How Elon Musk Turned Tesla Into the Car Company of the Future

September 29th, 2010

What I found most interesting about this piece was how Toyota and Daimler got on board with Tesla. It seemed like those organizations saw Tesla as a catalyst that could help overcome their own bureaucratic inertia.

Toyota’s involvement with Tesla is definitely interesting. Toyota made a big miscalculation with its long insistence that hybrid technology was the only game in town for the foreseeable future.

And now… Nissan has 20,000 pre-orders for the LEAF (a pure electric vehicle).

My guess is that Akio Toyoda saw this… unfortunate development coming, and, probably after many stiff drinks, set about making sure that Tesla had its factory. In Tesla, Toyota gets a petri dish to study the design and manufacturing of EVs, and for the cost of pocket lint. This is called making up for lost time on a budget.

Via: Wired:

Four weeks later, Toyota decided to invest $50 million in Tesla. The auto giant also signed on to develop prototype electric vehicles with the startup and indicated that it would support Musk’s $42 million offer for the billion-dollar Nummi factory in Fremont.

Posted in Economy, Elite, Energy, Technology | Top Of Page

One Response to “How Elon Musk Turned Tesla Into the Car Company of the Future”

  1. Eileen says:
    September 30, 2010 at 2:47 am

    This was a very enjoyable, almost tear filled read for me in certain parts. Wow. That the entrepreunial spirit lives in America, and that foreigner’s want to invest in the States. Now that’s a novel concept. I love it.
    Kudo’s to Musk and sheesh, its about time Toyoda has seen the light. It seems ridiculous to me to put gas in a Prius.
    Prayers for success to all who have a vision. Seems very rare to read stories anymore of that kind. Thank you Kevin. Made my day.

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