Tesla Calls for Tougher Media Scrutiny of Alternative Vehicles
by Sami Grover, Carrboro, NC, USA 
on 03. 9.07
There has been a huge amount of media interest in alternative fuels in the last few years. Surely this would be a good thing? Yes and no, says Darryl Siry of Tesla Motors. In a hard hitting blog entry over on their site, Darryl has taken the media, both old and new, to task for not asking the tough questions, for not analyzing the viability of various fuel options, and for treating EV’s like the Tesla as a “gee whiz” novelty story, rather than a potentially revolutionary stage in automotive development:
“Journalists frequently ask me to comment about competitors of Tesla Motors. I list the following: GM, Ford, Toyota, and Nissan. Some journalists are surprised that I don’t consider Phoenix Motorcars, Wrightspeed, ZAP, or the various other players they might have been thinking about.”
Darryl’s point here is that Tesla Motors is an OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) producer of electric vehicles with a proprietary all-electric powertrain, an “entirely unique battery pack”, and an efficient AC induction motor that is manufactured in a factory owned by Tesla, and the chassis and body are designed by Tesla themselves. Basically, Darryl argues they are much closer to the standard business model of other internal combustion engine powered cars than they are to small experimental start-ups, or producers of neighborhood electric vehicles.
Darryl goes on to suggest that many other EV companies out there do not have a viable business model. He cites Phoenix Motor Cars as an example (who we covered here), claiming that their profitability relies entirely on selling Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) credits to companies who must abide by the ZEV mandate that was established by the California Air Resources Board (CARB). He argues that while Tesla will also be making use of ZEV credits, they have not calculated these into their financial projections because a) they are unsure of what value they will have, and b) CARB has previously amended strict mandates under pressure from the major car companies, as anyone who has seen Who Killed The Electric Car will know.
It is certainly good to see Tesla setting their sights high, and calling for tougher media scrutiny, both of themselves and their competition. Undoubtedly, Tesla is looking like a very important company to watch, and seems to be several steps ahead of many of the other alternatives out there in terms of financial backing, manufacturing capabilities, and performance (at least in terms of speed, handling and acceleration). It really does seem closer to a conventional high-performance sports car than any of the other ‘alternatives’ it is regularly compared to. However, it must be said (and this is a point picked up by some in the comments on the blog) that it is hard to fully evaluate the viability of the Tesla until it is out there on the roads in large enough numbers to prove its reliability, its safety and, ultimately, its level of customer satisfaction. There have, for example, been many reviews of test drives published in the press (examples here and here) that rave about the Tesla, but we are yet to see an extended road test of even a few days (if we’ve missed it, please let us know!). Of course, Tesla’s announcement that they will be building a major assembly plant in Alburquerque, NM will go some way towards proving they are a serious player in the automotive market, but the real proof will be in the long-term driving.
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Hey Darryl,
before you "set yourself apart" from all those small, dingy other little independents, how 'bout selling some cars first??
Let the real life reports tell us how you handle recalls, warranties, bug fixes and THEN let US decide where your enterprise belongs.
Sounds like the king is crowning himself before even reaching puberty ;-)
Hmm... seems like Tesla is a little afraid of Phoenix. No other reason to bash them. Well, if the EV industry has already entered the phase of companies competing/bashing each other, that is a good thing for all of us. The stages are usually:
Garage/back yeard tech
Happy consortium of like minded small businesses
Cut throat, no holds barred, capitalism
I agree that the media just cannot wrap their noggins around the Tesla company or the car as being a viable option in the market. That may be primarily due to the fact that so many have come before them with crack pot ideas, bad business models or ground breaking ideas that turn into vaporware.
They will be on board after the first model ships and has been real life tested. I don't expect they will be on board before then.
I myself cannot stop drooling over the vehicle. I feel a midlife crisis coming on.......
A buddy of mine just purchased both a Phoenix SUT and a Tesla at a special auction last week in LA. Neither will be delivered for a couple of months, but once they are, I get to fly out and play with them. No, I cannot tell you who s/he is, but I will happily post my reviews once I'm done.
But, the most important thing that he is saying is the focus of the media ... news outlets should be pressing the major car companies about their complete range of vehicles, instead of oh'g & ah'g over their one hybrid or multi-fuel vehicle!
So, TreeHugger, what are you doing on this front?
Am I right in thinking that Telsa doesn't have a product yet? Just a prototype, right?
Where as Phoenix actually has two models for general sale?
Is not obvious? is well known that every oil company out there has stock in all major car companies in the world.
So, what the problem? why everybody talks about the "more inneficient than oil" biofuels and the high-grade explosive also know as hydrogen?
Cuz all of em need massive instalation to be refined properly. Any idiot can buy a solar panel or even make a small eolic generator, but you need a huge refinery to make any type of liquid fuels, specially hydrogen (even of its gas and not liquified).
So if we all use ethanol, biodiesel and hydrogen not only we're helping to destroy the world even faster (and in places were there was no damage at all) but we also help the oil companies to make even more money!
All heil enviromentalism!
Hah!!!
Tesla is treading on thin ice! With their cheap shots at Phoenix, which is the darling of everyone that has seen, ridden in, or heard about it, they have made themselves the villains. It is telling that they reserved none of that vitriol for GM and the others that have done all they can to deprive us of EV efficiency, simplicity and joy.
I have been following eagerly all the developments at PMC, Tesla, Zenn, Electrum and all the other EV startups, cheering them at every turn until I read of Tesla's tactics: suddenly I was amazed to find myself having to control my rage at Tesla. Shame, shame on you.
Judging by the posts that have gone before mine, Tesla would be quite wise to change its stance quickly before they find themselves ostracized by the eco community.
Phoenix does not enjoy the rich-boy financing that Tesla does, but that only makes them a far more efficient, lean, innovative organization, and there is nothing the common man admires more.