Kaiser/Tesla

[boatingbill]

The April issue of Motor Trend had an interesting article by one of their comment editors comparing Kaiser Frazer with Tesla Motors
and how they are going down the same path. Henry Kaiser's $50 plus million investment ($360 million today) was insufficient to
take on Detroit. They said that setting up dealers and service and bringing  new style each year required tremendous capitol
investment. Henry had great cars they said but the cost to support his initial investment was too much. Bringing a new car to market
today would be about 1 billion and Tesla exits because of the government underwriting about $8000 per each car. Tesla hasn't a
dealer/service support group in place so he can grow market share. Kaiser Frazer did get some government help will the Willow Run
complex as Tesla is getting but Tesla will fail for the same reason as Henry Kaiser unless he can raise huge capitalization money.
Interesting take on history repeating itself.

[r1lark]

That is interesting Bill. Good to see that someone in the automotive media remembers K-F!

I'm amazed that the US government is subsidizing the purchase of Teslas. What a waste of taxpayer money in my opinion. The rich folks who buy those cars don't need us (ie, US taxpayers) to help them with the cost of their new fancy cars.

Disclaimer: the above comments are strictly those of the poster, and do not represent the opinions of Henry Kaiser, Joe Frazer, or this forum.

[Gordie]

I have a friend who just bought a new Tesla and he really likes the car.  A 240 mile range that the Tesla offers is certainly a great incentive to never have to buy gasoline again and when the $30,000 new Tesla's are available I predict that they will be a real threat to the future of Gasoline powered cars.  He had to get 220 volt power installed in his garage and can recharge the batteries at night.  I rode in the car and it is super fast on acceleration.  The only downside that I see is travelling cross country but if a battery exchange system could be set up you could go to a service center and get a battery switch in the time it takes to refill your gas tank.  It will be interesting to see how Tesla progresses.  Their new battery technology could certainly spell the end of gasoline powered cars as we know them today.

[boatingbill]

The article did speculate that if President Trump pulls the federal subsidy, sales would be hurt and they would have even a harder time
getting venture capital monies. It looks like GM may be the new big player in the future of EV's.