Elon Musk the saviour of the planet?

[Chittychangchang]

Doubts that Elon Musk would be unable to put on a raucous reveal party were put to rest late Thursday night. Amid Tesla’s “production hell” this fall, the automaker delivered two beacons of hope for the California-based company’s future.
The Tesla Semi drew excitement from the crowd at the Hawthorne, California facility, as people eagerly waited for Musk to emerge from the big truck. But the surprise showing of the second-generation Tesla Roadster caused explosive cheers from the second its headlights switched on.
The excitement served as a distraction from the company’s financial and production problems for the moment. (Musk was also not nearly as energetic as he was back at the Model 3’s delivery event in July.) But his spirits were unquestionably lifted as hundreds of beaming Tesla fans projected their hope for the company’s ambitious future plans.
The Tesla Semi truck’s claimed range comfortably beat early expectations. At 500 miles, it’s roughly twice what Reuters claimed in August. It’s also more than double what Cummins and Daimler have promised so far in their planned electric trucks. That figure, and the promise of solar-powered “Megachargers” to give 400 miles of range in 30 minutes — supplementing the existing Supercharger network — should help put to rest concerns that an electric truck is impractical for hauling outside of cities.
In another attempt to put fleet managers at ease, Musk said the semi could go for 1 million miles without a breakdown, which will undoubtedly test the company’s reputation for quality. The botched launch of the Model X and its elaborate Falcon Doors, as well as reports of Model S and Model 3 cars having build-quality problems, could scare off customers in an industry that likely holds reliability and low ownership costs higher than car buyers. Yet, that hasn’t deterred a number of fleet operators —some of whom were in the audience Thursday night — from putting down preorders for a truck that isn’t even planned to start production until 2019.
While the Tesla Semi is equipped with Enhanced Autopilot, Tesla says it isn’t fully self-driving, and has moved away from claims of a self-driving truck. In fact, it spent a lot of time talking about how driver-centric it was with its center-mounted seat and space for people inside the cab. Part of that may be a backpedaling of Autopilot’s ambitions following a stern government ruling earlier this year. It may also be an appeal to the truck-driving industry in its protection of jobs.
As energized as Musk was about the semi, the whole audience was decisively more interested in the surprise at the end of the show.
The second-generation Roadster wasn’t completely unexpected, though: Musk has hinted at a revival of the sports car that established his company’s reputation for performance-oriented electric cars. That first effort, built with heavy assistance from Lotus Cars in Britain, however, has become somewhat of a distant memory since production ended in 2012. Now, Tesla wants it to be a homegrown halo car to follow up its mainstream lineup.
Well, at least what Tesla hopes its lineup will look like in 2020. You can reserve a Tesla Roadster now, with a $50,000 deposit on its estimated $200,000 base price, or pick up one of the 1,000 more powerful Founders Series cars by paying the full $250,000 now.
THE ROADSTER HAS THE NUMBERS THAT MAKE PEOPLE DREAM OF SUPERCARS
Let’s be honest: this is a fundraising drive for Tesla’s most loyal, trusting, and wealthiest customers. But it also has all the things that make people dream of supercars. After all the tire smoke had cleared, Musk boasted of the Roadster’s 0–60 mph time of 1.9 seconds and top speed of at least 250 mph. It’s well on its way to making it the fastest car in the world.
But there’s another big claim about the new Tesla Roadster: its 620-mile range. Musk claims that’s Los Angeles to San Francisco and back in one charge, a significant milestone for an electric car. Even most gasoline-fueled cars can’t travel that far without stopping at a pump. While the first Roadster proved electric cars could be quick and striking to look at (even with a relatively small range), the new Roadster aims to ask why the internal combustion engine needs to be around anymore.
UNANSWERED QUESTIONS LOOM OMINOUSLY ABOVE THE SEMI AND ROADSTER
Of course, unanswered questions loom ominously above both the Semi and the Roadster, like “how much is that truck going to be?” and “who’s going to wait three years for a Roadster?” Then there’s the whole issue of the Model 3 and when its problems will be ironed out, especially to those who were among the first in line for a car promised to be churning out of the factory at a rate of 5,000 per week at this point. There’s also the fact that Tesla is burning cash at a staggering rate right now.
But last night’s event at least gave visual clues about the company Musk wants Tesla to be at the start of the new decade. There’s a fun and functional side with both the Roadster and Semi, and further proof Tesla wants to be in every corner of the transportation world.


NEXT UP IN TRANSPORTATION

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• Watch this supercut of Elon Musk unveiling Tesla’s new Semi truck and Roadster
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• Tesla’s new second-generation Roadster will be the fastest production car ever made
• This is the Tesla Semi truck
  

[jabir]

The Jobs of his field, taking old principles to radical new heights.

[CaptainNemo]

Elon Musk seems as much like a fictional comic character as Trump does.

[Maanaam]

^ One the super hero genius and the other the evil buffoon?

[VocalNeal]

Saving the planet the way Al Gore has. Both using gullible human's knee jerk reaction for self benefit.

[aging one]

Both using gullible human's knee jerk reaction for self benefit.

yeah, space x is a knee jerk reaction. at least he is putting his money where his mouth is.

[Maanaam]

Saving the planet the way Al Gore has. Both using gullible human's knee jerk reaction for self benefit.

Oh, I don't know about that. That semi with a half hour 400 mile-worth solar charger sounds pretty good for the planet to me.

[bsnub]

Saving the planet the way Al Gore has.

Along comes the science denying bozo.

[BaitongBoy]

First, it was whale oil...Then it was oil from the ground which helped save the whale...And damn near destroyed the planet in the process...And now it's Elon's army...We all knew the change was inevitable and only delayed by the oil cartels...I still believe those pricks will go out with a bang for one last fortune of dollars...You need to lubricate a war with something...So, they'll go out with a bang and a whimper...


"America’s first successful wildcatter had a lot in common with fiction’s most famous whaler. Edwin Drake was as obsessively single-minded in his hunt for oil as Ahab had been in his quest for the white whale: He was called Crazy Drake after pouring the modern equivalent of more than $40,000 in investors’ money — and his own endless labor — into a search that spanned more than a year without results."

And now it's Moby Musk...

[CaptainNemo]

It all smacks of western-orientated marketing, but with over half the planet outside the domain of environmentalism, and polluting the shit out of it, it's not really enough... until Asia is coerced on-board with proper pollution management, it's all a bit of a waste of energy.

[Maanaam]

^ Have to start somewhere, and I suspect it won't be long before China has it's own solar-charged family cars in high production. China is doing well with solar.
Then of course, A Thai university will "invent" something and if it has the right backers will take off too.

[VocalNeal]

^ Watching a Chinese "expert" on NHK TV. He reckoned it will take a minimum of 30 years to get China's electric car program in full swing.

[BaitongBoy]

By then, cars will be obsolete...

[SKkin]

Turns out that Elon Musk is probably full of more shit than a Christmas turkey...

Musk’s claim that the truck will be able to accumulate 400 miles of charge in 30 minutes would allow the Semi to achieve the first true long-haul ranges in the industry. A driver might start the day with 500 miles of range, top off the battery at lunch, and be able to complete driving the U.S. legal limit of 11 hours in a day with range to spare. But doing so would require a charger unlike anything seen before.

“I don’t understand how that works,” said Salim Morsy, electric vehicle analyst at Bloomberg New Energy Finance. “I really don't.” Tesla is claiming charging speeds that are faster than anything available now, and its customers will pay well below average market rates to access the network.

Tesla’s current generation of high-speed Superchargers have a power output of 120 kilowatts and can add about 180 miles to the battery in a Model S sedan in 30 minutes. But that’s for a passenger car, not a loaded truck. To meet Tesla’s claim of 400 miles in 30 minutes for a semi carrying 80,000 pounds would require its new Megachargers to achieve output of more than 1200 kW—or more than 10 times better than Tesla’s fastest chargers available today.

full article here:

Tesla’s Newest Promises Break the Laws of Batteries
"Elon Musk touted ranges and charging times that don’t compute with the current physics and economics of batteries."
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...s-of-batteries

[harrybarracuda]

I suppose when you stick your neck out as far as Musk, you are bound to have your detractors.

Elon Musk will get paid for building the world's largest lithium-ion battery in South Australia, as the 100-megawatt project is about to begin testing ahead of a December 1 deadline to complete building it or make it free.State premier Jay Weatherill announced on Thursday that regulatory testing at the site — which is paired with the French energy business Neoen's Hornsdale wind farm, 230 kilometres north of Australia's capital, Adelaide — would begin within days.
When fully charged, the battery, Tesla's Powerpack, is expected to hold enough power for 8,000 homes for 24 hours, or more than 30,000 houses for an hour during a blackout.
The project is part of a $550 million plan by the state to guarantee energy supply following a statewide blackout last year that turned into a national political debate over energy security and costs. A 250-megawatt gas-fired generator, expected to cost $360 million, is also due to come online this summer to provide extra power.

http://www.businessinsider.com/elon-...on-bet-2017-11

[buriramboy]

So the Roadster starting price will be $200k, well I'm sure the masses will all be doing their bit to save the planet and buying one at that giveaway price.

[SKkin]

^^How much of that project did Aussie taxpayers fund?

Elon Musk, Crony Capitalist - Reason.com

How Much Should Taxpayers Invest in Elon Musk?

[Maanaam]

don’t compute with the current physics and economics of batteries."

"Current" is the operative word of this detractor. He doesn't know, and in fact concedes by implication that it's not impossible that Tesla has advanced beyond "current".

If I was about to market the latest technology, considering the competition and the potential plagiarists, I certainly would be keeping the tech behind my invention quiet until I'd geared up for full production. Patents only give your competition the details of your invention....it's a long known fact.

[SKkin]

"Current" is the operative word of this detractor. He doesn't know, and in fact concedes by implication that it's not impossible that Tesla has advanced beyond "current".

True that...we'll see. For now though I'll consider it as "vaporware."

One thing I am sure of though, if Musk does make all that happen, we taxpayers will have subsidized the results(and his profit$).

[harrybarracuda]

Well no doubt the Aussie coal industry will be looking at this nervously.

The world’s biggest battery was officially launched in Australia on Friday, a day after the Elon Musk-driven project was powered up early to meet demand amid a bout of hot weather, officials said.
Musk’s Tesla built the Powerpack system, which can provide electricity for more than 30,000 homes, to ease South Australia’s energy woes after the state was hit with a total blackout in 2016 following an "unprecedented" storm.
The maverick billionaire earlier this year offered on Twitter to build the battery farm, and completed it last week to narrowly beat his self-imposed deadline of having it ready in 100 days.
"South Australia is now leading the world in dispatchable renewable energy, delivered to homes and businesses 24/7," state Premier Jay Weatherill said Friday at the launch to coincide with the first day of summer.
"This is history in the making."
The 100 MW/129 MWh battery, located in the rural town of Jamestown north of Adelaide and connected to a wind farm operated by French energy firm Neoen, was switched on a day early, just as temperatures soar in the state.
The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) said it delivered 70MW of stored wind energy into the state’s market to meet peak demand on Thursday.

The battery farm is expected to help tackle power shortages, reduce intermittencies and address demands in summer, when most of the country experiences its highest energy usage.

Tesla said it was hopeful the project would provide a model for future deployments around the world, adding in a statement Friday that its fast completion "shows that a sustainable, effective energy solution is possible".

Neoen deputy chief executive Romain Desrousseaux said the "ambitious" project – which Musk estimated cost at least US$50 million – would bring the state to the forefront of global energy storage technology.

Last summer, extreme hot weather as well as storms saw blackouts hit some regions of Australia.

The AEMO is switching on closed gas-fired power stations to provide extra power to Australia’s east coast this season.

Although Australia is one of the world’s largest producers of coal and gas, the South Australian blackout raised questions about its energy security.

Several ageing coal-fired power plants have been closed, while strong demand for gas exports and a rise in onshore gas drilling bans have fuelled concerns of a looming domestic energy shortage in the next few years.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull earlier this year said a hydro-electric project in New South Wales state, the Snowy Mountains Scheme, would be expanded to provide electricity to 500,000 homes.

More than 60 percent of electricity generation in Australia is from coal, with 14 percent from renewables, according to government data published last year.

'History in the making': World's biggest battery launched in Australia as Elon Musk beats 100-day deadline

[misskit]

US regulators charge Tesla CEO Elon Musk with fraud

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is suing Elon Musk for fraud.


The charges stem from statements Musk made on Aug. 7 indicating that he was considering taking his publicly traded electric-car company, Tesla, private, according to the lawsuit, which was filed today (Sept. 27) in New York.


"Musk's statements, disseminated via Twitter, falsely indicated that, should he so choose, it was virtually certain that he could take Tesla private at a purchase price that reflected a substantial premium over Tesla stock's then-current share price, that funding for this multibillion-dollar transaction had been secured and that the only contingency was a shareholder vote," SEC officials stated in the lawsuit, which you can read here.

“In truth and in fact, Musk had not even discussed, much less confirmed, key deal terms, including price, with any potential funding source," SEC officials added. "Musk's false and misleading public statements and omissions caused significant confusion and disruption in the market for Tesla's stock and resulting harm to investors."

MORE https://www.space.com/41962-sec-suin...usk-tesla.html

[docmartin]

Why do the EV makers insist on charging batteries in cars ?
Would it not be better to drive into a service station, drive over a pit, and have the battery pack removed and replaced like a battery drill does ?
None of this 'amazing fast charge - only 20 minutes !!!' rubbish - it could be done as fast as filling a tank.

Obviously it's because there's so few EVs and the battery packs are so different but it's something that must happen eventually.

[klong toey]

Thank feck he hasn't got artificial legs or he would be a total knob head.
Anybody brought parts for any of his cars yet, or got one serviced .

[Buckaroo Banzai]

He has totally lost the plot.

"Elon Musk’s Twitter bans CNN, NYT, WaPo journalists without explanation "
"New YorkCNN
—
Twitter on Thursday evening banned the accounts of several high-profile journalists from top news organizations without explanation, apparently marking a significant attempt by new owner Elon Musk to wield his unilateral authority over the platform. "

"But he appeared to claim that the sanctioned accounts had violated his new “doxxing” policy and shared what he said amounted to “assassination coordinates” on him, even though many pointed out the journalists had not distributed that type of information. "

Elon Musk's Twitter bans Aaron Rupar and CNN, NYT, WaPo journalists without explanation | CNN Business

[misskit]

Indeed he has. Banned his competitor also. I think the British saying “throwing toys of of his pram” works here.

Twitter suspends Mastodon’s account and bans links to Mastodon servers

A day after Twitter crafted a new policy to explain its decision to ban an account that tracks Elon Musk’s private jet, the fallout continues.


Twitter apparently suspended its open source competitor Mastodon from the service on Thursday afternoon. Just prior to its suspension, Mastodon (@joinmastodon) tweeted a link to the jet tracking account on its own service, according to archives.


Update: As of 6:30 PM PT, many links to Mastodon no longer work on Twitter, which flags them as “potentially harmful.” Tweeted links to some servers without Mastodon’s name in the domain still appeared to work in our testing. Banned domains include mstdn.social and mastodon.social, while links to journa.host and others still work.




Many Twitter users added a Mastodon profile link into their bios as the Twitter alternative picked up steam. Now, any links to blocked Mastodon servers are disabled and accompanied by the text “Warning: this link may be unsafe.”


As of 8PM PT, Twitter has blocked links to more Mastodon servers that don’t reference the service in the domain name, including journa.host and SciComm.xyz.

MORE Twitter suspends Mastodon's account and bans links to Mastodon servers • TechCrunch