  #303  
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Four people I know (2 friends, 2 acquaintances) work for Tesla at the Nummi Factory. They all love it, good benefits, great work environment. I actually just turned down a position on the assembly line, but was happy for the opportunity.
Old Feb 14, 2014 | 09:07 PM
  #304  
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Originally Posted by spwolf
Musk needs to learn that customer is #1 priority.
He had techs sent directly to the guys house what more do you want.
Old Feb 14, 2014 | 10:28 PM
  #305  
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Originally Posted by spwolf
it is quite interesting that Tesla always ends up blaming the customer. Musk needs to learn that customer is #1 priority. Before, he resorted to personal attacks when someone claimed Tesla was anything but perfect, and this seems to continue with them suggesting that it is not car's fault for the fire... basically looking at the article, you would think someone set the car on fire on purpose.

But if they thought their customer did that, they certainly would not offer to cover "all the damages and inconvenience".

He needs to be thick skinned and not take it personally. Once the number of Tesla's on road increases, there will be more and more problems, not only from fires, but just general things when cars start getting more miles on them.

He has a great car, great team, so far looking at it from here, he needs to hire someone that can advise him on how to handle PR.
Whatever he is doing it is working... why change it? Companies that focus on customer service good will services is nothing new.
Old Feb 15, 2014 | 01:55 AM
  #306  
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Originally Posted by Lexus2000
Someone has been talking to a lawyer and looking for a payday at Tesla's expense.



Pretty much everything. The buying experience, owner support, and the car itself.
If they're so confident with their product and business then why not compete on a equal footing?
Old Feb 15, 2014 | 08:25 AM
  #307  
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Originally Posted by yowps3
If they're so confident with their product and business then why not compete on a equal footing?
What the heck are you talking about? Being successful in business is a very complex process, if Tesla can bypass the dealer network and be more profitable, awesome. Bunch of whining crybabies out there, stems from jealously I think.

Musk did what no other auto maker could (or refused to do), produce an all electric car that people actually want for more than just fuel saving reasons.
Old Feb 17, 2014 | 11:32 AM
  #308  
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Default Apple's merger chief met in secret with Tesla CEO Elon Musk

Apple's merger chief met in secret with Tesla CEO Elon Musk



There's no lack of connections between two of the most darling Silicon Valley companies, Apple and Tesla Motors. Most recently, the electric car manufacturer hired away Apple's "Hacker Princess," Kristin Paget, but it's possible to look back as far as 2010 to see when Tesla hired the man who worked on the Apple Store experience, George Blankenship, to get the Tesla Stores in order (he left in late 2013). More recently, there's been outside calls for the two to link arms, namely from banking analyst Adnaan Ahmad who said Apple should just up and buy Tesla (some have also predicted that General Motors could do just that in 2014) in late 2013. But nothing in this list ties the two companies together as strongly as a new report in the San Francisco Chronicle: Apple's chief of mergers and acquisitions, Adrian Perica, secretly met with Tesla CEO Elon Musk last spring.

Neither company is talking publicly, and the Chronicle's source is choosing to remain anonymous, but it appears that Tesla and Apple may have been at least a little bit interested in working together well ahead of Ahmad's call. He wrote that buying Tesla would bring another Steve Jobs-like figure (Musk) to the computer giant as well as give the maker of iPhones and iPads another market to explore (remember the iCar idea?). The Chronicle does admit that there's no upside for Tesla that's quite as obvious, and one analyst said a partnership would make more sense than a buy out.

There could be other scenarios on the table, as well. Perhaps it was to discuss a joint giga-battery plant? Or maybe Musk's visit to Cupertino was just a courtesy call, in case Tesla ever needs access to Apple's famously deep pockets.
http://green.autoblog.com/2014/02/17...ger-elon-musk/
Old Feb 17, 2014 | 12:32 PM
  #309  
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Originally Posted by yowps3
Why doesn't Tesla just get over themselves and just sell AUTOMOBILES like how the rest do?

What makes them better than everyone else?
Not sure if serious…..
Old Feb 19, 2014 | 06:36 PM
  #310  
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Default Tesla sold 6,892 Model S EVs in Q4, stock jumps in afterhours trading

Tesla sold 6,892 Model S EVs in Q4, stock jumps in afterhours trading



Quarterly shareholder letters, with accompanying financial results, are an opportunity for companies to crow about their recent progress and instill excitement about future expectations. Tesla Motor's latest such release reveals it's coop is rife with roosters in full song. And for good reason.

The California automaker announced today it earned $46 million in 4th quarter of 2013 on a non-GAAP basis – under generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), which calculates leasing and stock-based employee remuneration differently, it actually lost $16 million – selling 6,892 very lovely Model S electric sedans in the process. Further, it passed its predicted 25 percent gross profit margin on its cars, hitting 25.8 percent on a non-GAAP basis. This means, for the fiscal year of 2013 it sold 22,477 vehicles in total and had over 2.5 billion in (non-GAAP) sales, which includes, of course, supply and development deals with Toyota and Daimler.

That's pretty durned good, and the stock market would seem to agree. With the financials results dropping just after the NASDAQ's close, the price for TSLA has jump around 12 percent – over $23 as of this writing – to a record high in the $217 neighborhood. Those share price increases aren't just based on past performance, though. The info drop also included plenty of things to indicate the future bodes well. The company expects both sales and production to continue to rise throughout 2014, with a new assembly line expected to help churn out 1,000 cars per week in the 3rd quarter and profit margins projected to hit 28 percent by the end of the year.

On the demand side, Tesla's CEO Elon Musk stated during the conference call that he doesn't expect the company to be able to meet the demand that's coming from China. Its new Beijing store is now the company's biggest and busiest and deliveries don't even begin until spring. While European sales are a little slower than anticipated, the exec said he believes it will improve as soon as the company irons out a few technical difficulties that have arisen with charging amongst the different territories there. Apparently, not all power grids operate in exactly the same way.

Speaking of reservations for the upcoming Model X SUV, Elon said demand is high. Quote: "If you are going fishing, fish are actually jumping in the boat." That vehicle is only expected to start reaching customers next spring.

One future topic that wasn't widely discussed during the call was the Tesla Gigafactory. This battery-building facility is expected to be completed in a similar time frame as the more affordable Tesla Model E and supply the renewables industry as well as power cars. Musk did mention that the company would be releasing a lot more information on its giga-plan next week.
Gallery: Shareholder Letters
http://green.autoblog.com/photos/tes...photo-2438883/
Old Feb 20, 2014 | 08:14 AM
  #311  
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That is an amazing number for an electric car from the 60-110k price range. Wow!
Old Feb 20, 2014 | 10:56 AM
  #312  
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Model X is delayed until 2015.
Old Feb 20, 2014 | 11:02 AM
  #313  
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Originally Posted by JessePS
Model X is delayed until 2015.
While it'll be a cool vehicle I'm more looking forward to the affordable baby Tesla S. Tesla will have an intense hit on their hands if they can make it look as good as the Tesla S for a lower price.

__

On a funnier note:

Tesla S
Tesla X

Rumormill has floated around that the baby Tesla S would be named Tesla E..

I get a kick out of that. A few of my friends who work at the Nummi Plant said Elon Musk joked around in a team meeting saying they would have another model slated called the Tesla Y

Tesla S.E.X.Y

Old Feb 26, 2014 | 06:23 PM
  #314  
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Thanks to skyrocketing share prices, yesterday was a very big payday for Tesla founder Elon Musk. The already wealthy businessman added another $1.1 billion, ten percent of his net worth, to his overflowing wallet yesterday after Tesla's shares hit $248. This time last year, TSLA was trading at roughly $34 per share.

Tesla's latest jump in a year that has already seen share prices climb 65 percent is thanks to positive reports from Consumer Reports on the company's Model S electric sedan, and some kind words from Morgan Stanley about the brand's plans for a battery factory.

Despite all the good news for Tesla yesterday, not all of the $1.1 billion Musk earned came from his automotive pursuits. SolarCity, which Musk is also the largest shareholder in, saw its share prices jump 3.1 percent, as part of a 43-percent jump in 2014.

According to Bloomberg, Musk's latest stock earning makes him the second largest wealth earner among US billionaires this year, behind Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg.
http://www.autoblog.com/2014/02/26/t...rnings-report/
Old Mar 5, 2014 | 10:09 AM
  #315  
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When we last left our 2013 Tesla Model S, it was on the back of a flat-bed tow truck, having died on my colleague, Matt Jones. It spent the night in a tow yard and was delivered to the Tesla service department in West Los Angeles the following morning.

Vince, our service advisor, was great about giving me updates throughout the course of the day. "We're getting a bunch of faults from the drive unit and main battery pack," said Vince. "Our technicians are taking a look at it now. I'll call you when I have more information."

It sounded serious.

He called back about an hour later and said they would be replacing the drive unit and the high-voltage battery assembly. I asked Vince what caused the problems, but he said they don't open up the batteries at the service center. Like most warranty issues on new cars, the parts are replaced at the dealer and the old ones are sent to corporate headquarters for the engineers to study and see what went wrong. The service invoice didn't give me much more to go on, "During vehicle logs review, found fault related to internal drive unit failure. Replaced complete drive unit assembly per TDS case #9571."

If you're keeping score, our Model S is now on its 3rd drive unit: the one that came with the car, the 1 that was replaced in November, and this latest 1. And that wasn't the only thing that was replaced on this service visit.

After the power unit was replaced, the Model S needed a 4-wheel alignment. That's because the rear subframe must be removed to extract the power unit.

The service center also replaced the 12-volt battery, along with providing new battery terminals and a battery clamp strap.

The Tesla dealer also took care of 4 service bulletins under warranty:
Concern: Front lower control arm washer installation
Correction: Inspect knuckle/ball joint surfaces, install four front lower control arm washers.

Concern: Firmware update for automatic charge current reduction
Correction: Update firmware to version 5.8.4

Concern: Front bumper carrier bolt replacement
Correction: Replace front bumper carrier bolts and washers

Concern: New bolt for rear camber correction
Correction: Installed rear upper camber adjustment bolts per proactive repair.
Tesla also performed a "courtesy vehicle inspection," where it noted that the right rear tire has 3/32" of tread remaining. For reference, the other tires are at 8/32" (LF), 7/32" (RF) and 8/32" (LR). The worn tire is closer to its treadwear indicator on the inside of the tire, and given our past with prematurely worn tires, it's worth keeping a close eye on. Also, I wonder if the service bulletin regarding the new bolt for rear camber correction has something to do with this wear. Dan Edmunds will take a closer look at the tire soon.

Finally, the dealer found that the lug nuts were beginning to swell and were hard to remove, so they replaced all 20 of them.

All repairs were performed under warranty and Tesla delivered the car to us the following morning. Tesla didn't note the cost of the parts in its paperwork, but I have to think this repair cost Tesla at least the $5,000. Big 85KwH batteries and electric drive units don't come cheap.

When I 1st sat down to write this post, I was all fired up, as I tried to picture myself in an owner's shoes. If I had to replace the engine on my car twice — hell, even once — I would swear off the brand forever. But after talking it over with some colleagues, I was reminded that the people who buy Teslas aren't just buying basic transportation. They are early adopters and willing beta testers of a shiny new piece of tech.

In that context, I remembered my experience with my Xbox 360. Early models had high failure rates, which led to the infamous "Red Ring of Death." At the end the console generation, I had gone through 3 system failures. Not once did I think about ditching the Xbox and gaming exclusively on a Sony PlayStation 3. The Xbox was my preferred piece of tech, and when it broke, I just got it fixed, warranty or not.

Obviously the costs are different and no 1 relies on an Xbox 360 to get them to work, but the mindset is the same. For those Tesla owners who still love their cars, even in the face of major repairs, I get it.



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