This is really big. (And that number is a few days old. It's probably higher now.)
It shows that there really is a consumer appetite for something other than the same old automobile.
At $1000 per pre-order, that means that Tesla just took in nearly 300 million dollars. This is only seed money when you're talking about big production, of course. But it's something. And it points to something even bigger.
There were nay-sayers last week --and I'm capable of being a nay-sayer myself--- who were saying that Elon Musk can't possibly have the resources to put the model 3 into large production. And I'm willing to bet that Musk is hesitant to bear all of the investment risk even if he actually does have the dough.
But demand like this will surely make investors show a bit more interest than they might have a couple of weeks ago. And the same thing is likely to happen to Elio Motors.
I wonder if it'll make Chevy think more about upping production and PR for the Bolt. It would be unfortunate for Tesla if Chevy were to undersell them and beat their production. But if Tesla could give them a battle, then that would be good for consumers. Not to mention folks like Nissan, Mitsubishi, Toyota, Honda and who-know-else trying to get in on the action.
This huge pre-order might just be a sign that the consumer really is ready for something new. Maybe they'll also develop a taste for ultra-small, personal vehicles. Like scooters. And bicycles with helper engines attached. It would make this world a better place.
I've always thought that people could love such things. I just haven't seen the demand. I've also suspected that the demand might be there in a latent form. And that our 'leaders', regulators, traffic people, business have just been too stubborn and stupid to recognize it for what it was. Or they thought that we were too stupid to recognize their obstructionism for what it was.
Maybe, just maybe, this Tesla episode will convince the big auto makers to start thinking smaller. Or at least start thinking greener. And maybe it will convince investors to back start-ups who are trying to do the same thing.
That would be very, very good.
It shows that there really is a consumer appetite for something other than the same old automobile.
At $1000 per pre-order, that means that Tesla just took in nearly 300 million dollars. This is only seed money when you're talking about big production, of course. But it's something. And it points to something even bigger.
There were nay-sayers last week --and I'm capable of being a nay-sayer myself--- who were saying that Elon Musk can't possibly have the resources to put the model 3 into large production. And I'm willing to bet that Musk is hesitant to bear all of the investment risk even if he actually does have the dough.
But demand like this will surely make investors show a bit more interest than they might have a couple of weeks ago. And the same thing is likely to happen to Elio Motors.
I wonder if it'll make Chevy think more about upping production and PR for the Bolt. It would be unfortunate for Tesla if Chevy were to undersell them and beat their production. But if Tesla could give them a battle, then that would be good for consumers. Not to mention folks like Nissan, Mitsubishi, Toyota, Honda and who-know-else trying to get in on the action.
This huge pre-order might just be a sign that the consumer really is ready for something new. Maybe they'll also develop a taste for ultra-small, personal vehicles. Like scooters. And bicycles with helper engines attached. It would make this world a better place.
I've always thought that people could love such things. I just haven't seen the demand. I've also suspected that the demand might be there in a latent form. And that our 'leaders', regulators, traffic people, business have just been too stubborn and stupid to recognize it for what it was. Or they thought that we were too stupid to recognize their obstructionism for what it was.
Maybe, just maybe, this Tesla episode will convince the big auto makers to start thinking smaller. Or at least start thinking greener. And maybe it will convince investors to back start-ups who are trying to do the same thing.
That would be very, very good.
