

Tesla - we may not see the forest for the trees - cjbenedikt

It is interesting to see that everybody analysing or commenting on Tesla seems to focus on the car (=tree). Looking at Musk&#x27;s track record we may not see the forest. Should he be able to create the nationwide blanket of charging stations and - on top - deliver 5-minute-charging cycles to refill, every other manufacturer in this space will have to adopt Tesla&#x27;s standards in order to allow his customers to use Tesla&#x27;s charging stations - for a fee of course. Tesla would then dominate this market for years to come - just as Apple did early on. Musk&#x2F;Tesla would have single handedly not only created but also control the electric car market.
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rst
FYI, this might have gotten more eyes as a comment on one of the (fairly
numerous) Tesla-related submissions here. A submission needs several upvotes
within a half hour or so of submission to make the front page, or it sinks
without a trace. And text submissions, IIRC, take more --- the front-page
ranking algorithm isn't fully disclosed, in part to make things harder for the
people who keep trying to game it, but I believe text submissions do get a
penalty compared to those that are just a plain URL.

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jared314
I think the car is the primary point of discussion, because it is currently
the only thing that can be questioned on technical merits. I already share
your observation, as with most people I have actually spoken to, about the
future prospects of Tesla, and I am patiently waiting for charing stations
near me before I buy one. But, most Tesla supporters don't need to comment on
a forum, because they have already shown their support by actually investing
in the company, either through purchasing a car, buying stock, or both. But,
for the rest of the world, being pedantic is an easy way to be heard, and
everyone wants to be heard.

Also, they did not create the electric car market, they only revived it. (See
previous point.)

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nicholas73
This is a wildly optimistic prediction. Listing some risks off the top of my
head: 1) Viability of stations - cost to build/maintain stations, technical
challenges for battery swap, customer acceptance of swap 2) Widespread
adoption of EVs - so far they are only economical for luxury cars and with tax
credits 3) Probability of competitive charging stations 4) Actual need for
charging stations - really, only needed to do long trips. 5) Whether adoption
of Tesla standards actually cedes any advantage.

I think control of the EV market is unlikely.

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lifeisstillgood
And I would guess he would avoid the interstates and start on Route 66.
Interstates are boring, and have chains of gas stations. You might be able to
piggy back the deliveries onto chain-gas-stations more easily but you lose
control.

Smaller towns along a world famous route, harkening back to American self-
mythology, plus Independant stores who will be glad of the extra income and
attention.

There you could own the industry.

