By now you’ve seen it, Elon Musk launched his Tesla car into space and we got to see the pictures…
Just… wow.
Then there came news, the very next day, that Tesla lost more than expected.
What’s going to stick with you, those numbers or that image above?
Btw, you’re not fooling anyone, Mr. Musk. I know what inspired you here, from the 1981 film Heavy Metal:
If there’s anything good to come from an incredible tragedy, it may be Tesla’s involvement in powering up the island of Puerto Rico with their battery projects, as presented in this article by Fred Lambert and presented on electrek.com…
Tesla deploys 6 battery projects in order to power two islands in Puerto Rico, more to come
When I first heard of Tesla’s battery pack idea, I was intrigued with the concept. Essentially, the goal is to provide electricity to people via battery packs of various sizes.
In theory, one might in the future have solar panels (or some version of solar panels) on one’s house which feeds directly to a battery pack within your house which will then provide electricity to your home.
Granted, this is something that will work far better in areas like where I live in, which has plenty of sunshine. However, even if one doesn’t live in an area like that, the battery packs could be charged on your local electrical grid and then used in peak hours of energy usage.
Its intriguing stuff and I’m most curious to see where this all leads… and, of course, whether it works!
Interesting article by Fred Lambert and found on electrek…
Tesla (TSLA) is now more valuable than Ford and why it doesn’t matter
Without giving away too much of the article (or, conversely, simply offering a summary), the article notes that Tesla’s stock has for the first time risen above Ford’s: $45.47 billion versus $45.35 billion.
The article also notes that there remain sharp criticism and critics against Tesla who will no doubt wonder what in the world people see in the company. It is operating at a loss and Ford sells far more vehicles than it does and operates at several billion dollars worth of profit.
However, the article examines what exactly Tesla is and comparing it one on one to another car making company doesn’t do Tesla justice. It is, after all, a company that not only produces cars but it also working on solar power, batteries for the home, and software.
I was in a mall this past weekend and it happened to have a Tesla “store”. Within were two Tesla vehicles, the S and X model (the upcoming “cheaper” model 3 completes the S 3 X –sex– label…if nothing else, Elon Musk has quite the sense of humor).
They were freaking gorgeous.
I’ve long noted that it is my belief with the coming automated driving we will soon not have personal vehicles, instead relying on a Uber/Lyft app that will call self-driving vehicles to us, will take us where we want, then be off to pick up the nearest passenger.
However, if I should ever get myself another car, I suspect it will be the model 3…at least once it is readily available.
If my predictions of what’s to come with self-driving cars prove right, that might well be the last actual vehicle I own!
The latest Tesla vehicles have an Autopilot feature which appears to be one more step toward where I think all vehicles are going: Self-driving.
Here we see someone using this feature and finding it a little scary…
I’m not surprised by the driver’s reaction. As much as I’m all in favor of self-driving vehicles and, further, believe that’s the future of cars in general, I imagine if I were in his place I’d be doing exactly the same.
It isn’t easy ceding control over something you’ve had all along. Especially when -at this moment anyway- the roads are filled with people who are NOT driving automated vehicles.