WHEN in the course of human Events, it becomes necessary….
Elon Musk would like to share some of his mind-blowing plans with the folks working at Giga Texas
byVanderleunonApril 9, 2022
What a man with a plan (and $300 Billion) can do. “We’re going to talk about past, present, and future.” If I was a young man this is the company I’d want to work for.
Giga Texas = 3 Pentagons in size. “This is the machine that builds the machine. Prototypes are easy. Production is hard. This is the most advanced car factory that Earth has ever seen.”
Put an IC engine in it and I’ll consider one. If, that is, I can find the door handle.
gwbnycApril 9, 2022, 12:00 PM
if that body is stainless it’s an MF’r to repair.
VanderleunApril 9, 2022, 1:05 PM
Don’t think they’re going to overlook or fail to address the issue.
gwbnycApril 9, 2022, 3:29 PM
Delorean did, but he fell short in a number of categories, FWIW.
full panel replacement seems to me the only option- but if one has to ask, one isn’t in the market they’re aiming for.
VanderleunApril 9, 2022, 1:05 PM
There are NO door handles. The car knows its owner and it recognizes when the owner or otherwise assigned and permitted people are near it and opens itself for you. They go into that if you click past the place where I’ve stopped the feed.
KCKApril 10, 2022, 12:34 PM
I rode in one in LA when I went; I think I forever pissed off my hostess by asking her if it runs out of juice, can you take a little red can to the gas station and bring back some juice for it? Even if I’d kept my big mouth shut, my incredulity had to be just oozing out of my every vein and pore.
It is a sweet, sweet ride and full of luxury features. One other friend there had a new one. She’d nosed it into a parking spot that was sloped, and she was afraid she’d goose it backwards too fast when she was ready to go. My apologies but after that fucking owl bullshit, and now the dams, I am at zero tolerance for enviro anything of any stripe.
I’m serious when I say the Tesla would be a nice ride as an internal combustion engine. Say…maybe I’ve got a business idea here. There must be loads of suckers who’ve soured on their electric car (ran out of juice on the Geo Washington Bridge at 3 PM, at 65% of the reported range) and I could buy them out, stick an actual engine in her, and sell it for twice the price. Gas powered Tesla aftermarket!!!
VanderleunApril 10, 2022, 2:33 PM
Alas, every owner I’ve met cannot wait to tell you about their Tesla. Consumer pride is strong with this one.
I too soured on enviro in anything and don’t find it persuasive in general.
AggieApril 11, 2022, 6:47 AM
Jeezuz, what happens when a ‘vegan’ owns a Tesla? That would be terrible to behold, especially as a passenger on a long desert trip.
BenderApril 12, 2022, 3:47 PM
And if it develops automotive Alzheimers and forgets all that, who gets in, or out?
DrTorchApril 11, 2022, 7:30 AM
Only a buffoon would ask for an IC.
KILROYApril 12, 2022, 8:14 AM
It’s the economy stupid! The cost of these cars, and the number of rare minerals required, make this enterprise more a luxury and less of a mass market. Unless they invent something on polymers, it is not going to go far. And if polymers solve the problem, then you need oil and gas, ironic uh?
John StuartApril 9, 2022, 1:15 PM
I found Musk to be obnoxious for the longest time; now in retrospect, with Space X. Twitter, Tesla, etc. I find him to be without peers.
Wow. Musk sure has cool ways of spending the money of American taxpayers.
VanderleunApril 9, 2022, 3:06 PM
You mean unlike the other manufacturers of cars who sucked off the government tit for decades. This hoary and ancient canard is taken from when Musk was coming up… did he take subsidies? Yes! Of course. In the same position, you would too unless you were ready to fail no matter what. If you looked at it in historic Tesla terms Musk went all-in on the beginning of Tesla with his entire fortune at the time (It was a significant amount of money). I mean this project is A BRAND NEW CAR WITH A BRAND NEW TECHNOLOGY TRYING TO SUCCEED. If you are NOT ready to grease your assembly line with the guts of government for this sort of thing, you need to play at another table and not try to run with the big dogs.
But in the final analysis you’re right. He does have much cooler ways.
Oh, by the way the current US “government” is fucking with Musk big time. If that doesn’t tell you he’s listening to his own drum nothing will.
Damn. You just beat the shit out of me. I’ll never utter a hoary and ancient canard ever again. Scout’s honor.
VanderleunApril 9, 2022, 3:37 PM
No I didn’t. I once thought the same thing. Or rather I should say I “believed” the same thing since I really didn’t give it too much thought. On learning more (much like your impressive grasp of history ancient and modern) I changed what I believed.
Here’s Lex Friedman talking about his experience with Tesla manufacturing.
Tesla buyers as of today qualify for tax breaks of up to $12,000. In 2021 275,775 Teslas were sold in the US. The total subsidy was thus $3,300,000,000 for the year 2021. This number is greater than the GDPs of 33 nations.
The absolute no-frills cheapest Tesla goes for $46,990—of course without taxes. The range of this Tesla is 267 miles—so claimed. The absolute fully loaded Tesla goes for $160,490—of course without taxes. The range of this Tesla is 311 miles—so claimed. So a man would spend another $114,000 for 44 extra miles. This works out to $2,600 per extra mile. Quite the bargain.
I’ll stick with my Surly bicycles. No other American helped me buy my Surlys, even though by abandoning my vehicle I:
1. Lessened congestion in the city
2. Brought my fuel consumption down to zero.
3. Do not at all contribute to air pollution
4. By bicycling everywhere I improved my health, thus avoid straining the US health care system any further.
No Tesla owner could possibly make such claims. Yet my subsidy is nothing.
gwbnycApril 9, 2022, 3:44 PM
story-
the old man was an executive at Fisher Body of Cleveland. he retired c. 1974. the kid across the street was going for his first new car buy, the old man talks him into a GM product. in the dealer’s shop many times to no avail, they won’t take the car back. the old man called detroit and that ended it. the kid bought a honda and was happy ever after.
he bought my mom a vega, around ’71, finally they tuned the idle up into the singer sewing machine range to make it movable. he just wouldn’t say “lemon”.
a new oldsmobile about five years later, same deal.
funny, his cars ran perfectly.
All That Faded GloryApril 9, 2022, 5:22 PM
He’ll be going to space long before NASA ever will, unless they catch a ride with the Russians.
Remember John F. Kennedy giving speeches with to the moon optimism like this?
All that faded glory.
ghostsniperApril 9, 2022, 6:27 PM
I’m trying to keep as much of my earnings as possible out of Musk’s and everyone else’s grasp.
It was my effort before Musk was born and won’t stop until I die.
anonymousApril 10, 2022, 5:44 AM
He also said that due to its huge interior volume, the plant could hold 174 billion hamsters 🤣
FooApril 10, 2022, 3:59 PM
I wouldnt buy an EV even if it was 50% subsidized, no taxes simply for range limitations. I need to go far at any time, and for that I have a paid off econo wagan.
For shorter stuff I need to be able to haul from Home Depot, junk to dump, etc. So I rent the Home Depot stake truck.
For short trips I ride my bike with grocery getter panniers.
Its an ego trip otherwise but hey, whatever floats your rubber ducky, I say go for it.
I do think Musk is brilliant and SpaceX and Starlink are enabling hope and freedom.
If rich guys help pay for that its worth it.
I imagine the subsidy given out for covid and illegal immigration, which os gone forever and did great harm, and dwarfs what Musk got and reinvested in jobs.
gregApril 12, 2022, 10:27 AM
I’ve always thought it so weird that people have so much to say about tesla without ever owning or driving one for a spell. My gripe would be when I inherit my fathers, the insurance for the souped up model 3 is 300$ month, which is more than I spend on gasoline/diesel presently per month daily driving. https://www.tesla.com/trips
From Pueblo to Phoenix I’d save 18$ on fuel at 2.85$ gal and 28mpg.
The reason for driving the 475hp model 3 is not economy. It’s the speed, acceleration and computer controlled driving. My 1992 toyota tercel is quite boring compared to it.
Real World Address for Donations, Mash Notes and Hate Mail
Gerard Van der Leun
1692 MANGROVE AVE
APT 379
Chico, Ca 95926
Green Pants Interior by Klahn
Who Am I? by Carl Sandburg
My head knocks against the stars.
My feet are on the hilltops.
My finger-tips are in the valleys and shores of universal life.
Down in the sounding foam of primal things I reach my hands and play with pebbles of destiny.
I have been to hell and back many times.
I know all about heaven, for I have talked with God.
I dabble in the blood and guts of the terrible.
I know the passionate seizure of beauty
And the marvelous rebellion of man at all signs reading “Keep Off.”
My name is Truth and I am the most elusive captive in the universe.
Duty, Beauty, Liberty, Country, Honor, Family, Faith — Plus a few simple easy to follow rules for guys
Men saw the stars at the edge of the sea
They thought great thoughts about liberty
Poets wrote down words that did fit
Writers wrote books
Thinkers thought about it
Take it where you find it
Can’t leave it alone
You will find a purpose
To carry it on
Mainly when you find it
Your heart will be strong
About it
Many’s the road I have walked upon
Many’s the hour between dusk and dawn
Many’s the time
Many’s the mile
I see it all now
Through the eyes of a child
Take it where you find it
Can’t leave it alone
You will find a purpose
To carry it on
Mainly when you find it
Your heart will be strong
About it
[Chorus]
Lost dreams and found dreams
In America
In America
In America
Lost dreams and found dreams
In America
In America
In America
And close your eyes
Leave it all for a while
Leave the world
And your worries behind
You will build on whatever is real
And wake up each day
To a new waking dream
Take it where you find it
Can’t leave it alone
You will find a purpose
To carry it on
Mainly when you find it
Your heart will be strong
About it
[Chorus]
Change, change come over
Change come over
Talkin’ about a change
Change, change
Change come over, now
Change, change, change come over
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I see my light
See my light
See my shining light
I see my light
See my light
See my shining light
Giga Texas = 3 Pentagons in size. “This is the machine that builds the machine. Prototypes are easy. Production is hard. This is the most advanced car factory that Earth has ever seen.”
Gerard Van der Leun
Comments on this entry are closed.
Put an IC engine in it and I’ll consider one. If, that is, I can find the door handle.
if that body is stainless it’s an MF’r to repair.
Don’t think they’re going to overlook or fail to address the issue.
Delorean did, but he fell short in a number of categories, FWIW.
full panel replacement seems to me the only option- but if one has to ask, one isn’t in the market they’re aiming for.
There are NO door handles. The car knows its owner and it recognizes when the owner or otherwise assigned and permitted people are near it and opens itself for you. They go into that if you click past the place where I’ve stopped the feed.
I rode in one in LA when I went; I think I forever pissed off my hostess by asking her if it runs out of juice, can you take a little red can to the gas station and bring back some juice for it? Even if I’d kept my big mouth shut, my incredulity had to be just oozing out of my every vein and pore.
It is a sweet, sweet ride and full of luxury features. One other friend there had a new one. She’d nosed it into a parking spot that was sloped, and she was afraid she’d goose it backwards too fast when she was ready to go. My apologies but after that fucking owl bullshit, and now the dams, I am at zero tolerance for enviro anything of any stripe.
I’m serious when I say the Tesla would be a nice ride as an internal combustion engine. Say…maybe I’ve got a business idea here. There must be loads of suckers who’ve soured on their electric car (ran out of juice on the Geo Washington Bridge at 3 PM, at 65% of the reported range) and I could buy them out, stick an actual engine in her, and sell it for twice the price. Gas powered Tesla aftermarket!!!
Alas, every owner I’ve met cannot wait to tell you about their Tesla. Consumer pride is strong with this one.
I too soured on enviro in anything and don’t find it persuasive in general.
Jeezuz, what happens when a ‘vegan’ owns a Tesla? That would be terrible to behold, especially as a passenger on a long desert trip.
And if it develops automotive Alzheimers and forgets all that, who gets in, or out?
Only a buffoon would ask for an IC.
It’s the economy stupid! The cost of these cars, and the number of rare minerals required, make this enterprise more a luxury and less of a mass market. Unless they invent something on polymers, it is not going to go far. And if polymers solve the problem, then you need oil and gas, ironic uh?
I found Musk to be obnoxious for the longest time; now in retrospect, with Space X. Twitter, Tesla, etc. I find him to be without peers.
Wow. Musk sure has cool ways of spending the money of American taxpayers.
You mean unlike the other manufacturers of cars who sucked off the government tit for decades. This hoary and ancient canard is taken from when Musk was coming up… did he take subsidies? Yes! Of course. In the same position, you would too unless you were ready to fail no matter what. If you looked at it in historic Tesla terms Musk went all-in on the beginning of Tesla with his entire fortune at the time (It was a significant amount of money). I mean this project is A BRAND NEW CAR WITH A BRAND NEW TECHNOLOGY TRYING TO SUCCEED. If you are NOT ready to grease your assembly line with the guts of government for this sort of thing, you need to play at another table and not try to run with the big dogs.
But in the final analysis you’re right. He does have much cooler ways.
Oh, by the way the current US “government” is fucking with Musk big time. If that doesn’t tell you he’s listening to his own drum nothing will.
Damn. You just beat the shit out of me. I’ll never utter a hoary and ancient canard ever again. Scout’s honor.
No I didn’t. I once thought the same thing. Or rather I should say I “believed” the same thing since I really didn’t give it too much thought. On learning more (much like your impressive grasp of history ancient and modern) I changed what I believed.
Here’s Lex Friedman talking about his experience with Tesla manufacturing.
Tesla buyers as of today qualify for tax breaks of up to $12,000. In 2021 275,775 Teslas were sold in the US. The total subsidy was thus $3,300,000,000 for the year 2021. This number is greater than the GDPs of 33 nations.
The absolute no-frills cheapest Tesla goes for $46,990—of course without taxes. The range of this Tesla is 267 miles—so claimed. The absolute fully loaded Tesla goes for $160,490—of course without taxes. The range of this Tesla is 311 miles—so claimed. So a man would spend another $114,000 for 44 extra miles. This works out to $2,600 per extra mile. Quite the bargain.
I’ll stick with my Surly bicycles. No other American helped me buy my Surlys, even though by abandoning my vehicle I:
1. Lessened congestion in the city
2. Brought my fuel consumption down to zero.
3. Do not at all contribute to air pollution
4. By bicycling everywhere I improved my health, thus avoid straining the US health care system any further.
No Tesla owner could possibly make such claims. Yet my subsidy is nothing.
story-
the old man was an executive at Fisher Body of Cleveland. he retired c. 1974. the kid across the street was going for his first new car buy, the old man talks him into a GM product. in the dealer’s shop many times to no avail, they won’t take the car back. the old man called detroit and that ended it. the kid bought a honda and was happy ever after.
he bought my mom a vega, around ’71, finally they tuned the idle up into the singer sewing machine range to make it movable. he just wouldn’t say “lemon”.
a new oldsmobile about five years later, same deal.
funny, his cars ran perfectly.
He’ll be going to space long before NASA ever will, unless they catch a ride with the Russians.
Remember John F. Kennedy giving speeches with to the moon optimism like this?
All that faded glory.
I’m trying to keep as much of my earnings as possible out of Musk’s and everyone else’s grasp.
It was my effort before Musk was born and won’t stop until I die.
He also said that due to its huge interior volume, the plant could hold 174 billion hamsters 🤣
I wouldnt buy an EV even if it was 50% subsidized, no taxes simply for range limitations. I need to go far at any time, and for that I have a paid off econo wagan.
For shorter stuff I need to be able to haul from Home Depot, junk to dump, etc. So I rent the Home Depot stake truck.
For short trips I ride my bike with grocery getter panniers.
Its an ego trip otherwise but hey, whatever floats your rubber ducky, I say go for it.
I do think Musk is brilliant and SpaceX and Starlink are enabling hope and freedom.
If rich guys help pay for that its worth it.
I imagine the subsidy given out for covid and illegal immigration, which os gone forever and did great harm, and dwarfs what Musk got and reinvested in jobs.
I’ve always thought it so weird that people have so much to say about tesla without ever owning or driving one for a spell. My gripe would be when I inherit my fathers, the insurance for the souped up model 3 is 300$ month, which is more than I spend on gasoline/diesel presently per month daily driving.
https://www.tesla.com/trips
From Pueblo to Phoenix I’d save 18$ on fuel at 2.85$ gal and 28mpg.
The reason for driving the 475hp model 3 is not economy. It’s the speed, acceleration and computer controlled driving. My 1992 toyota tercel is quite boring compared to it.