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Chevy Volt a Failure - GM to Layoff 1,300

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by Evil Bastard (aka Chris_L), Mar 2, 2012.

Page 146 of 244
  1. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    Bottom line again. If Tesla produces something revolutionary that people really want -- whether it is electric cars, batteries or Elon Musk's hair clippings -- the company would actually be earning money. That hasn't happened and isn't close to happening today -- WITH all of the subsidization. It is leveraged up the hilt and is bleeding cash.

    It's all hype -- and some of you are trying to convince me the hype is justified. OK.

    And I'll believe it when it financially makes sense for me to go off the grid and power my home with solar panels and Tesla batteries. That option doesn't even exist today, let alone in an economically smart way.
     
    The Big Ragu, Jun 1, 2015
    #1741
  2. doctorquant

    doctorquant Well-Known Member

    Rags, did you actually read the piece? I came across it on a very, very respectable economics blog. I know you find Musk distasteful, and I share your disgust for the kind of crony capitalism that is his (and others') stock-in-trade, but for residential customers this is already edging near the point at which it's worth considering.
     
    doctorquant, Jun 1, 2015
    #1742
  3. JayFarrar

    JayFarrar Well-Known Member

    I kinda view Tesla's battery as the laserdisc-like first step that is outrageously expensive but will lead to the VCR that leads to the DVD player that leads to what's next.

    As someone who has thought of buying a backup generator, a Tesla battery is something worth considering, especially in the price point drops.
     
    JayFarrar, Jun 1, 2015
    #1743
  4. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    Yes, I did read it. I just find it weird when it tells me how it is GOING to disrupt the world. ... and buried in the middle is this:

    That is hype surrounded with the inconvenient reality.

    The problem with the "Well, prices will come down and this will happen and that will happen. ... and just give it time. ... and then this will happen" is that there are other competing technologies out there that are already coming down even faster in price and have greater potential than batteries that aren't actually all that innovative. For example, your piece gave short attention at the end to more advanced, technologies such as flow battery technology and compressed air energy storage.

    When we look back 10 years from now, I have no doubt that energy storage solutions -- to one degree or another -- that we couldn't conceive of 10 years ago will have gained adoption -- for the reason that they make sense. What I am afraid of is that Elon Musk's heavily subsidized businesses will NOT have been the ones that actually end up having made sense. And at the end of the day, we would have ended up with the ones that DID make sense without all the bullshit and billions of dollars of publicly-financed debt going to the guy who had friends in government buildings.

    EDIT: I should have said this also. To the extent that his sucking money in diverts capital from technologies that might have succeeded in an actual competitive marketplace that allowed them to attract the capital instead. ... his companies harm us, they don't help.
     
    The Big Ragu, Jun 1, 2015
    #1744
  5. JayFarrar

    JayFarrar Well-Known Member

    Ragu's likes
    Gold
    Words
    Economics
    Vegetables

    Ragu's dislikes
    Elon Musk
    Meat
    Morons who serve him shrimp scampi and call it vegetarian
    The Fed
     
    JayFarrar, Jun 1, 2015
    #1745
    I Should Coco and LongTimeListener like this.
  6. doctorquant

    doctorquant Well-Known Member

    OK, I completely agree. This is a very, very good point, one that we would all do well to keep in mind.

    I was simply commenting on how we seem to be on the cusp of having some of these technologies getting into the workable/feasible territory.
     
    doctorquant, Jun 1, 2015
    #1746
  7. LongTimeListener

    LongTimeListener Well-Known Member

    The euro is a big-time dislike also.

    I assume gyros as well.
     
    LongTimeListener, Jun 1, 2015
    #1747
  8. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    I love you. More than words!
     
    The Big Ragu, Jun 1, 2015
    #1748
    doctorquant likes this.
  9. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    Couldn't be more untrue. ... Only thing I am loving more than the euro nowadays is the Japanese yen.
     
    The Big Ragu, Jun 1, 2015
    #1749
  10. LongTimeListener

    LongTimeListener Well-Known Member

    The euro? That old thing is still around? I read somewhere it was going down to a fiery death.
     
    LongTimeListener, Jun 1, 2015
    #1750
  11. TigerVols

    TigerVols Well-Known Member

    I just hope Elon can figure out a way to make batteries out of gold, so we can all watch ragu's head explode.
     
    TigerVols, Jun 1, 2015
    #1751
  12. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    Yes, you have posted it 1,000 times -- virtually every time you want to masturbate on a thread.
     
    The Big Ragu, Jun 1, 2015
    #1752
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