Tesla CEO Literally Makes a Joke Out of Hydrogen Fuel Cell “Quagmire”
May 30th, 2007Nice one.
Via: Tesla Motors:
Good afternoon, Members of the Board.
I am Martin Eberhard, cofounder and CEO of Tesla Motors, based here in California.
Tesla Motors will begin shipping highly-desirable, DOT-compliant electrical cars with well over 200 miles range later this year – perhaps you saw one of our prototypes outside. We have already pre-sold more than 400 cars; 2008 production will easily exceed 1,000 cars, exceeding the worldwide fleet of fuel cell cars.
Additionally, we will deliver Tesla-built battery systems for the newly revived TH!INK City Car this year, with a standing order for many thousand batteries per year.
The Air Resources Board continues to show a bias toward hydrogen fuel cell vehicles and against the less expensive and more efficient battery electric vehicles. This bias is clearly seen in the ARB Independent Expert Panel Report. Tesla Motors believes this bias is not justified by science or the evidence of actual vehicles and infrastructure.
However, we are actually delighted by the way this bias finds implementation in the ZEV mandate. For the results of this mandate is that all of our potential EV competitors – all the big car companies – remain mired in non-productive, deeply-expensive fuel cell programs, keeping them out of the EV marketplace, and indeed out of the serious ZEV marketplace entirely.
Every year spent on fuel cell programs by GM, Ford, Honda, and the rest is another year we at Tesla Motors can build our technological and market lead in the obvious winning technology: battery electric vehicles. We therefore sarcastically and enthusiastically encourage you to maintain the hydrogen bias and keep our competitors in the quagmire.
Meanwhile, we are on schedule to place 15,000 battery electric Tesla vehicles on the road by the end of 2010.
Sarcasm aside, wouldn’t it be nice for our environment if we had a few competitors?
My comment here is related to the discussion re the Air Car, patents, etc.
Tesla rocks. Yea, no one wants their stinking electric cars. Right. Like I don’t want fresh butter on my homemade bread.
I’ve been following the funding by the U.S. Gov re the likes of GM,Ford, and Chrysler for many years now. Off the top of my head, I think each of these companies received about $50 million apiece, or lots more under the “Advanced Battery Consortium.” And you know what the U.S. tax payer got for that investment? Zilch. Zero. Nada. I think maybe a suggestion for a freakin battery. Where did the money go? Legal fees. Seriously. Six file cabinets with 5 drawers apiece all filled with the legalese, but nary a word on whether Ford, GM, or Chrysler ever delivered that Next Generation Vehicle. Last thing I read re this whole deal was that Ford was going to BUY the technology for the hybrid vehicle from Toyota.
Whatever impetus or creations the U.S taxpayer might have received from the ABC died in the dirt when Bush killed the New Generation Vehicle for the hydrogen program. Hydrogen powering cars is way out there – WAY out there. But why deliver a non- oil technology at taxpayer expense when all along, you want the taxpayer to pay, pay, and pay life support payments for oil transportation technologies? If Bush stands for anything it is oil.
Funding the hydrogen technology only drags the death of the car culture into another generation.
I don’t believe that Ford, Gm, Chrysler, etc. – the traditional American car companies really give a rats *ss that their companies are going to the dogs. These dinosaurs are tired. I don’t think they want to find a way forward without oil. Or can’t be bothered to imagine a world without it.
Best wishes for Tesla.
I constantly get offers through the mail to “invest” in hydrogen fuel cell technology.
It’ll be interesting to see how many people go for the Phoenix pure EV. At $45,000, that thing is much closer to mainstream purchasing habits than Tesla’s supercar.
http://www.phoenixmotorcars.com/
It’s absolutely ridiculous that there aren’t more pure EV options out there.
The Tesla reminds me of the DeLorean, not in the styling or even the overhyped production facilities, but in how it takes this sort of “sexy” auto to get peoples attention. As Kevin states the Phoenix is closer to reality simply based on the vehicles cost. Its priced somewhere around what a decked out Suburban or Toyota would be but even then its a bite out of the old wallet.
Without early adopters any advance will die on the vine. Remember what simple calculators cost back in the early seventies? And there has to be a simpler, faster, way to swap out battery packs so that infrastructure can economically grow and support these autos. If they were to reduce the size or complexity on the battery front, create some standard packs so that all it took were a few minutes to swap out and be on your way, then that would be a blessing.
Phoenix pre sold 75 units to fleets before the price was even announced publicly. It’s a waiting list situation for the general public, late 2007/2008.
Anyone know what happened with the California Car Consortium? They had a program a few years back for retrofitting the Prius with a larger battery system that would give the car a 100 mile range before it went to the gasoline engine. My Prius is past its warranty so I figure what the H@ll.
I’m getting 51.6 mpg with 89 octane – and a daily reminder to take unnecessary baggage out of the car. That’s still not good enough for me. I want an EV!
P.S. I don’t know why the word h e double l showed up as a link in my post. Don’t go there!