This post is a catchall to collect top stories and information about Tesla and Elon Musk. I will post links to interesting information and to capture links that I don’t have time to write about at the time I spot them.
Giga Factory and rapidly declining price of Lithium Ion Storage:
Giga Factory will be up and running by late 2016 and expect more of them by 2020. See more on this here.
Giga factory updates, maybe Reno.
Comparing lithium Ion at 2013 prices to pumped storage.
These are blog posts by a guy who saw Elon Musk taking to the California PUC. He provided his notes on key points. In the first of these posts the take-away is that Li-ion materials cost about $65 / kWhr setting a near term limit on costs (materials prices can drop if demand justifies developing processes for synthesizing or obtaining them for less cost).
In the second post he suggests that oil is much better used as a raw material for synthetics and plastics. I also found it interesting that he thought both SpaceX and Tesla were going to fail. I have always thought the positive thinkers take it too far when they suggest that you should divorce yourself from reality. Here he is, the most significant entrepreneur of our time acknowledging that it is all about hard work and drive, not denial of reality, that wins the day.
Peter Rive – Don’t cut the cord. Storage is good, the grid is good, the network effect adds value – stay grid connected.
This is just the beginning – Expect Tesla to grow their battery business very rapidly.
More on the gigafactory and its implications for the future.
Direct Sales Model
This is a good article about resistance to Tesla’s direct sales model. Dealers are trying to prevent Tesla from selling direct to the customer. This strikes me as anti-competitive. Here is an article about another car company that wants to use a similar sales model and may be an ally for Tesla.
The Handleman Post 