Eye Catcher Update – 08.01.2020
Tesla’s Austin Terafactory ….. EV Range Ratings and Real Experience **** Tesla’s Austin Terafactory Status: Simultaneously with Elon Musk’s announcement that Tesla was building its next US plant in Austin, TX (right where I had “recommended” to Elon that it be located in my May 2nd blog posting), dozens of bulldozers, scrapers, and power shovels […]
Trouble in Deutschland – Part 2 of 2
Volkswagen is Gefickt! Part of the problem at VW is that its management doesn’t yet understand that software is the key to value in today’s and tomorrow’s electric vehicles. That’s where the value is added, through over-the-air updates and options, particularly after the initial vehicle sale. Given software’s typical 80% to 90% gross margins, those […]
Trouble in Deutschland – Part 1 of 2
Volkswagen is Gefickt! 2020 has been a disastrous year for VW and they are a long way from out of the woods. It starts with VW’s culture, the arrogance of German vehicle manufacturers, and of course VW’s top management. As with the other two German automakers, Daimler and BMW, the German car making trio have […]
EYE CATCHER UPDATE – 07.16.2020
Rethinking Humanity ….. Elon Musk and Henry Ford ….. Oil and Gas Industry Continues to Decline **** New Tony Seba and James Arbib book! As readers may know my writings on this blogsite are in part based on the teachings of Tony Seba and his research organization RethinkX. A recent David Orban video interview with […]
EV Economics and the Transition to Transportation-as-a-Service (TaaS) – Part 5
Tesloop’s figures indicate that on a per mile basis, the cost of a Robotaxi operating (software) platform might be $0.01 a mile. In addition, Tesloop notes that we might have to pay parking fees as a part of the Robotaxi’s work, so let’s assume that their number of $720 a year is valid. In addition, […]
Tesla’s Ravenous Hunger for Batteries
Tesla’s Ginormous Insatiable Need for Batteries – Here’s What the Numbers Show! Well, someone has to do it! Elon Musk has often said that Tesla is really a battery company that just happens to make cars. He clearly has done the math on Tesla’s battery needs, probably in his cyber-brain. We know that Tesla has […]
Tesla Update 06.29.2020
Tesla’s Austin Plant…….Q2 Numbers……..Tesla’s New Battery Since my last two posts regarding Tesla here and here, things are continuing to go well for Tesla. The selection processes for their proposed Austin Gigafactory with the Del Valle Independent School District and Travis County are proceeding smoothly. What local authorities could turn away 5,000 to 10,000 jobs […]
EV Economics and the Transition to Transportation-as-a-Service (TaaS) – Part 4
Option 4: Buy or lease one or more EVs and establish a Robotaxi TaaS fleet business: In this section, we drop all guise of a part-time side-line venture. Instead we form a Transportation as a Service (TaaS) business operating one or more autonomous electric vehicles for profit. As a result, we will set things up […]
Eye Catcher Update – 06.20.2020
Items that have caught my eye recently: Tesla’s probable Austin, TX plant; Tesla Model Y problems and fixes; Green license plates and privileges **** Tesla’s probable Austin, TX plant Austin has been hotter than ever in the past week as news emerges that Tesla has apparently settled on a plant site for its Texas Cybertruck […]
EV Economics and the Transition to Transportation-as-a-Service (TaaS) – Part 3
Using a Vehicle Rental Broker: Another way you accomplish the goal of increased vehicle utilization is to align yourself with a car rental organization that will broker renting out your vehicle for you. Of course, they will be extracting a fee for that service. One of the better known such rental services is Turo (Turo.com). […]