If GM goes down- why not turn their facilities over to tesla...?

[dysfunctional press]

if it could help them boost production, create jobs, and grow a complete line of vehicles quicker?

http://www.teslamotors.com/

[alfredo]

1. How can I carry plywood and pine mulch in that beauty?

[cliffordu]

2. One ride in that and you won't care.....

There's a guy here in town that has a battery powered postal van that was the fastest one in the world....

Pure accelleration.....scary fast.

[alfredo]

they do have a bit of torque. If they could put together a family car,

and a starter/city car they can take over.

[dysfunctional press]

10. i think that their sedan is schedued for rollout in 2010.

but even it is in the $50K range.

[alfredo]

25. A $14 grand electric subcompact would be a real hit.

[dysfunctional press]

36. a subcompact anything at any price wouldn't be my choice.

i don't need a hugh vehicle, but one winter in my renault lecar permanently soured me on vehicles of that size range.

[alfredo]

40. I've had small cars that were good in the snow. I wouldn't judge anything

by the Le Car. The best was a front wheel drive Saab.

[dysfunctional press]

45. it's not about how they handle in the snow...

i used to drive a zamboni, so snowy weather/icy roads don't phase me...the problem is the amount of space available- especially when you're all bundled up in winter clothes and boots. i'm 6'2" with size 16 feet- i need a car that's made to fit normal human beings at least.

[alfredo]

53. At 5'8" I can fit just about everything.

[cherokeeprogressive]

48. LOLOL Did it get stuck in LeSnow?

Did you try going to leStore for leChains? About all I can remember about leCar was that it helped leCriminals escape from leJail. No matter though, leCops caught them in their OWN leCar.

[dysfunctional press]

57. no- it was more about trying to fit inside it when bundled up in winter clothes...

it was a tight fit.

[JBoris]

16. Phoenix cars is making an electric SUV

I'm not sure how they compare to the Tesla, but here's a link:
http://www.phoenixmotorcars.com/

edit:typo

[alfredo]

22. the SUT looks good.

[JBoris]

30. Yes it does. Some of the battery technology sounds amazing too.

They claim that(with a special charger) you can drive 100 miles on a 10 minute charge! That sounds great for the chronically disorganized folks like myself!

[alfredo]

31. How many recharges will the batteries handle, and how much would

replacement cost? I can envision people trading in their electric cars in anticipation of the battery reaching its end of life.

[JBoris]

34. I don't know, but I do know that the battery

is a new type of technology called Lithium-titanate:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium-titanate_battery

I seem to remember one of the Pheonix Motor developers saying that the target market price is 50,000. I would imagine that, like the Tesla, a lot of that cost is the battery.

[alfredo]

42. the people who need relief from gas prices can't afford those machines.

It appears that I can buy a good used car for the price of replacement batteries.

[dysfunctional press]

4. that's part of my pitch...if they had the facilities and the backing, maybe a pick-up could roll out

...of one of their factories that much quicker. i'm thinking they could build a sharp one.

[alfredo]

6. They might want to stay a boutique automaker. You know that the

Smart is going to offer an electric Smart Car?

[dysfunctional press]

8. i've seen a few smart cars, and i've been utterly underwhelmed.

they definitely aren't appropriate for our area, and i wouldn't feel very safe in one at all.

[alfredo]

26. They're pretty sturdy. You are wrapped in a hefty roll cage. I saw the

video of one hitting a barrier at 70 mph. They were still able to open the doors. Of course, if there was a driver his body would probably pass through his seatbelt. At least they can open the doors so they can easily hose the person out.

[dysfunctional press]

35. they also have about zero.5 in the way of cargo capacity.

simply not a vehicle i would ever even consider purchasing.
it may be right for some- but i'm not one of them.

[alfredo]

41. The smart for four might be better. The Honda Fit seems to be right

for me.

[dysfunctional press]

46. the last 'small' car i had that i liked a lot was an amc pacer...

i had 5 of them at different times during the 80's.

[alfredo]

54. My wife owned one when I met her. It was comfortable.

[Kalyke]

44. How am I supposed to fit a husband, two kids, a car seat, a booster

and a stroller in a Smart Car?

:shrug:

(The car seats are required).

[RB TexLa]

5. These won't carry plywood and pine mulch?

:shrug:

[alfredo]

11. I'm waiting to see what the Euro Fords are like.

The Fiesta, Focus, a light delivery van, and two others will be made here in what used to be truck factories.
http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2008/autos/0807/gallery.european_fords/index.html

[flvegan]

3. Split it with Shelby Supercars. I give you the Ultimate Aero EV:

All electric, 1,000 hp. 0-60 in 2.5 seconds.

Oh yeah.

I'd actually rather GM not go under, tbh.

[dysfunctional press]

7. i've always wanted a car with gull-wing doors...

although i almost got trapped in a delorean once when i was valeting, because it was dark and i couldn't figure out how to open the door.

btw- is that THE shelby? the one who did the mustangs?

[flvegan]

9. Not Carroll, no.

Don't think there's even a relationship between the two.

[bread_and_roses]

12. Why not turn it over to the workers?

I'm sure that they could do a better job running it than the execs have done.

[Greyhound]

37. That's the main issue, isn't it? GM has great designers, great engineers,

great workers, and the best technology and facilities available. The reason they suck is the top management and their specific agenda. It killed Chrysler and nearly killed Ford, although they appear to have at least part of a clue now.

Just lop off the top 10% and you'll get a much better product and a much stronger company.

[DainBramaged]

13. Tesla is on the balls of their ass because gas is so cheap

have you talked to any of the owners of ethanol plants lately?


DU, where ideas are like farts, everyone has one and they never any smell good.

[JBoris]

19. Well aren't you a ray of sunshine!

...and I didn't know people have balls in their asses. Unless, you know, you get a little drunk...

[Name removed]

23. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[DainBramaged]

32. Awwwwwwww baby don't like pretty pictures

bye bye sunshine

[JBoris]

38. WTF? Who are you and what are you talking about?

I can see that there is a deleted reply (I assume it was your's), but I didn't report it. I do not I know what "pretty picture" you are talking about and finally, I have no I idea why you are calling me a "baby".

Care to be more specific, or does "bye, bye" mean I'm on your ignore list?

[Bluebear]

39. Don't worry.

you're not the first to get a bizarre message from DB

[SmileyRose]

47. You crack me up.

:loveya:

[DainBramaged]

58. It's funny, I don't TRY to be funny, but some of the responses around here

to National problems could best be suited by people taking a vacation in Albania, then maybe they'd see what living in the past is really like.

Tesla motors, the wet dream of DC worshipers.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

55. Tesla's in trouble, eh?

How's GM doing these days?

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

14. They might sell a facility to tesla.

[susanna]

27. I think one GM facility would be too much for Tesla's market model.

Tesla wouldn't know what to do with that much capacity. They'd use a fraction of even one facility, based on what they've made public. They are a niche, boutique vehicle. A whole GM facility would confound them.

The Volt is a far more mass-marketable car. Just my two cents.

on edit: typo

[Gregorian]

15. I proposed that in another thread once. It didn't get very good response.

And the gist of it is that by the time it might take Tesla to ramp up sales, workers would already be in financial troubles. Not to mention something else which I've since forgotten.

I think we're moving in the right direction, but not enough emphasis on more research and education for alternate sources of energy and storage. I think Obama has allocated $25 billion towards renewable energy? That doesn't sound like much any more.

[LiberalFighter]

17. Someone with a mid-life crisis would buy that.

[wallwriter]

18. GM sells millions of cars. Tesla's market is a few thousand at best. nt

[alittlelark]

20. My neighbor has a Tesla in his driveway... beautiful.

I'm gonna grovel for a ride this weekend!

[susanna]

29. They're beautiful...absolutely.

I really like them. If I had that kind of disposable income? Who knows...I'd think about it.

But, if independently wealthy, to the extent of money to burn on something untested in real world use? I would probably go for Fisker Karma:

http://karma.fiskerautomotive.com/

Sweet. (My .02)

[kirby]

21. If GM goes down, they sell the facilities to pay us taxpayers back! n/t

[kentauros]

24. Oh. I thought you meant Nikola.

:D

[lithiumbomb]

28. because they have about 100 employees

They're a tiny tiny company that makes one car model, and they couldn't even do that without their partnership with Lotus. They don't need facilities, they need huge amounts of money to develop products that cost less than 100 grand. Once they have a product that people will actually buy, then come the facilities...

[obiwan]

33. Good idea but it's a lot more facility than they need.

And Tesla has massive financial problems.

I like their product a lot (cutting edge) but the prognosis for survival is not good.

[Kalyke]

43. Because most of us can afford $50,000 toys.

But, hey, at least it's American.

[Baikonour]

50. It's actually $109,000, plus an additional 50 grand for delivery.

This is why electric cars will fail.

[Kalyke]

56. Wow... that much!

My house is just a little more than that! :wow:

But, I think electric cars will fail because most of them are ugly as sin - with the exception of those that are $159,000.

[blue_onyx]

49. I don't understand how...

so many on DU were against the government loaning money to GM and Chrysler but are so willing to give money to companies they think are better.

Anyway, this wouldn't work. Tesla is too small and the damage done by GM going under would cause a horrible ripple effect throughout the economy. As far as them creating jobs...I think most of Tesla operations are in California. The largest number of GM jobs are in Michigan so the jobs wouldn't be going to where they are needed.

[Romulox]

51. Because Tesla doesn't run a successful mass market car company,

and probably never will? :hi:

[guitar man]

52. no way

They're touring second rate casinos at best and they haven't released a decent album since "Psychotic Supper" :P

:hide:

:yoiks: