Comments on Darryl Siry's Blog: “Detroit 3” pressures will impact EV startups

on Detroit - Silicon Valley vs. Detroit vs. China....

2009-04-20T16:03:00.000-04:00

on Detroit - Silicon Valley vs. Detroit vs. China.
The big 3 automakers are looking weaker than ever, and nevertheless talking confidently about "getting over" these tough times. Popular (joe sixpack culture, admittedly...) media blames Unions for increased costs. Ridiculous. Unions aren't good for fast moving 21st century business, but they aren't to blame.
Detroit makes 1970's automibiles, in 2009. Every "new" model is depressingly free of innovation, brave trendsetting or technological breakthroughs.
Detroit makes cars that people no longer want. The Eisenhowe era taught Americans that poor people drive small cars while rich people drive boats. Since then Americans learned that small, stylish, sexy and high performance vehicles are actually quite appealing. Detroit hasn't noticed this yet. That's why Cadillac, Pontiac, Hummer, Lincoln and Viper have a marketing demographic that's more akin to the trailer park sweller who won the lotto, than to Lamborghini's fashion designer. Only the diehards will buy Detroit's nostalgia, including the much hyped Chevy Volt, which is already stillborn. China deserves this segment of the market. Detroit deserved to stay alive as a small, profitable purveyor of pickup trucks and retiree sedans. Europe shares ownership of the prestige cars with Japan. India is in full identity crisis with a Nano and a Range Rover sport pumping 500Bhp.

Never ceases to amaze me why it isn't SILICON VALL...

2009-03-17T19:53:00.000-04:00

Never ceases to amaze me why it isn't SILICON VALLEY vs. MUNICH or SILICON VALLEY vs. TOKYO when it comes to cars.

I believe that unless global public funding of up ...

2009-03-15T14:42:00.000-04:00

I believe that unless global public funding of up to $30-50B goes into EVs/ battery technology/ charging infrastructure etc. this will remain a niche market.

Tesla is just learning it the hard way what it means to build, sell and service a real car. Automotive value chain is cumbersome for newbies!

Gregor - an interesting question is whether Fisker...

2009-03-15T11:59:00.000-04:00

Gregor - an interesting question is whether Fisker would have even selected Valmet if the government had announced the DOE ATVM loan program for domestic manufacturing.

If Tesla gets the loans for Model S, that is a significant competitive advantage in terms of cost of capital for large scale manufacturing.

Two points on this:
1. I wonder why GM Europe/O...

2009-03-15T11:50:00.000-04:00

Two points on this:
1. I wonder why GM Europe/Opel is not putting more emphasis on the Ampera EV? If Germany (as stated by Ms. Merkel) wants to become the lead market for e-mobility here you have a (partly) German product. The only reason why Opel may deserve a bail-out!
2. The Fisker Karma is "make or break" for Valmet, the Finnish contract manufacturer (as Porsche will pull Boxter/Cayman production out). Big risk here!!

Reading this reminded me of the factory farm vs. s...

2009-03-14T17:06:00.000-04:00

Reading this reminded me of the factory farm vs. small farm controversy. The dirty polluting factory farms just happen to churn out cheaper products and requires no real responsibility to the environment or change on the consumers part, while the small cleaner farms promote a healthier cleaner product and cleaner environment but might be more expensive and scarce. The scarcity is a result of the lack of support for responsible business practices in the industry of farming (CHANGE is SCARY!) and the excess Americans are accustomed to. There is a new plan proposed by the USDA to number the animals on the farm to keep track of who is tainted, which is costly to the small farmers and may put them out of business. Of course its the factory farmers who need this system because they have the tainted meat, but of course they can afford to adhere to this system while it may be the end of the small farmer if this rule becomes law.