2018-02-23 18:58:03 +00:00
|
|
|
|
---
|
|
|
|
|
created_at: '2016-04-04T05:39:15.000Z'
|
|
|
|
|
title: The Secret Tesla Motors Master Plan (2006)
|
|
|
|
|
url: https://www.teslamotors.com/blog/secret-tesla-motors-master-plan-just-between-you-and-me
|
|
|
|
|
author: Jarred
|
|
|
|
|
points: 244
|
|
|
|
|
story_text:
|
|
|
|
|
comment_text:
|
|
|
|
|
num_comments: 194
|
|
|
|
|
story_id:
|
|
|
|
|
story_title:
|
|
|
|
|
story_url:
|
|
|
|
|
parent_id:
|
|
|
|
|
created_at_i: 1459748355
|
|
|
|
|
_tags:
|
|
|
|
|
- story
|
|
|
|
|
- author_Jarred
|
|
|
|
|
- story_11419649
|
|
|
|
|
objectID: '11419649'
|
2018-06-08 12:05:27 +00:00
|
|
|
|
year: 2006
|
2018-02-23 18:58:03 +00:00
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
---
|
2018-03-03 09:35:28 +00:00
|
|
|
|
Background: My day job is running a space transportation company called
|
|
|
|
|
[SpaceX](http://www.spacex.com "SpaceX"), but on the side I am the
|
|
|
|
|
chairman of Tesla Motors and help formulate the business and product
|
|
|
|
|
strategy with Martin and the rest of the team. I have also been Tesla
|
|
|
|
|
Motor's primary funding source from when the company was just three
|
|
|
|
|
people and a business plan.
|
2018-02-23 18:19:40 +00:00
|
|
|
|
|
2018-03-03 09:35:28 +00:00
|
|
|
|
As you know, the initial product of Tesla Motors is a high performance
|
|
|
|
|
electric sports car called the Tesla Roadster. However, some readers may
|
|
|
|
|
not be aware of the fact that our long term plan is to build a wide
|
|
|
|
|
range of models, including affordably priced family cars. This is
|
|
|
|
|
because the overarching purpose of Tesla Motors (and the reason I am
|
|
|
|
|
funding the company) is to help expedite the move from a mine-and-burn
|
|
|
|
|
hydrocarbon economy towards a solar electric economy, which I believe to
|
|
|
|
|
be the primary, but not exclusive, sustainable solution.
|
2018-02-23 18:19:40 +00:00
|
|
|
|
|
2018-03-03 09:35:28 +00:00
|
|
|
|
Critical to making that happen is an electric car without compromises,
|
|
|
|
|
which is why the Tesla Roadster is designed to beat a gasoline sports
|
|
|
|
|
car like a Porsche or Ferrari in a head to head showdown. Then, over and
|
|
|
|
|
above that fact, it has twice the energy efficiency of a Prius. Even so,
|
|
|
|
|
some may question whether this actually does any good for the world. Are
|
|
|
|
|
we really in need of another high performance sports car? Will it
|
|
|
|
|
actually make a difference to global carbon emissions?
|
2018-02-23 18:19:40 +00:00
|
|
|
|
|
2018-03-03 09:35:28 +00:00
|
|
|
|
Well, the answers are no and not much. However, that misses the point,
|
|
|
|
|
unless you understand the secret master plan alluded to above. Almost
|
|
|
|
|
any new technology initially has high unit cost before it can be
|
|
|
|
|
optimized and this is no less true for electric cars. The strategy of
|
|
|
|
|
Tesla is to enter at the high end of the market, where customers are
|
|
|
|
|
prepared to pay a premium, and then drive down market as fast as
|
|
|
|
|
possible to higher unit volume and lower prices with each successive
|
|
|
|
|
model.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Without giving away too much, I can say that the second model will be a
|
|
|
|
|
sporty four door family car at roughly half the $89k price point of the
|
|
|
|
|
Tesla Roadster and the third model will be even more affordable. In
|
|
|
|
|
keeping with a fast growing technology company, all free cash flow is
|
|
|
|
|
plowed back into R\&D to drive down the costs and bring the follow on
|
|
|
|
|
products to market as fast as possible. When someone buys the Tesla
|
|
|
|
|
Roadster sports car, they are actually helping pay for development of
|
|
|
|
|
the low cost family car.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Now I’d like to address two repeated arguments against electric vehicles
|
|
|
|
|
— battery disposal and power plant emissions. The answer to the first is
|
|
|
|
|
short and simple, the second requires a bit of math:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
**Batteries that are not toxic to the environment\!**
|
|
|
|
|
I wouldn’t recommend them as a dessert topping, but the Tesla Motors
|
|
|
|
|
Lithium-Ion cells are not classified as hazardous and are landfill safe.
|
|
|
|
|
However, dumping them in the trash would be throwing money away, since
|
|
|
|
|
the battery pack can be sold to recycling companies (unsubsidized) at
|
|
|
|
|
the end of its greater than 100,000-mile design life. Moreover, the
|
|
|
|
|
battery isn’t dead at that point, it just has less range.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
**Power Plant Emissions aka “The Long Tailpipe”**
|
|
|
|
|
(For a more detailed version of this argument, please see the [white
|
|
|
|
|
paper](/display_data/twentyfirstcenturycar.pdf) written by Martin and
|
|
|
|
|
Marc.)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
A common rebuttal to electric vehicles as a solution to carbon emissions
|
|
|
|
|
is that they simply transfer the CO2 emissions to the power plant. The
|
|
|
|
|
obvious counter is that one can develop grid electric power from a
|
|
|
|
|
[variety of means](/efficiency/environmental_benefits.php), many of
|
|
|
|
|
which, like hydro, wind, geothermal, nuclear, solar, etc. involve no CO2
|
|
|
|
|
emissions. However, let’s assume for the moment that the electricity is
|
|
|
|
|
generated from a hydrocarbon source like natural gas, the most popular
|
|
|
|
|
fuel for new US power plants in recent years.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The H-System Combined Cycle Generator from General Electric is 60%
|
|
|
|
|
efficient in turning natural gas into electricity. "Combined Cycle" is
|
|
|
|
|
where the natural gas is burned to generate electricity and then the
|
|
|
|
|
waste heat is used to create steam that powers a second generator.
|
|
|
|
|
Natural gas recovery is 97.5% efficient, processing is also 97.5%
|
|
|
|
|
efficient and then transmission efficiency over the electric grid is 92%
|
|
|
|
|
on average. This gives us a well-to-electric-outlet efficiency of 97.5%
|
|
|
|
|
x 97.5% x 60% x 92% = 52.5%.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Despite a body shape, tires and gearing aimed at high performance rather
|
|
|
|
|
than peak efficiency, the Tesla Roadster requires 0.4 MJ per kilometer
|
|
|
|
|
or, stated another way, will travel 2.53 km per mega-joule of
|
|
|
|
|
electricity. The full cycle charge and discharge efficiency of the Tesla
|
|
|
|
|
Roadster is 86%, which means that for every 100 MJ of electricity used
|
|
|
|
|
to charge the battery, about 86 MJ reaches the motor.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Bringing the math together, we get the final figure of merit of 2.53
|
|
|
|
|
km/MJ x 86% x 52.5% = 1.14 km/MJ. Let’s compare that to the Prius and a
|
|
|
|
|
few other options normally considered energy efficient.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The fully considered well-to-wheel efficiency of a gasoline powered car
|
|
|
|
|
is equal to the energy content of gasoline (34.3 MJ/liter) minus the
|
|
|
|
|
refinement & transportation losses (18.3%), multiplied by the miles per
|
|
|
|
|
gallon or km per liter. The Prius at an EPA rated 55 mpg therefore has
|
|
|
|
|
an energy efficiency of 0.56 km/MJ. This is actually an excellent number
|
|
|
|
|
compared with a “normal” car like the Toyota Camry at 0.28 km/MJ.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Note the term hybrid as applied to cars currently on the road is a
|
|
|
|
|
misnomer. They are really just gasoline powered cars with a little
|
|
|
|
|
battery assistance and, unless you are one of the handful who have an
|
|
|
|
|
aftermarket hack, the little battery has to be charged from the gasoline
|
|
|
|
|
engine. Therefore, they can be considered simply as slightly more
|
|
|
|
|
efficient gasoline powered cars. If the EPA certified mileage is 55 mpg,
|
|
|
|
|
then it is indistinguishable from a non-hybrid that achieves 55 mpg. As
|
|
|
|
|
a friend of mine says, a world 100% full of Prius drivers is still 100%
|
|
|
|
|
addicted to oil.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The CO2 content of any given source fuel is well understood. Natural gas
|
|
|
|
|
is 14.4 grams of carbon per mega-joule and oil is 19.9 grams of carbon
|
|
|
|
|
per mega-joule. Applying those carbon content levels to the vehicle
|
|
|
|
|
efficiencies, including as a reference the Honda combusted natural gas
|
|
|
|
|
and Honda fuel cell natural gas vehicles, the hands down winner is pure
|
|
|
|
|
electric:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
**Car** **Energy Source** **CO2 Content** **Efficiency** **CO2
|
|
|
|
|
Emissions** Honda CNG Natural Gas 14.4 g/MJ 0.32 km/MJ 45.0 g/km Honda
|
|
|
|
|
FCX Nat Gas-Fuel Cell 14.4 g/MJ 0.35 km/MJ 41.1 g/km Toyota Prius Oil
|
|
|
|
|
19.9 g/MJ 0.56 km/MJ 35.8 g/km Tesla Roadster Nat Gas-Electric 14.4 g/MJ
|
|
|
|
|
1.14 km/MJ 12.6 g/km
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Tesla Roadster still wins by a hefty margin if you assume the
|
|
|
|
|
average CO2 per joule of US power production. The higher CO2 content of
|
|
|
|
|
coal compared to natural gas is offset by the negligible CO2 content of
|
|
|
|
|
hydro, nuclear, geothermal, wind, solar, etc. The exact power production
|
|
|
|
|
mixture varies from one part of the country to another and is changing
|
|
|
|
|
over time, so natural gas is used here as a fixed yardstick.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
**Becoming Energy Positive**
|
|
|
|
|
I should mention that Tesla Motors will be co-marketing sustainable
|
|
|
|
|
energy products from other companies along with the car. For example,
|
|
|
|
|
among other choices, we will be offering a modestly sized and priced
|
|
|
|
|
solar panel from [SolarCity](http://www.solarcity.com/), a photovoltaics
|
|
|
|
|
company (where I am also the principal financier). This system can be
|
|
|
|
|
installed on your roof in an out of the way location, because of its
|
|
|
|
|
small size, or set up as a carport and will generate about 50 miles per
|
|
|
|
|
day of electricity.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
If you travel less than 350 miles per week, you will therefore be
|
|
|
|
|
“energy positive” with respect to your personal transportation. This
|
|
|
|
|
is a step beyond conserving or even nullifying your use of energy for
|
|
|
|
|
transport – you will actually be putting more energy back into the
|
|
|
|
|
system than you consume in transportation\! **So, in short, the master
|
|
|
|
|
plan is:**
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1. Build sports car
|
|
|
|
|
2. Use that money to build an affordable car
|
|
|
|
|
3. Use that money to build an even more affordable car
|
|
|
|
|
4. While doing above, also provide zero emission electric power
|
|
|
|
|
generation options
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Don't tell anyone.
|