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Elon Musk Shares Thoughts On Tesla's Early Days

During the two-day green energy business summit at the American manufacturer's assembly plant in Fremont, California, the Tesla CEO didn't offer any further info on the upcoming Model X full-size CUV.
Elon Musk 1 photo
Photo: www.luxatic.com
However, a re/code write-up hints that he did deliver a few tongue-in-cheek comments on business competitors, technological advancements and the company's erratic early days.

The two-day World Energy Innovation Forum gathered big shots such as policymakers and green energy business personalities, but the centerpiece of this bonanza is represented by the discussion between Elon Musk and Ira Ehrenpreis.

Speaking of the company's first steps in EV manufacturing, Musk bluntly recognized that "Tesla was created on two false premises." The now-defunct Roadster model was a costly and imperfect adaptation of the Lotus Elise chassis, while drivetrain technology licensed from AC Propulsion wasn't really fit for real-world driving.

"We ended up changing everything on the car, something like 7 percent of the parts were in common." said Musk. "We ended up having to redesign the whole car and the whole powertrain." These provocative declarations are especially out of place if you take into consideration that Ira, the interviewer, is one of the first ever Tesla Motors investors.

The CEO's bluntness continued with a declaration that defies Tesla efforts in raising public awareness of its increasing Supercharger network of charging points: "Most people just charge their Model S’s at home, because it’s got 260 miles of range or thereabouts."

Elon inadequately bashed the increasing hype surrounding fuel cell technology by saying: "Current technology of lithium-ion is superior to what the theoretical best possible outcome is for fuel cells. And lithium-ion systems are getting a lot better. Game over. Why are you doing fuel cells?"

In other news, the Oatmeal's Matthew Inman received $2,500 from Elon Musk for building the Nikola Tesla Science Center in Shoreham, New York, following the cartoonist's funny review of the Model S luxury sedan. The Tesla Motors CEO tweeted that he "will do more in the future."

How much more is anybody's guess at this moment. Nevertheless, Inman managed to gather around $1.4 million out of the $8 million bare minimum needed to buy Tesla's former laboratory and set up the museum.
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About the author: Mircea Panait
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After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well.
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