
Elon Musk Receives Product Suggestion on Twitter, Implements It 6 Days Later - dirkyn
https://officechai.com/news/elon-musk-receives-product-suggestion-twitter-tesla-implements-6-days-later/?sthash.LnpmjTXV.WpKm8Iy7.mjjo#sthash.LnpmjTXV.Aq4R8I08.dpbs
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kosei
It seems more likely that this is an example of Elon Musk doing a good job of
PR - interacting with a popular social media influencer (Loic has 129k
followers) to drive forward his plan. I would be surprised if this was not
something that was already in the works.

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dogma1138
This is also not a feature that requires much or any engineering effort and
can be greenlit and rolled out in an afternoon.

So it's very may be that whilst it was some issue that has been known once it
gets picked up by a C level exec not to mention a CEO it's not uncommon for
simple things to get fixed really quickly.

Everyone experienced it with some silly thing like a CEO overhearing some one
complaining about a laptop or a coffee machine and the next day there is a new
one.

This is management 101 do small things that look like you are attentive to
your employee and customers that provide QOL improvements but have very little
to no real cost attached to them.

This is the breakfast in bed or friday flowers equivilent of management.

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hyperliner
>>> This is also not a feature that requires much or any engineering effort
and can be greenlit and rolled out in an afternoon.

Not so sure. In my experience, anything to do with billing has the potential
to extend schedules.

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dogma1138
Billing rules are often quite easy to modify, any billing system has time and
activity tracking even if your customers don't pay for it, it is still tracked
just the cost for every time unit for that specific activity/resource is set
to zero.

I can tell you with near 100% certainty that Tesla is tracking for active
(charging) and non-activate (not charging) parking at their charge stations,
changing the non-active SKU to a billable one doesn't require any major
changes in their billing system.

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prostoalex
This was the top complaint on the owner forums for months, both on official
boards (forums.tesla.com) and independent communities (teslamotorsclub.com)

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_0ffh
He probably just had an alarm set for the next incoming tweet with the right
keywords, so that he could "respond within minutes". Then have some journalist
write about it. Good PR!

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kyberias
That tweet doesn't prove that the change was implemented in 6 days. It could
easily have been started way earlier.

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Tempest1981
Agreed. Also more of a policy change than a "product suggestion". But that
would be a boring headline.

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forgetsusername
> _Elon Musk didn’t end up starting diverse startups like Paypal, Tesla and
> SpaceX by not being proactive_

He didn't start 2 of 3 of those companies.

Regarding the actual content, I've wondered about what this problem will look
like in the short run. I've done plenty of road-tripping around Canada, and on
holiday weekends gas stations are often lined up. How will this work with so
many electric vehicles on the road when "refueling" takes so much longer with
current technology?

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ebbv
You're still thinking like a gas car owner, thinking about needing charging
stations like the ones Tesla has set up. Those will be a part of it, sure. But
by the time EVs reach anything like ubiquity there will be charging available
in the parking lots of restaurants and rest stops. Tons of them. Because they
are cheap to install and attract customers at very little cost.

Note that you don't have to be standing by your EV when it charges. My LEAF
can be plugged in and when it's done it will automatically stop charging and
unlock the handle so someone else can take it and charge with it in an
adjacent spot.

Note also that while with gas cars you have to fuel up at a station, with EVs
everyone leaves home with a full charge. That means if you are driving less
than the capacity of your vehicle in a day you have no need for any charging
stations outside your home (which is the case for us all but a handful of days
a year.)

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imglorp
> it will automatically stop charging and unlock the handle so someone else
> can take it and charge with it in an adjacent spot.

Is there any concern about a random stranger detaching the unlocked handle
from your car? Is anything fragile in there? Does your exposed charge
connector present a vulnerability of some kind?

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ebbv
Nope. It is no more delicate than say the headlights or something. Or the fuel
door and cap on a gas car.

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dvdhnt
Interested to see whether this actually makes an impact. A Tesla is a
relatively expensive automobile in the US. It seems like Tesla owners can
likely afford $30 for a couple hours of parking depending on the
circumstances. For instance, parking for events in Tennessee can range from $5
- $20 based on the size of the event. Assuming a 21.89% difference in dollar
value, its effectiveness may be surprising.

[http://taxfoundation.org/blog/real-value-100-each-
state-2016](http://taxfoundation.org/blog/real-value-100-each-state-2016)

Edit: spelling

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sbierwagen
Note that @loic is verified, which is probably why Elon saw his tweet at all.

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Shank
Personal anecdotes are good for very specific use cases, like this: I've
tweeted at Elon before and he replied. I'm not verified.

[https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/752196881871040512](https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/752196881871040512)

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SchizoDuckie
I was hoping for a more 2016 solution than "we'll charge you" like just
driving the cars out of the spot if it's up there for any longer.

 _that_ would be impressive.

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coob
Probably in the works for a while?

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ge96
Damn that was pretty boss, moneyyyyy flowing in (or not to free up those
spots)

