VIDEO: Elon Musk talks to Fox Business News; who needs accuracy?
Yesterday we told about news from Tesla Chairman Elon Musk that the Silicon Valley EV startup had struck some sort of deal with Daimler. We speculated that it might be an engine supply deal for the range-extended version of the WhiteStar. Tesla Marketing VP and primary spokesman Darryl Siry declined to comment on the deal and Daimler has apparently said nothing. Lucky for us, one of our readers pointed to where Fox Business News had the video up on their site so that we could see exactly what Musk said. Unfortunately, it appears that at least on the topic of the Daimler deal, Musk said nothing beyond what we had already heard and there isn't much to be drawn from his statement beyond our existing conjectures.
However, watching the rest of the clip, it became clear that in typical Fox (and almost all of traditional media fashion) they weren't about to let facts get in the way of a good story. Reporter Liz Claman started off the puff piece by introducing Musk as the creator of the Tesla Roadster. Now whatever you may think of Musk and what has transpired at Tesla over the past 10 months, calling him the creator of this car is blatantly wrong. Martin Eberhard had the vision for Tesla and he and the team of engineers are the ones who created this car. Musk then goes on to describe the Roadster as "the only production electric car for sale in the United States of any kind." This is most definitely not true. It may be the only really desirable EV but there are plenty of others of various descriptions. Obviously all the neighborhood electric cars out there are for sale and are drivable on many roads. They certainly aren't in the same class as the Roadster but they are electric. And of course we must grudgingly acknowledge the Zap Xebra here as well even though it is technically a motorcycle. Nonetheless this is not a promising start to the five-minute interview. And given that we know of only two cars that have been delivered to customers (one of which was Musk himself) calling the Roadster in production is still very much a stretch. We know almost no one watches Fox Business News but this is ridiculous and don't even get me started on this reporter. The video is after the jump.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Anonymous 9:43AM (6/13/2008)
Elon Musk is such an a-hole that I am seriously considering putting up my reservation for the Tesla (
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Christian 10:19AM (6/13/2008)
I just love how he said they've sold 1000 units.
The way he delivered that line is going t make joe blow think he can stroll up to Telsa and drive away in a car.
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Doug 10:21AM (6/13/2008)
Well, like I said in the other post, VP13 looks pretty amazing in the sunlight.
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Yanquetino 10:31AM (6/13/2008)
Bingo, Sam! And where _is_ Martin Eberhard's VIN no. 2/Production no. 3/it's-a-mystery vehicle, anyway? The claim was that it started down the assembly line on March 17, yet it has been nearly 3 months and he STILL doesn't have his Roadster...?!!! Musk needs to issue a public apology for the prolonged delay, as well as for all the recent misinformation about his role in the company's origins, or customers might very well start cancelling their reservations in disgust.
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GoodCheer 10:48AM (6/13/2008)
If it's any defense, I have to remind people that this is Fox news, so I assume people recognize everything they report is garbage (like Obama sharing a "terrorist jab" with his wife).
I would love to know more about where the production cars are... but I'm slow to turn on Tesla. I know firsthand how hard it is to transition from engineering/design[/marketing] to manufacturing. I think they are still on or close to their latest public schedule.
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vfx 11:48AM (6/13/2008)
Wired wrote an article about Tesla. They also wrote about an Electric Vehicle company that continually puts out false claims, brings in Venture capitol and the never delivers more that a car or two. At this point you have to ask which is which?
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meme 12:36PM (6/13/2008)
Yes, but did Musk do a terrorist fist-jab? Who's his baby-mama? Inquiring minds want to know!
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OhmExcited 1:18PM (6/13/2008)
Google "narcissistic personality disorder".
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GPR 2:24PM (6/13/2008)
Every single mainstream news story on every single topic always has a small group of people in the background going "hey they got it wrong..."
I think you should look at stories like this as just one more thing helping to make true the equation "eletric car = cool."
If it inspires a few people to do research and learn more, awesome.
If it also unfortunately gets a couple of people to give a rat's tooshie about swapped serial numbers and chassis number one, well, I consider that collateral damage.
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Sean 2:42PM (6/13/2008)
Now, now, people.
Interesting bits in the video worth mentioning:
- WhiteStar est. starting price is ~$59K, a little higher than before, right?
- size of 5-series BMW or Maserati Quadroport(?)
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Peter 2:52PM (6/13/2008)
Musk might be right about production electric cars. Are there any highway capable FMVSS certified electric cars in production right now except for the Tesla?
All I can think of are NEVs and 3 wheeled motorcycles.
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BlackbirdHighway 5:46PM (6/13/2008)
There is the AC Propulsion eBox. It's really a conversion of the Scion xB, so yes, it's highway capable and FMVSS certified.
ACP says "Every eBox is made to order from a Scion xB 5-speed supplied by the customer".
Whether you call that "in production" is open to interpretation.
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stevefazek 5:48PM (6/13/2008)
i think you were one of 10 people watching fox business
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Murc 11:52PM (6/14/2008)
its a nice looking car, I wouldn't mind owning one.
and I'm sure he HAS sold 1000 cars....he just hasn't delivered them, its all about how you word it.
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Chris H. 11:37PM (6/13/2008)
"We just started production about a month ago."
Really? March 17th was "about a month ago"?
I noticed that he didn't mention that TM still has not delivered one single vehicle that was started (down the production line) on, or after, March 17th.
P1 was built in late 2007 and delivered to EM on Feb. 1st 2008 (i.e. it's not a regular production car)
P2 (Jeff Skoll's car) was started on Feb. 8th 2008 (before the start of regular series production), and was completed, hopefully, before March 17th. It was finally delivered to Jeff on June 6th.
http://go2market.blogspot.com/
Since then, what? Nothing...
I agree with Yanquetino. It's been 89 days, and counting, and Tesla Motors has yet to deliver it's first, true, regular production vehicle. And as for that "Creator" nonsense, EM should be ashamed of himself for trying to hog the credit for something that was clearly not his work.
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Rick 2:03PM (6/16/2008)
All you have to say is 'Fox News' then anyone with any kind of schooling or intellect would then proceed with a smirk marking thier preparedness for what lies, slander, slanted and false information is about to follow.
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Chris M 10:58PM (6/16/2008)
Faux News is biased, but Fox Business News is just pathetic. That reporter was more concerned about how the dashboard looked than what the car could do.
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