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Originally Posted by Dadhawk
Smart move on Tesla's part, and I'm sure it's always been a part of their strategy. It really should be a separate company and not tied to the vehicle though. I believe it has reached the point where it will be sustainable on it's own. If/when I get an EV I will be a customer.
Can't disagree with all that except to say that's all well and good but I still don't like their idea of car design. I'll likely never own a Tesla because of it. But, hey someone has to innovate to keep everyone else moving.
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Like releasing their patents, or like how they mentioned giving their insights into mining to that industry, their company mission is to accelerate EV adoption. They know what will slow this down, and right now, having access to superchargers is likely going to slow down EV adoption, especially for people who live in apartment complexes and who can't home charge or who have abnormally long commutes. As you know, their charging network is far more robust and superior to third party suppliers in terms of consistency, user experience, and from what the video says, it seems like they are working aggressively to lower costs and use green sourced energy.
I don't know why it would need to be a separate company. There are Samsung TVs, phones, refrigerator, clothing, medical equipment, etc. Yamaha has motorcycles and speakers. Ford provided PPE with their logos on them. Frankly, it is good advertising for their cars because the user experience at the chargers might persuade people to wonder about the user experience in the cars.
Like they said, the Model 3 over five years is cheaper than a Corolla. Whether that includes subsidies or not is not clear, and I wouldn't be surprised if they include that into their calculations, considering the history of their MO, but I can foresee them surpassing parity to ICEs in the near future and being capable of offering a significantly cheaper car than competitors; at that point, even if the car is everywhere and people aren't interested in the aesthetics or brand, if it is $5k, $7, $10k cheaper than competitors (which they won't have to do), would people still not want the car. People like to drive something unique, but no one thinks of that when they take a taxi, and few think of how little the Porsche 911 design has changed across generations, so small refreshes is all they need. From Musk's lips, Tesla may not be interested in having a rugged version of the Model Y, but then he also mentioned potentially having ten different models--Model X/Y, Y/3, Cybertruck, Semi, Roadster; maybe a subcompact hatch, and cheaper roadster would be nine. Overall, they don't care to steal all the sales. Musk has said that one company only controls like 10% of the market, so they seem to be more interested in setting an example and having competitors follow suit, which is what is happening, but it is happening slowly based on the rate they are moving. Besides their processes being far different, their investment cash flow might allow them to invest aggressively, and maybe others can't in the same way. Maybe Tesla has no concern about being eclipsed by competitors, and as they said, they see unlimited demand with EVs--not a niche market.