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Ludicrous: The Unvarnished Story of Tesla Motors
Tesla is the most exciting car company in a generation . . . but can it live up to the hype?
Tesla Motors and CEO Elon Musk have become household names, shaking up the staid auto industry by creating a set of innovative electric vehicles that have wowed the marketplace and defied conventional wisdom. The company's market valuation now rivals that of long-established automakers, and, to many industry observers, Tesla is defining the future of the industry.
But behind the hype, Tesla has some serious deficiencies that raise questions about its sky-high valuation, and even its ultimate survival.
Tesla's commitment to innovation has led it to reject the careful, zero-defects approach of other car manufacturers, even as it struggles to mass-produce cars reliably, and with minimal defects. While most car manufacturers struggle with the razor-thin margins of mid-priced sedans, Tesla's strategy requires that the Model 3 finally bring it to profitability, even as the high-priced Roadster and Model S both lost money. And Tesla's approach of continually focusing on the future, even as commitments and deadlines are repeatedly missed, may ultimately test the patience of all but its most devoted fans.
In Ludicrous , journalist and auto industry analyst Edward Niedermeyer lays bare the disconnect between the popular perception of Tesla and the day-to-day realities of the company—and the cars it produces. Blending original reporting and never-before-published insider accounts with savvy industry analysis, Niedermeyer tells the story of Tesla as it's never been told before—with clear eyes, objectivity and insight.
Tesla Motors and CEO Elon Musk have become household names, shaking up the staid auto industry by creating a set of innovative electric vehicles that have wowed the marketplace and defied conventional wisdom. The company's market valuation now rivals that of long-established automakers, and, to many industry observers, Tesla is defining the future of the industry.
But behind the hype, Tesla has some serious deficiencies that raise questions about its sky-high valuation, and even its ultimate survival.
Tesla's commitment to innovation has led it to reject the careful, zero-defects approach of other car manufacturers, even as it struggles to mass-produce cars reliably, and with minimal defects. While most car manufacturers struggle with the razor-thin margins of mid-priced sedans, Tesla's strategy requires that the Model 3 finally bring it to profitability, even as the high-priced Roadster and Model S both lost money. And Tesla's approach of continually focusing on the future, even as commitments and deadlines are repeatedly missed, may ultimately test the patience of all but its most devoted fans.
In Ludicrous , journalist and auto industry analyst Edward Niedermeyer lays bare the disconnect between the popular perception of Tesla and the day-to-day realities of the company—and the cars it produces. Blending original reporting and never-before-published insider accounts with savvy industry analysis, Niedermeyer tells the story of Tesla as it's never been told before—with clear eyes, objectivity and insight.
275 pages, Hardcover
Published August 20, 2019
183 people are currently reading
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 103 reviews
August 6, 2019
Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
As a lifelong car enthusiast, I was intrigued to read this book. However this is not strictly about cars, or even about the character that is Elon Musk. It is about start-ups, modern manufacturing, management and the principles that have guide the market.
It is a very informative read, not just about Tesla but automotive manufacturing in general. The author has done an excellent job in sorting out the details from the hype, news and social media stories, and then presenting them in a readable context.
As a lifelong car enthusiast, I was intrigued to read this book. However this is not strictly about cars, or even about the character that is Elon Musk. It is about start-ups, modern manufacturing, management and the principles that have guide the market.
It is a very informative read, not just about Tesla but automotive manufacturing in general. The author has done an excellent job in sorting out the details from the hype, news and social media stories, and then presenting them in a readable context.
October 17, 2019
"Optimism, pessimism, f*** that; we're going to make it happen. As God as my bloody witness, I'm hell-bent on making it work." ---Elon Musk
The high-flying entrepreneur, Elon Musk, known for PayPal and SpaceX, decides to tackle the auto business. His approach: make a car like the Silicon Valley makes hardware and software technologies. Like inventing successive versions of the iPhone. Don't worry about "bugs" -- you just fix them with software updates.
In 2008, at the early onset of one of our nation's worst recessions, Tesla comes to market with a super high end electric car: the Roadster. Priced over $100,000, its prototype demonstrated blistering acceleration and a futuristic body style. More importantly, it appealed to the egos of wealthy Californians wanting to show their dedication to the environmental solution of a low carbon footprint. People lined up to buy them, and gave Tesla huge deposits to keep their place in line.
But, in a pattern which would become a Tesla hallmark, Musk would "hype" the newest model in order to generate enthusiasm amongst potential car buyers and to raise badly-needed cash from venture capitalists, long before the engineering and design problems for these high-tech cars had been solved. As a result, "production hell" (Musk quote) would ensue. However, Musk had no choice but to jump on this hamster wheel -- he needed the cash provided from investors in order to be able to ramp up production, but then would burn through that cash and need to hype the next model before production of the last model had become profitable. This pattern would repeat itself, even until today.
Short selling blogs would consistently remind stock holders of the problems faced by Tesla. In addition to cash flow and production issues, the cars were becoming known for their defects. At one point, Tesla was selling cars with "interim" transmissions, which would need to be replaced once a redesigned version could be produced. Also, the SEC threatened suits for misinformation. Finally, the purported "autonomous" self-driving software packages ran into potential liability when accidents occurred.
Ludicrous covers the years from Tesla's formation, up to current times. The information is presented in a chronological manner, but sometimes it's hard to follow and to understand the points which are supposedly being made. There is a lot of jumping around, a bit disjointed. While the book strives to appear neutral, it's pretty clear that there is a strong biased against Elon Musk and his habit of over-promising (even making untrue claims) in order to generate hype. Musk is portrayed as a promoter, over his head in a business which he has no experience. There is obviously an element of truth, and the author's footnotes are extensive. But I suspect this book presents just one side of the picture.
Thanks to NetGalley and BenBella Books for the opportunity to provide my unbiased review.
The high-flying entrepreneur, Elon Musk, known for PayPal and SpaceX, decides to tackle the auto business. His approach: make a car like the Silicon Valley makes hardware and software technologies. Like inventing successive versions of the iPhone. Don't worry about "bugs" -- you just fix them with software updates.
In 2008, at the early onset of one of our nation's worst recessions, Tesla comes to market with a super high end electric car: the Roadster. Priced over $100,000, its prototype demonstrated blistering acceleration and a futuristic body style. More importantly, it appealed to the egos of wealthy Californians wanting to show their dedication to the environmental solution of a low carbon footprint. People lined up to buy them, and gave Tesla huge deposits to keep their place in line.
But, in a pattern which would become a Tesla hallmark, Musk would "hype" the newest model in order to generate enthusiasm amongst potential car buyers and to raise badly-needed cash from venture capitalists, long before the engineering and design problems for these high-tech cars had been solved. As a result, "production hell" (Musk quote) would ensue. However, Musk had no choice but to jump on this hamster wheel -- he needed the cash provided from investors in order to be able to ramp up production, but then would burn through that cash and need to hype the next model before production of the last model had become profitable. This pattern would repeat itself, even until today.
Short selling blogs would consistently remind stock holders of the problems faced by Tesla. In addition to cash flow and production issues, the cars were becoming known for their defects. At one point, Tesla was selling cars with "interim" transmissions, which would need to be replaced once a redesigned version could be produced. Also, the SEC threatened suits for misinformation. Finally, the purported "autonomous" self-driving software packages ran into potential liability when accidents occurred.
Ludicrous covers the years from Tesla's formation, up to current times. The information is presented in a chronological manner, but sometimes it's hard to follow and to understand the points which are supposedly being made. There is a lot of jumping around, a bit disjointed. While the book strives to appear neutral, it's pretty clear that there is a strong biased against Elon Musk and his habit of over-promising (even making untrue claims) in order to generate hype. Musk is portrayed as a promoter, over his head in a business which he has no experience. There is obviously an element of truth, and the author's footnotes are extensive. But I suspect this book presents just one side of the picture.
Thanks to NetGalley and BenBella Books for the opportunity to provide my unbiased review.
August 6, 2019
Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
As a lifelong car enthusiast, I was intrigued to read this book. However this is not strictly about cars, or even about the character that is Elon Musk. It is about start-ups, modern manufacturing, management and the principles that have guide the market.
It is a very informative read, not just about Tesla but automotive manufacturing in general. The author has done an excellent job in sorting out the details from the hype, news and social media stories, and then presenting them in a readable context.
As a lifelong car enthusiast, I was intrigued to read this book. However this is not strictly about cars, or even about the character that is Elon Musk. It is about start-ups, modern manufacturing, management and the principles that have guide the market.
It is a very informative read, not just about Tesla but automotive manufacturing in general. The author has done an excellent job in sorting out the details from the hype, news and social media stories, and then presenting them in a readable context.
July 22, 2019
Having read and enjoyed Ashlee Vance’s biography of Elon Musk, and frankly being a little in awe of the effect Musk has had on the industries he has worked within, I was looking forward to a more in-depth look at Tesla.
I know that Musk himself is a little eccentric, and lacks some interpersonal and empathy skills, but the world sometimes needs ruthless ambition to advance mankind. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t believe that he can be given a ticket to do whatever he wants, but his ability to achieve goals is exemplary. Well that was at least my opinion before reading this book.
Needless to say, my opinion already started to change in the ‘Note To Readers’ which gives a brief insight into the lengths the company would go to, in order to maintain the reverent image it was portraying to the world. From there on out, as the Tesla world is portrayed as a battle between fantasist and realists my opinions definitely started leaning towards those that see Tesla as a pioneer and solely responsible for the acceleration of the industries adoption of EV’s, but also one that is inherently flawed, that has blatantly manipulated markets, environmentalism, and consumers naivety alike, and is likely to be left behind going forward.
I do wonder how Tesla still has such a strong stock price, and whether a fall back down to reality is imminent (and surely it is). Is this what this book is trying to portray? Is this some short investment advice? I personally hope and believe this book depicts a neutral perspective (even though the author openly divulges his personal interactions with Tesla).
This was definitely an informative read, not only within Tesla itself, but also in automotive manufacturing and the principles that have guided the market over the last century or so.
Thank you NetGalley and BenBella Books for a review copy.
I know that Musk himself is a little eccentric, and lacks some interpersonal and empathy skills, but the world sometimes needs ruthless ambition to advance mankind. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t believe that he can be given a ticket to do whatever he wants, but his ability to achieve goals is exemplary. Well that was at least my opinion before reading this book.
Needless to say, my opinion already started to change in the ‘Note To Readers’ which gives a brief insight into the lengths the company would go to, in order to maintain the reverent image it was portraying to the world. From there on out, as the Tesla world is portrayed as a battle between fantasist and realists my opinions definitely started leaning towards those that see Tesla as a pioneer and solely responsible for the acceleration of the industries adoption of EV’s, but also one that is inherently flawed, that has blatantly manipulated markets, environmentalism, and consumers naivety alike, and is likely to be left behind going forward.
I do wonder how Tesla still has such a strong stock price, and whether a fall back down to reality is imminent (and surely it is). Is this what this book is trying to portray? Is this some short investment advice? I personally hope and believe this book depicts a neutral perspective (even though the author openly divulges his personal interactions with Tesla).
This was definitely an informative read, not only within Tesla itself, but also in automotive manufacturing and the principles that have guided the market over the last century or so.
Thank you NetGalley and BenBella Books for a review copy.
March 6, 2021
Very solid investigative work into one of the most overvalued car companies in the world right now. Treat this as a Bad Blood, but for Tesla. Highly enjoyable, and the writer's style is crisp, to-the-point, and backed up by comprehensive evidence.
Easy to read, and a medium-length book; took me a couple of days.
Easy to read, and a medium-length book; took me a couple of days.
September 24, 2019
I only really care about cars.
OK, I also care about my family, but not any more than I care about cars. They’re right about equal. So I read this in, dunno, two days.
It’s very very good.
Despite being super-brief, it manages to cover
1. the full history of Tesla from when it started all the way to the Model 3, including milestones, triumphs and setbacks
2. the business thesis / business model surrounding the firm
3. Elon Musk’s role as savior, cheerleader, dreamer and dodger
4. a collection of the sundry controversies surrounding Tesla, that the author deals with quite fairly and even-handedly, I thought
Edward Niedermeyer stays away from a couple things: (i) the fair valuation of the company’s stock and (ii) any comparison at all of its products with other cars. I can 100% understand why, if I’m honest. You don’t need to buy his book to find out about all that. Hydrogen never gets mentioned either, not even once.
The author is very knowledgeable about the business of making cars, very knowledgeable about Tesla and in my view he actually likes Tesla, the car company, despite the fact that he has little time for Tesla, the business, or the aggressive tactics of Elon Musk.
As he takes you through the company’s history, you live three times through the fact that (all while pretending that it will re-invent manufacturing itself) Tesla has repeatedly chosen to mass-produce awesome prototypes from the ground up, rather than acquire experience in the true essence of building cars, which is 1. to design a product so more than half of its content can best be farmed to specialized outside suppliers and 2. to conduct this orchestra of suppliers in the process of putting together cars with minimal violations of pre-agreed tolerances.
This he drums into you good. At the same time, you are left in no doubt that it took the genius of Elon Musk to see the promised land in the business plan of the firm’s original CEO and run with it.
Niedermeyer is tremendous at putting things in context!
On page 210, recognizing that Tesla has changed the world by creating from scratch the market for premium electric cars and alluding to both the oncoming onslaught of German battery-powered rivals, but also to the mobility revolution heralded by Uber & Lyft, e-scooters etc. (to say nothing of the autonomous revolution fronted by Google’s Waymo) he offers deep insight:
“its place in the history books is secure, but its present is coming under direct assault from more experienced, pragmatic automakers. At the same time, its future is being disrupted by a fresh crop of innovators who are leaving the entire idea of the car behind.”
Personally, and precisely because I love cars, I actually don’t think Tesla (or any other car company, for that matter) is under any threat from autonomous vehicles for at least a generation or from tax-paying taxi services, but as an author Niedermeyer does hit it on the nose: if all those pie-in-the-sky companies have any merit, Uber does not really deserve any of their valuation to rub off on it: its main appeal is that of the brand that banished the Prius to the taxi rank and pioneered the desirable, conspicuous-consumption electric luxury car for the holier-than-thou, technophile “in-crowd,” stealing a march on Lexus, Mercedes, Audi, BMW and Jaguar.
In a concluding chapter, he sticks the knife in a bit more. First, echoing his main business theme in the book, he deconstructs the whole “touchscreen” approach to car interiors that Tesla has followed, likening it to the fins that once adorned American cars: much as in the time of the space race it was cool to have a car that aped the rocket, he says, the strategy of sticking a massive screen with cheeky Easter eggs smack in the middle of a car’s cockpit may appeal to the iPhone generation, but probably brings safety drawbacks and will prove to be a technological dead end.
I think the jury’s out on that one. It’s far from unthinkable that the massive touchscreen is here to stay. Volvo’s promoting it and they do know a thing or two about safety.
His other beef is with the perils of “continuous improvement” of the product, as exemplified by “over-the-air” updates of the software. In his view, stuff needs to be safety-tested every time. I reckon I’m on Tesla’s side on this one. Yes, a regulator should look at the company’s approach as a whole and should establish that a “safety-first” ethos truly is in place. But cars and software will carry on merging and today’s system decidedly does not work. Tesla is pushing the boundaries and, yes, they may not always be acting in the best manner (precisely because they are constantly on the edge of a financial contretemps) but I disagree with the general principle that the author applies here. We simply need to update the process of certifying cars in a way that nobody is afraid to transmit a safety improvement (or, indeed, any other improvement) “over the air.”
The final knifing he deals probably strikes closer to the heart: in a few short paragraphs he totally deconstructs the environmental appeal of the electric car revolution. Even on Tesla’s own numbers, it turns out, i.e. if we were to accept that Tesla cars have saved the planet some 4 million tons of carbon, if that’s what we got as a society for the 19 billion that’s been sunk by all stakeholders (including the state) into Tesla, that amounts to an outlandish USD 4,750 per ton (versus, say USD 600, tops, per ton from much-maligned carbon capture for fossil-fuel plants).
If it’s the planet you want to save, he says, this is on the margin an awful place to invest.
And that’s where he leaves it, kind of.
So a fantastic book, but because the author does not discuss the stock price, I think he does not deal with some other important issues:
1. making cars is a low-return, capital-intensive business with massive overcapacity, strong labor unions, national champions, far too many competitors and is subject to the vagaries of fashion
2. the future course of the business is highly uncertain; we do not know which technology will prevail and manufacturers need to invest in multiple technologies as well as in political influence
3. it is governments, worldwide, that have been supporting the car business, for longer than a decade now, because they are afraid of the consequences for all the workers that must be laid off when the car business as a whole inevitably hits the wall; for instance, the ECB has purchased tens of billions of bonds issued by VW, allegedly to “aid the transmission of its interest rate policy,” in practice to save them after the Diesel scandal
4. if Tesla ever is to make it to the five million cars per annum mark that is the minimum scale for profitability, it will take Tesla many more rounds of investment to get to this point where it will be able to compete with these heavily-subsidized wards of the state
5. even if Tesla succeeds, the prize is not worth anything
6. Tesla is already valued both as if it’s won AND as if the prize were worth winning
(In short, I don’t think you should own the stock or any other car stock, but really not them at all)
But if you’re into this stuff, Ludicrous is a must-read: it’s short, it’s to the point, it’s punchy and, on balance, it’s fair. It sure tries hard to be.
OK, I also care about my family, but not any more than I care about cars. They’re right about equal. So I read this in, dunno, two days.
It’s very very good.
Despite being super-brief, it manages to cover
1. the full history of Tesla from when it started all the way to the Model 3, including milestones, triumphs and setbacks
2. the business thesis / business model surrounding the firm
3. Elon Musk’s role as savior, cheerleader, dreamer and dodger
4. a collection of the sundry controversies surrounding Tesla, that the author deals with quite fairly and even-handedly, I thought
Edward Niedermeyer stays away from a couple things: (i) the fair valuation of the company’s stock and (ii) any comparison at all of its products with other cars. I can 100% understand why, if I’m honest. You don’t need to buy his book to find out about all that. Hydrogen never gets mentioned either, not even once.
The author is very knowledgeable about the business of making cars, very knowledgeable about Tesla and in my view he actually likes Tesla, the car company, despite the fact that he has little time for Tesla, the business, or the aggressive tactics of Elon Musk.
As he takes you through the company’s history, you live three times through the fact that (all while pretending that it will re-invent manufacturing itself) Tesla has repeatedly chosen to mass-produce awesome prototypes from the ground up, rather than acquire experience in the true essence of building cars, which is 1. to design a product so more than half of its content can best be farmed to specialized outside suppliers and 2. to conduct this orchestra of suppliers in the process of putting together cars with minimal violations of pre-agreed tolerances.
This he drums into you good. At the same time, you are left in no doubt that it took the genius of Elon Musk to see the promised land in the business plan of the firm’s original CEO and run with it.
Niedermeyer is tremendous at putting things in context!
On page 210, recognizing that Tesla has changed the world by creating from scratch the market for premium electric cars and alluding to both the oncoming onslaught of German battery-powered rivals, but also to the mobility revolution heralded by Uber & Lyft, e-scooters etc. (to say nothing of the autonomous revolution fronted by Google’s Waymo) he offers deep insight:
“its place in the history books is secure, but its present is coming under direct assault from more experienced, pragmatic automakers. At the same time, its future is being disrupted by a fresh crop of innovators who are leaving the entire idea of the car behind.”
Personally, and precisely because I love cars, I actually don’t think Tesla (or any other car company, for that matter) is under any threat from autonomous vehicles for at least a generation or from tax-paying taxi services, but as an author Niedermeyer does hit it on the nose: if all those pie-in-the-sky companies have any merit, Uber does not really deserve any of their valuation to rub off on it: its main appeal is that of the brand that banished the Prius to the taxi rank and pioneered the desirable, conspicuous-consumption electric luxury car for the holier-than-thou, technophile “in-crowd,” stealing a march on Lexus, Mercedes, Audi, BMW and Jaguar.
In a concluding chapter, he sticks the knife in a bit more. First, echoing his main business theme in the book, he deconstructs the whole “touchscreen” approach to car interiors that Tesla has followed, likening it to the fins that once adorned American cars: much as in the time of the space race it was cool to have a car that aped the rocket, he says, the strategy of sticking a massive screen with cheeky Easter eggs smack in the middle of a car’s cockpit may appeal to the iPhone generation, but probably brings safety drawbacks and will prove to be a technological dead end.
I think the jury’s out on that one. It’s far from unthinkable that the massive touchscreen is here to stay. Volvo’s promoting it and they do know a thing or two about safety.
His other beef is with the perils of “continuous improvement” of the product, as exemplified by “over-the-air” updates of the software. In his view, stuff needs to be safety-tested every time. I reckon I’m on Tesla’s side on this one. Yes, a regulator should look at the company’s approach as a whole and should establish that a “safety-first” ethos truly is in place. But cars and software will carry on merging and today’s system decidedly does not work. Tesla is pushing the boundaries and, yes, they may not always be acting in the best manner (precisely because they are constantly on the edge of a financial contretemps) but I disagree with the general principle that the author applies here. We simply need to update the process of certifying cars in a way that nobody is afraid to transmit a safety improvement (or, indeed, any other improvement) “over the air.”
The final knifing he deals probably strikes closer to the heart: in a few short paragraphs he totally deconstructs the environmental appeal of the electric car revolution. Even on Tesla’s own numbers, it turns out, i.e. if we were to accept that Tesla cars have saved the planet some 4 million tons of carbon, if that’s what we got as a society for the 19 billion that’s been sunk by all stakeholders (including the state) into Tesla, that amounts to an outlandish USD 4,750 per ton (versus, say USD 600, tops, per ton from much-maligned carbon capture for fossil-fuel plants).
If it’s the planet you want to save, he says, this is on the margin an awful place to invest.
And that’s where he leaves it, kind of.
So a fantastic book, but because the author does not discuss the stock price, I think he does not deal with some other important issues:
1. making cars is a low-return, capital-intensive business with massive overcapacity, strong labor unions, national champions, far too many competitors and is subject to the vagaries of fashion
2. the future course of the business is highly uncertain; we do not know which technology will prevail and manufacturers need to invest in multiple technologies as well as in political influence
3. it is governments, worldwide, that have been supporting the car business, for longer than a decade now, because they are afraid of the consequences for all the workers that must be laid off when the car business as a whole inevitably hits the wall; for instance, the ECB has purchased tens of billions of bonds issued by VW, allegedly to “aid the transmission of its interest rate policy,” in practice to save them after the Diesel scandal
4. if Tesla ever is to make it to the five million cars per annum mark that is the minimum scale for profitability, it will take Tesla many more rounds of investment to get to this point where it will be able to compete with these heavily-subsidized wards of the state
5. even if Tesla succeeds, the prize is not worth anything
6. Tesla is already valued both as if it’s won AND as if the prize were worth winning
(In short, I don’t think you should own the stock or any other car stock, but really not them at all)
But if you’re into this stuff, Ludicrous is a must-read: it’s short, it’s to the point, it’s punchy and, on balance, it’s fair. It sure tries hard to be.
December 21, 2022
For anyone feeling any sense of support or fandom towards Elon Musk, this is an important read. Purchasing a Tesla is overpaying for a low-quality car that might accidentally kill you in the name of market disruption. Investing in Tesla is throwing money after an over-promising, under-delivering insane person churning out big ideas to distract from an inability to produce. Supporting Tesla is falling prey to narrative.
That's why it's such a shame this book is so poorly written.
Maybe it's unfair, but I'm going to compare this book to Bad Blood, which everyone should read: a tech startup sets out to disrupt an entrenched trillion dollar industry, then resorts to faking it when some realities can't be innovated away. If Bad Blood has a natural advantage, it's that Tesla cars (mostly) work, where Theranos never did. Tesla still operates, making it harder to get inside info and a clear cut timeline from valuable sources. I think Elizabeth Holmes herself would quake at the idea of giving away inside info about Musk, and she's a crazy monster.
However, I still think the writing falls short:
1. Technical details are crucial to understanding when and why someone is lying: the author glazes over these topics. Why can't a Lotus chassis be fitted for an EV battery? Why is Tesla Autopilot's usage of sensors, not cameras, less robust and more dangerous? We get overarching explanations, but not detailed ones - he either thinks he's boring us/going over our heads, or he didn't actually do enough research to give a precise answer. I never thought I would need or want to understand why blood from a finger stick can't accurately run dozens of complicated tests - but understanding the answer unlocks so much context around whether Holmes was optimistic, delusional, or sinister.
There isn't enough primary evidence: a book like this, exposing the dark underside of a situation the public views positively, needs every sentence backed by hard reporting or scientific evidence. I understand sources can't be named. Maybe the risk is so great that he can't even use story specifics, and must resort to generalized summaries. But maybe 10% of the book comes directly from unnamed sources. Maybe another 30% comes from general news, historical research, and the semi-private history of Tesla/Musk. The remaining 60% feels split between "I have spoken with inside sources, accept my generalized summary of events without learning the specifics" and "here is my opinion of Musk's personality and the auto industry at large". At no point do I feel he's established his credentials as an industry expert or investigative reporter well enough for that to suffice.
Outside of the shortcomings as an exposé, it just isn't well written. There's no clear direction or flow. The storytelling is too casual. Here's to hoping Tesla crashes and burns someday, so that we can get the full inside story of how crazy things got.
That's why it's such a shame this book is so poorly written.
Maybe it's unfair, but I'm going to compare this book to Bad Blood, which everyone should read: a tech startup sets out to disrupt an entrenched trillion dollar industry, then resorts to faking it when some realities can't be innovated away. If Bad Blood has a natural advantage, it's that Tesla cars (mostly) work, where Theranos never did. Tesla still operates, making it harder to get inside info and a clear cut timeline from valuable sources. I think Elizabeth Holmes herself would quake at the idea of giving away inside info about Musk, and she's a crazy monster.
However, I still think the writing falls short:
1. Technical details are crucial to understanding when and why someone is lying: the author glazes over these topics. Why can't a Lotus chassis be fitted for an EV battery? Why is Tesla Autopilot's usage of sensors, not cameras, less robust and more dangerous? We get overarching explanations, but not detailed ones - he either thinks he's boring us/going over our heads, or he didn't actually do enough research to give a precise answer. I never thought I would need or want to understand why blood from a finger stick can't accurately run dozens of complicated tests - but understanding the answer unlocks so much context around whether Holmes was optimistic, delusional, or sinister.
There isn't enough primary evidence: a book like this, exposing the dark underside of a situation the public views positively, needs every sentence backed by hard reporting or scientific evidence. I understand sources can't be named. Maybe the risk is so great that he can't even use story specifics, and must resort to generalized summaries. But maybe 10% of the book comes directly from unnamed sources. Maybe another 30% comes from general news, historical research, and the semi-private history of Tesla/Musk. The remaining 60% feels split between "I have spoken with inside sources, accept my generalized summary of events without learning the specifics" and "here is my opinion of Musk's personality and the auto industry at large". At no point do I feel he's established his credentials as an industry expert or investigative reporter well enough for that to suffice.
Outside of the shortcomings as an exposé, it just isn't well written. There's no clear direction or flow. The storytelling is too casual. Here's to hoping Tesla crashes and burns someday, so that we can get the full inside story of how crazy things got.
May 23, 2022
Tesla and Elon Musk have been newsfeed staples for a decade. I’d kept up with the general story arc and formed an opinion on how revolutionary/earth-saving their technology is (that is to say, not very). This work of investigative journalism does a great job filling in the gaps in my knowledge, and highlighting themes characteristic of Musk’s public relations style and Tesla’s decision-making. The book is well organized; each chapter is based around a topic (defect reporting, the announcement of the model X and the ensuing production woes, autonomous vehicle technology). This structure allows the common beats to shine through: Musk’s willingness to bend truths and skirt regulations, the emphasis of flash and style and status symbols over practical or environmental considerations, the disregard for hard-earned industry wisdom in favour of a silicon valley software engineering mentality.
The author is sharp in his criticism of Elon Musk, but does grant him some accomplishments. I was swayed by the author’s argument that car consumers did not really want (at least in the early to mid 2010s) electric vehicles like the Nissan Leaf but wanted a status symbol with the cutting-edge, naysayers-be-damned branding that Musk built for Tesla. Did Tesla help move the needle on increased demand for low-carbon emission vehicles, and spur its competitors to develop alternatives? This is an impossible counterfactual to answer. But I do think it’s clear that Tesla’s electric vehicles had a small, financially inefficient impact on reducing global emissions. It’s fascinating that this was written in 2019; Tesla’s valuation has increased by an order of magnitude since then without much more to show for it.
I also learned a lot more about car manufacturing than I expected: how manufacturing and design stay in close step and how company cultures are shaped around this, how post-market reporting of defects are reported and investigated, how business models and car designs are shaped around this high-capital investment and low-profit margin business.
The author is sharp in his criticism of Elon Musk, but does grant him some accomplishments. I was swayed by the author’s argument that car consumers did not really want (at least in the early to mid 2010s) electric vehicles like the Nissan Leaf but wanted a status symbol with the cutting-edge, naysayers-be-damned branding that Musk built for Tesla. Did Tesla help move the needle on increased demand for low-carbon emission vehicles, and spur its competitors to develop alternatives? This is an impossible counterfactual to answer. But I do think it’s clear that Tesla’s electric vehicles had a small, financially inefficient impact on reducing global emissions. It’s fascinating that this was written in 2019; Tesla’s valuation has increased by an order of magnitude since then without much more to show for it.
I also learned a lot more about car manufacturing than I expected: how manufacturing and design stay in close step and how company cultures are shaped around this, how post-market reporting of defects are reported and investigated, how business models and car designs are shaped around this high-capital investment and low-profit margin business.
October 21, 2019
This is basically a recap of all negative news printed about Tesla over the years. There is very little new information if you've been following Tesla news in the past, and there is very little counter-balance or perspective given relative to the larger automotive industry. I was hoping to hear more about Solar and Energy storage, or even the upstate NY facility that has been in the news so much but there was barely any mention of these things whatsoever.
March 14, 2021
A sceptic look at Tesla, showcasing how it's not behaving like a typical car maker, and highlighting how the Silicon Valley method of 'Move Fast and Break Things' doesn't work in a regulated industry where minor glitches can results in serious safety problems. It's essentially the same story as Theranos, but without the catastrophic ending (so far). The parallels between Elon Musk and Elizabeth Holmes are striking, with the difference that Musk appears to know quite a bit more of what he's doing.
The book details how he took over the struggling Tesla Motors and retrofitted himself as 'founder' of Tesla, and how he inflated the hype around the company and the cars, despite the rather lacklustre production quality and quantity that has always plagued the company.
Still - Musk has managed to upend the entire car industry in a way that can only be compared with the iPhone introduction in 2007, so it looks like a win so far.
The book details how he took over the struggling Tesla Motors and retrofitted himself as 'founder' of Tesla, and how he inflated the hype around the company and the cars, despite the rather lacklustre production quality and quantity that has always plagued the company.
Still - Musk has managed to upend the entire car industry in a way that can only be compared with the iPhone introduction in 2007, so it looks like a win so far.
December 7, 2022
A fact-based look at Tesla and Musk. From the founding of the company (not by Musk), through 2019 when the book was published. Niedermeyer is a car industry journalist who has seen through the hype since day one, and brings this critical eye to bear in this book, using public sources and with interviews of former Tesla employees.
"The company has always been hugely successful at tapping into the public's aspirations, yet challenges have dogged it every step of the way and kept it from delivering on its most important promises. For more than fifteen years Tesla's expertly crafted popular perception kept it afloat in the face of setbacks...[but] there's a disconnect between the perception that Tesla has effectively achieved its mission of creating a truly affordable mass-market electric car and the reality of the company today. This disjuncture has been a defining characteristic of the company nearly from day one."
Tesla and Musk continually make wild promises to keep hype in the brand high and investments coming in. But this book collects all these promises and shows just how few of them have actually been fulfilled. From zero emission charging stations and quick-change battery stations, to autopilot that cut safety corners that lead to deaths and hiding safety issues with NDAs so a recall wouldn't hurt their stock prices.
"Tesla's problems on safety come down to some of the unique attributes that it brings from the software world into the highly regulated, life-and-death world of automobiles. One could speculate that its high-flying stock price gives it extra incentives to conceal any problem that might lead to a recall, even though recalls are the responsible (and legally necessary) response to any safety-related issue. What's more, its approach of launching with a "minimum viable product," and then iterating the vehicle's engineering over time not only makes it more likely to bring an under tested and potentially problematic vehicle or component to market, it also means regulators can't properly track vehicle populations to oversee safety. Tesla's seemingly systematic evasion of NHTSA's independent investigatory capabilities also brings to mind Silicon Valley's cultural disregard for fussy regulations and slow-moving bureaucrats."
Musk's continual hubris and massive narcissist tendencies are apparent throughout the book. A micromanaging CEO with no actual understanding of the industry he dived into.
"This precariousness, along with Tesla's world-saving mission, is part of what feeds an "ends-justify-the-means" culture inside the com- pany. The powerful twin motivations of survival and salvation make it easy to wave off issues like regulatory compliance and cover up defects with nondisclosure agreements. They also make convenient cudgels with which to attack critics, shifting the focus away from the company's questionable actions to speculation about the critic's motivations for wanting to destroy a company that is only trying to save the planet."
"The company has always been hugely successful at tapping into the public's aspirations, yet challenges have dogged it every step of the way and kept it from delivering on its most important promises. For more than fifteen years Tesla's expertly crafted popular perception kept it afloat in the face of setbacks...[but] there's a disconnect between the perception that Tesla has effectively achieved its mission of creating a truly affordable mass-market electric car and the reality of the company today. This disjuncture has been a defining characteristic of the company nearly from day one."
Tesla and Musk continually make wild promises to keep hype in the brand high and investments coming in. But this book collects all these promises and shows just how few of them have actually been fulfilled. From zero emission charging stations and quick-change battery stations, to autopilot that cut safety corners that lead to deaths and hiding safety issues with NDAs so a recall wouldn't hurt their stock prices.
"Tesla's problems on safety come down to some of the unique attributes that it brings from the software world into the highly regulated, life-and-death world of automobiles. One could speculate that its high-flying stock price gives it extra incentives to conceal any problem that might lead to a recall, even though recalls are the responsible (and legally necessary) response to any safety-related issue. What's more, its approach of launching with a "minimum viable product," and then iterating the vehicle's engineering over time not only makes it more likely to bring an under tested and potentially problematic vehicle or component to market, it also means regulators can't properly track vehicle populations to oversee safety. Tesla's seemingly systematic evasion of NHTSA's independent investigatory capabilities also brings to mind Silicon Valley's cultural disregard for fussy regulations and slow-moving bureaucrats."
Musk's continual hubris and massive narcissist tendencies are apparent throughout the book. A micromanaging CEO with no actual understanding of the industry he dived into.
"This precariousness, along with Tesla's world-saving mission, is part of what feeds an "ends-justify-the-means" culture inside the com- pany. The powerful twin motivations of survival and salvation make it easy to wave off issues like regulatory compliance and cover up defects with nondisclosure agreements. They also make convenient cudgels with which to attack critics, shifting the focus away from the company's questionable actions to speculation about the critic's motivations for wanting to destroy a company that is only trying to save the planet."
January 19, 2024
better than i expected -- niedermeyer's writing is pretty smooth. his analysis and description of the various tesla-adjacent communities (e.g. owners, fans/stockholders, critics, engineers, broader automotive industry) are very thorough and well-researched
December 6, 2019
Not an easy read and definitely not a page-turner, but a lot information on how cars are made. The author is not a fan of Musk nor am I. I can't even imagine or want a self-driving car, or one with phone-like screen. I am happy that I could never afford one.
December 29, 2022
I started reading this book because I have a member of my family who actually thinks Elon Musk isn’t a useless weirdo.
Tesla’s stock has dropped 20% from the week it’s taken to read this book.
I was once a Tesla stan and a Musk bro. I watched “Who Killed the Electric Car” in high school and dreamt about the day of EV’s becoming mainstream. And to his credit, Elon Musk did help spearhead a movement to make EV’s mainstream and “cool”.
Was it at the cost of running a company so poorly and creating such poorly designed products that it actually harmed the image of EV’s? Maybe.
Did the rebranding of an EV as a status symbol hinder the adoption of its more reliable, less flashy competitors, thus being counter-productive toward the goal of mass adoption? Perhaps.
Is Elon Musk a weirdo carnival barker who can’t run a company to save his life? Absolutely.
~~
Government Cheese
The reason why Tesla hasn’t gone bankrupt already is because of government subsidies (and questionable accounting). Tesla would have died in the 2008 crash if it didn’t get Obama money. It would have shuttered shortly after that if California didn’t have its well-meaning, yet seemingly easily manipulatable Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) credit system.
“85% of Tesla’s 2009 gross margin (which only includes the parts and labor to produce cars) came from ZEV credits, and in 2008 its negative gross margin would have been four times worse without the credits.”
“In 2013, California revised its Zero Emissions Vehicle credit system so that long-range ZEVs that were able to charge 80 percent of their range in under fifteen minutes earned almost twice as many credits as those that didn’t. […] By demonstrating battery swap on just one vehicle, Tesla nearly doubled the ZEV credits earned by its entire fleet even if none of them actually used the swap capability. […] If an automaker fails to sell enough ZEVs in a given year to earn a positive credit balance, it must purchase credits from an automaker with excess credits or face a fine. Since the fine for each credit shortfall was $5,000, Tesla could sell these three additional credits to other automakers for as much as $15,000 in marginal profit on each car it made.”
I’m no libertarian, but goddamn.
~~
The Hype Machine
Tesla has proven that companies don’t have to be good at what they do to be successful. A hype machine can become self-sustaining for a limited time. Tesla went the same route later seen used by Andrew Tate: get paid for shilling the BS product. With so many weirdos evangelized by the lie, the stock price skyrockets beyond the realm of the rational.
“Best of all, selling Musk’s vision didn’t require industry experience, technological expertise, or the ability to analyze financial disclosures. The novelty of Tesla’s approach to the car business meant that belief in Musk was more important than any of the lessons learned in a century of automotive history, which only trapped the established automakers and investors in their uninspiring prison of rationalism. As long as you believed in Musk and his high-tech and environmentally friendly future, you too could join the ‘winning team’ and make money by evangelizing his visions.
The introduction of this financial feedback loop was a game changer. Combined with the power of online forums, social media, and the cheap price of entry into the online media business, Tesla evangelism became an enterprise. As the movement grew, more and more opportunities emerged, from publishing Tesla-specific news to selling Tesla accessories and eventually even selling Teslas themselves, all fueled by a shared belief that for many was becoming a core aspect of their identity.”
It’s a cult. Plain and simple.
~~
Culture Clash — Tech Bros can’t make cars
One of the main issues with Tesla are that it’s run as a fledgling tech company, not as a serious automotive manufacturer.
“The worlds of car making and Silicon Valley startups couldn’t be more different. Successful automakers are giant, process-driven bureaucracies that rely on rigidly systematized cultures to manage a continent-spanning ballet of manufacturing operations, supply chains, service infrastructure, and regulatory compliance. Their fundamental challenge is not so much designing the most innovative or desirable cars possible, but rather, designing vehicles that can be built at massive scale and at high levels of quality.” Tesla just wanted to “be disruptive” and “move fast and break things.”
But you can’t do that when trying to mass produce a 2 ton piece of highly regulated equipment. You can do that with an app. You can do that with a computer or phone or other piece of consumer electronics. But it simply does not work with something like a car.
This book is very interesting if you have any interest in the complexities around large-scale product manufacturing. I find that extremely interesting because it’s such a delicate balance of keeping down prices while trying to make something compelling enough for the customer.
Designing the car of the future is the easy part. Manufacturing the prototype is the less easy part. Manufacturing 10,000 is the hard part.
Tesla does not have the discipline to hone in the design to a point where its mass-manufacturing becomes feasible. It does not have the discipline to solve systemic design issues. Thus, it creates shitty, poorly designed and poorly constructed cars. But don’t worry, they’re iterative designs, meaning the car that comes of the line in March is shittier than the car that comes out in May. Because that’s what you want in your 5- or 6-figure product, right?
Regulators can’t even nail down the causes of issues because the company itself doesn’t maintain effective records of when parts are replaced with better (or worse) versions. So there’s no way to really say for certain if the cause of your car killing you was this or that. What does that result in? More preventable deaths!
It doesn’t help that Silicon Valley startup ideology means pressuring/forcing your workers to put in 80-hour workweeks. Surely that won’t result in…MORE errors and defects…right? I want the guy creating my 2-ton 80mph transport machine to have had as little sleep as possible during the design and manufacturing process…right?
~~
It’s a 6-figure toy.
“…Musk knew his high-end clientele and he was ultimately right. The lower the price of a car, the more the owner is likely to rely on it and thus the more important quality is. At the high end of the market, factors like performance, styling, and brand prestige are the main concern, and customers are a lot less demanding of quality and reliability. Luxury and premium car brands like Ferrari and Land Rover are infamously unreliable relative to the rest of the market, but they are bought for performance and status rather than utility.”
This philosophy results in making shitty cars with lots of problems and a premium price tag.
“…quality problems were evident in the cars that were delivered to customers; threads soon began to appear on Tesla forums complaining of poor body panel fit, creaks and rattles, and missing software features. Musk would later admit to Ashlee Vance that Tesla struggled to convert Model S reservations to sales because ‘word of mouth was terrible,’ but at the time Musk said the opposite: ‘It really is spreading quite wildly by word of mouth,’ he told analysts on Tesla’s Q3 2012 call.”
~~
The coverup
Nothing kills a hype machine quite like cold reality.
What do you do to maintain your image as the “revolutionary and super cool company” while simultaneously selling pieces of junk? Why you deny, lie, threaten to sue, and shut people up with non-disclosure agreements! That was the most insane thing this book revealed to me:
To shut customers up from talking about how shitty their Teslas were, the company refused to fix manufacturing defects under warranty unless the customer signed an NDA. The car could literally be killing people but we can’t pop the hype bubble and we can’t do a recall so we gotta shut em up from talking to, Reddit or the government.
A very cool and normal company.
“Having built up so much hype and anticipation around itself, the brand damage caused by a single recall could lead to a loss in confidence in its prospects. Without a solid business to support its heady valuation, a loss of confidence could have catastrophic, cascading consequences that could affect its ability to hire talent, raise fresh capital, and ultimately survive.” Can’t pop the hype bubble!
“This precariousness, along with Tesla’s world-saving mission, is part of what feeds an ‘ends-justify-the-means’ culture inside the company. The powerful twin motivations of survival and salvation make it easy to wave off issues like regulatory compliance and cover up defects with nondisclosure agreements. They also make convenient cudgels with which to attack critics, shifting the focus away from the company’s questionable actions to speculation about the critic’s motivations for wanting to destroy a company that is only trying to save the planet.”
Here’s another fun way they cover up their bullshit…
Regarding their self-driving cars continually crashing into things… “Because Tesla’s data-recording capabilities did not fit the precise definition of an event data recorder (like the black box on an airplane), the company did not have to comply with legislation that gave ownership of the data to the vehicle’s owner and required that they make a third-party data reading tool available. In numerous cases, Tesla used that data to publicly refute customer accusations of Autopilot involvement in a crash without ever offering access to the data itself. If Musk could tout misleading statistics about Autopilot’s safety, could the public trust Tesla’s unverifiable statements about what vehicle data said? Until the company finally released a data-reading tool in 2018, in the wake of a lawsuit in which the owner was able to maintain custody of onboard vehicle data and demand a third-party reading, they had no choice but to trust the company.”
What kind of sleazy bullshit is that? Par for the course at Tesla
~~
Elon Musk is just bad at his job.
“The Model X may have taught Musk hard lessons about modern vehicle design, engineering, and economics, but even at his most reflective and self-critical, he seemed to miss the larger issue. The core problem wasn’t that Musk let his ideas run away with him; it was that Tesla’s internal culture couldn’t empower its cost accountants, manufacturing engineers, and suppliers to stand up to their CEO, chief product architect, largest shareholder, spokesman, and mascot.”
“Just as he had during the troubled Model X production ramp, when Model 3 ‘production hell’ hit, Musk took to spending days on the Fremont plant’s assembly, and sleeping on a couch or air mattress in a nearby conference room. Though his dedication was popular with fans who imagined him personally solving the company’s problems, employees are nearly unanimous that his presence added more stress than it relieved.
‘He says it himself—he’s not a manufacturing guy. He’s an engineer, he’s an innovator,’ explains one former manager. ‘The problem with him and the plant is he’s only really putting the pressure on the management team. He doesn’t really understand where the true bottlenecks are because most of [the managers] who have a true bottleneck are not going to tell him. Therefore, when he’s there it just causes animosity between the rest of the management team, and he’s not benefiting himself or the company or the stockholders by being there.’“
~~
Self-Driving
Tesla uses optical cameras for its self-driving system. This is not capable of operating in fog and can easily fail under certain conditions. Musks overly zealous push for an under-regulated, over-hyped “autopilot” system has resulted in at least 1 preventable death and shows that human beings’ lives should not be “beta tests” for a half-assed system.
Musk has continuously lied/oversold the capabilities of this system, lulling people into a false sense of security, resulting in crashes.
I want self-driving cars too, but i wouldn’t trust anything short of a lidar-radar-optical image hybrid offered by a company not run by a lunatic.
~~
The gist:
Elon Musk is a carnival barker who says intentionally outrageous and impossible things to manufacture hype. He has cultivated a cult of personality led by Reddit weirdos who take his word as gospel. He’s a liar and a narcissist. His far-fetched claims are constantly reigned in by more capable and intelligent people. He has never created anything in his live besides hype. His greatest achievement is how to most effectively maintain legions of brainwashed followers while overworking+underpaying the laborers who do the actual work and sucking up as much government money as possible.
As the reality distortion field around him has continually crumbled over the past few years, his ego has gotten quite the bruising. But since he’s a narcissist, and habitually online, he won’t simply fade away. No, he has to remain the center of attention. So what does he do? He buys the place where all of his haters congregate because he thinks he can prove they’re all actually bots and that everyone actually loves him. He tied the financial future of 2 different companies together and to himself. And when one goes down, they all go down.
Tesla’s stock has dropped 20% from the week it’s taken to read this book.
I was once a Tesla stan and a Musk bro. I watched “Who Killed the Electric Car” in high school and dreamt about the day of EV’s becoming mainstream. And to his credit, Elon Musk did help spearhead a movement to make EV’s mainstream and “cool”.
Was it at the cost of running a company so poorly and creating such poorly designed products that it actually harmed the image of EV’s? Maybe.
Did the rebranding of an EV as a status symbol hinder the adoption of its more reliable, less flashy competitors, thus being counter-productive toward the goal of mass adoption? Perhaps.
Is Elon Musk a weirdo carnival barker who can’t run a company to save his life? Absolutely.
~~
Government Cheese
The reason why Tesla hasn’t gone bankrupt already is because of government subsidies (and questionable accounting). Tesla would have died in the 2008 crash if it didn’t get Obama money. It would have shuttered shortly after that if California didn’t have its well-meaning, yet seemingly easily manipulatable Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) credit system.
“85% of Tesla’s 2009 gross margin (which only includes the parts and labor to produce cars) came from ZEV credits, and in 2008 its negative gross margin would have been four times worse without the credits.”
“In 2013, California revised its Zero Emissions Vehicle credit system so that long-range ZEVs that were able to charge 80 percent of their range in under fifteen minutes earned almost twice as many credits as those that didn’t. […] By demonstrating battery swap on just one vehicle, Tesla nearly doubled the ZEV credits earned by its entire fleet even if none of them actually used the swap capability. […] If an automaker fails to sell enough ZEVs in a given year to earn a positive credit balance, it must purchase credits from an automaker with excess credits or face a fine. Since the fine for each credit shortfall was $5,000, Tesla could sell these three additional credits to other automakers for as much as $15,000 in marginal profit on each car it made.”
I’m no libertarian, but goddamn.
~~
The Hype Machine
Tesla has proven that companies don’t have to be good at what they do to be successful. A hype machine can become self-sustaining for a limited time. Tesla went the same route later seen used by Andrew Tate: get paid for shilling the BS product. With so many weirdos evangelized by the lie, the stock price skyrockets beyond the realm of the rational.
“Best of all, selling Musk’s vision didn’t require industry experience, technological expertise, or the ability to analyze financial disclosures. The novelty of Tesla’s approach to the car business meant that belief in Musk was more important than any of the lessons learned in a century of automotive history, which only trapped the established automakers and investors in their uninspiring prison of rationalism. As long as you believed in Musk and his high-tech and environmentally friendly future, you too could join the ‘winning team’ and make money by evangelizing his visions.
The introduction of this financial feedback loop was a game changer. Combined with the power of online forums, social media, and the cheap price of entry into the online media business, Tesla evangelism became an enterprise. As the movement grew, more and more opportunities emerged, from publishing Tesla-specific news to selling Tesla accessories and eventually even selling Teslas themselves, all fueled by a shared belief that for many was becoming a core aspect of their identity.”
It’s a cult. Plain and simple.
~~
Culture Clash — Tech Bros can’t make cars
One of the main issues with Tesla are that it’s run as a fledgling tech company, not as a serious automotive manufacturer.
“The worlds of car making and Silicon Valley startups couldn’t be more different. Successful automakers are giant, process-driven bureaucracies that rely on rigidly systematized cultures to manage a continent-spanning ballet of manufacturing operations, supply chains, service infrastructure, and regulatory compliance. Their fundamental challenge is not so much designing the most innovative or desirable cars possible, but rather, designing vehicles that can be built at massive scale and at high levels of quality.” Tesla just wanted to “be disruptive” and “move fast and break things.”
But you can’t do that when trying to mass produce a 2 ton piece of highly regulated equipment. You can do that with an app. You can do that with a computer or phone or other piece of consumer electronics. But it simply does not work with something like a car.
This book is very interesting if you have any interest in the complexities around large-scale product manufacturing. I find that extremely interesting because it’s such a delicate balance of keeping down prices while trying to make something compelling enough for the customer.
Designing the car of the future is the easy part. Manufacturing the prototype is the less easy part. Manufacturing 10,000 is the hard part.
Tesla does not have the discipline to hone in the design to a point where its mass-manufacturing becomes feasible. It does not have the discipline to solve systemic design issues. Thus, it creates shitty, poorly designed and poorly constructed cars. But don’t worry, they’re iterative designs, meaning the car that comes of the line in March is shittier than the car that comes out in May. Because that’s what you want in your 5- or 6-figure product, right?
Regulators can’t even nail down the causes of issues because the company itself doesn’t maintain effective records of when parts are replaced with better (or worse) versions. So there’s no way to really say for certain if the cause of your car killing you was this or that. What does that result in? More preventable deaths!
It doesn’t help that Silicon Valley startup ideology means pressuring/forcing your workers to put in 80-hour workweeks. Surely that won’t result in…MORE errors and defects…right? I want the guy creating my 2-ton 80mph transport machine to have had as little sleep as possible during the design and manufacturing process…right?
~~
It’s a 6-figure toy.
“…Musk knew his high-end clientele and he was ultimately right. The lower the price of a car, the more the owner is likely to rely on it and thus the more important quality is. At the high end of the market, factors like performance, styling, and brand prestige are the main concern, and customers are a lot less demanding of quality and reliability. Luxury and premium car brands like Ferrari and Land Rover are infamously unreliable relative to the rest of the market, but they are bought for performance and status rather than utility.”
This philosophy results in making shitty cars with lots of problems and a premium price tag.
“…quality problems were evident in the cars that were delivered to customers; threads soon began to appear on Tesla forums complaining of poor body panel fit, creaks and rattles, and missing software features. Musk would later admit to Ashlee Vance that Tesla struggled to convert Model S reservations to sales because ‘word of mouth was terrible,’ but at the time Musk said the opposite: ‘It really is spreading quite wildly by word of mouth,’ he told analysts on Tesla’s Q3 2012 call.”
~~
The coverup
Nothing kills a hype machine quite like cold reality.
What do you do to maintain your image as the “revolutionary and super cool company” while simultaneously selling pieces of junk? Why you deny, lie, threaten to sue, and shut people up with non-disclosure agreements! That was the most insane thing this book revealed to me:
To shut customers up from talking about how shitty their Teslas were, the company refused to fix manufacturing defects under warranty unless the customer signed an NDA. The car could literally be killing people but we can’t pop the hype bubble and we can’t do a recall so we gotta shut em up from talking to, Reddit or the government.
A very cool and normal company.
“Having built up so much hype and anticipation around itself, the brand damage caused by a single recall could lead to a loss in confidence in its prospects. Without a solid business to support its heady valuation, a loss of confidence could have catastrophic, cascading consequences that could affect its ability to hire talent, raise fresh capital, and ultimately survive.” Can’t pop the hype bubble!
“This precariousness, along with Tesla’s world-saving mission, is part of what feeds an ‘ends-justify-the-means’ culture inside the company. The powerful twin motivations of survival and salvation make it easy to wave off issues like regulatory compliance and cover up defects with nondisclosure agreements. They also make convenient cudgels with which to attack critics, shifting the focus away from the company’s questionable actions to speculation about the critic’s motivations for wanting to destroy a company that is only trying to save the planet.”
Here’s another fun way they cover up their bullshit…
Regarding their self-driving cars continually crashing into things… “Because Tesla’s data-recording capabilities did not fit the precise definition of an event data recorder (like the black box on an airplane), the company did not have to comply with legislation that gave ownership of the data to the vehicle’s owner and required that they make a third-party data reading tool available. In numerous cases, Tesla used that data to publicly refute customer accusations of Autopilot involvement in a crash without ever offering access to the data itself. If Musk could tout misleading statistics about Autopilot’s safety, could the public trust Tesla’s unverifiable statements about what vehicle data said? Until the company finally released a data-reading tool in 2018, in the wake of a lawsuit in which the owner was able to maintain custody of onboard vehicle data and demand a third-party reading, they had no choice but to trust the company.”
What kind of sleazy bullshit is that? Par for the course at Tesla
~~
Elon Musk is just bad at his job.
“The Model X may have taught Musk hard lessons about modern vehicle design, engineering, and economics, but even at his most reflective and self-critical, he seemed to miss the larger issue. The core problem wasn’t that Musk let his ideas run away with him; it was that Tesla’s internal culture couldn’t empower its cost accountants, manufacturing engineers, and suppliers to stand up to their CEO, chief product architect, largest shareholder, spokesman, and mascot.”
“Just as he had during the troubled Model X production ramp, when Model 3 ‘production hell’ hit, Musk took to spending days on the Fremont plant’s assembly, and sleeping on a couch or air mattress in a nearby conference room. Though his dedication was popular with fans who imagined him personally solving the company’s problems, employees are nearly unanimous that his presence added more stress than it relieved.
‘He says it himself—he’s not a manufacturing guy. He’s an engineer, he’s an innovator,’ explains one former manager. ‘The problem with him and the plant is he’s only really putting the pressure on the management team. He doesn’t really understand where the true bottlenecks are because most of [the managers] who have a true bottleneck are not going to tell him. Therefore, when he’s there it just causes animosity between the rest of the management team, and he’s not benefiting himself or the company or the stockholders by being there.’“
~~
Self-Driving
Tesla uses optical cameras for its self-driving system. This is not capable of operating in fog and can easily fail under certain conditions. Musks overly zealous push for an under-regulated, over-hyped “autopilot” system has resulted in at least 1 preventable death and shows that human beings’ lives should not be “beta tests” for a half-assed system.
Musk has continuously lied/oversold the capabilities of this system, lulling people into a false sense of security, resulting in crashes.
I want self-driving cars too, but i wouldn’t trust anything short of a lidar-radar-optical image hybrid offered by a company not run by a lunatic.
~~
The gist:
Elon Musk is a carnival barker who says intentionally outrageous and impossible things to manufacture hype. He has cultivated a cult of personality led by Reddit weirdos who take his word as gospel. He’s a liar and a narcissist. His far-fetched claims are constantly reigned in by more capable and intelligent people. He has never created anything in his live besides hype. His greatest achievement is how to most effectively maintain legions of brainwashed followers while overworking+underpaying the laborers who do the actual work and sucking up as much government money as possible.
As the reality distortion field around him has continually crumbled over the past few years, his ego has gotten quite the bruising. But since he’s a narcissist, and habitually online, he won’t simply fade away. No, he has to remain the center of attention. So what does he do? He buys the place where all of his haters congregate because he thinks he can prove they’re all actually bots and that everyone actually loves him. He tied the financial future of 2 different companies together and to himself. And when one goes down, they all go down.
July 6, 2022
No complaints, but I got the idea after reading about half the book.
June 29, 2019
This book about Tesla is interesting. Interesting from the learning use of it (I found that is has so.e emotional background). If you focus on the story of the company, it's leaders, how things were invented and innovated and why, you can really learn a lot about how brands are built, products developed and what it takes for an innovative startup to survive. The challenging part is to survive in general. Even if you have funding, it doesn't mean you are sorted. You have to work hard and chase your dream hard. The finding part can make your path more complicated. Very interesting book to have a deep dive in the world of startups and big money.
January 4, 2022
This book is off the mark, the story of Tesla and Elon Musk is evolving at nearly the speed of light. The Model S, is making a profit, Tesla is valued more than all other automakers combined. People are not sop much buying EV’s, they are buying Teslas. Like everyone else people continue to take shots at Elon Musk, the latest is China, wants the US government to scold Space X for placement on mini satellites. Fuck China, I think China wants an excuse to seize Tesla of Shanghai. China would love to steal secrets of Tesla run away success. Now for some numbers.
1 )Mercedes Benz, Audi, and BMW sell vehicles in same price range as Model 3, each manufacture sells less than 100,000 of these models per year. They are now selling even less.
2 ) Car makers that have been producing cars for over a 100 years, are being beaten by a company that has mass producing since 2012. Yes Tesla sold the Tesla Roadster, but that was a Lotus that was a glider and Tesla supplied the EV parts.
3 ) GM, Ford, Chrysler which is owned by Fiat, do not have a viable solution or product to offer the paying public. Worst yet GM with its bolt, has dubious value of burning down garages and homes.
4) Tesla will sell one million cars, Model 3 is the best selling premium car. Europe is leading the way, same nations like Sweden and Norway has EV sales accounting for nearly 90% of all car sales.
5) Biggest change is automation is occurring now, largest death rate of Covid 19 is occurring because of Dr Fraudci. These two things will be a part of history.
6) Porsche first car, was an electric car. Yes EV’s, were more advanced in the era cars were just starting has a force in transportation, folks this is 1898. Horses were most people’s source of transportation. The German army of World War II was still using horse drawn transportation in Hitler’s conquest of Europe.
7) Sandy Monroe a Detroit person that disassembles cars for all big automotive companies to reveal ways to reduce cost and optimize production. Sandy was so critical of Tesla, he claimed they were over built, that certain fasteners should not be used. I took Sandy to task and wrote him an email, because he completely missed what was occurring. I wonder if he would admit to that, but when Sandy is asked who is competition to Tesla. Pause, Tesla has no competitors right now.
8) Elon Musk goal was not to build the best car, it was to build the best EV car. Also he has built the best Tesla charging network in the world, and has offered to share to other manufactures. At a cost of course.
9) No other automaker is doing that, none.
10) I don’t like hero worship, when someone reaches a high status, humans want to see them fall. Musk is a person. Like Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, or any other famous person who is changing how we live. I think he is far more important than some other glorified sport person. Those are games, 0 emissions vehicles is not a game, it maybe vitally important to our future, and our child’s future. Sorry Micheal Jordan, or Oprah are not going to save the world.
11) Space X, the Boring Company are other examples just in case Tesla accomplishments are not enough for you.
12) EV’s 0-60 in less than 2 seconds. Ranges up to 430 miles, but with increase in batteries technology that could soon be 800 miles. Now truly Internal Combustion Engines will appear to be obsolete. ICE served us well, but the world needs something better. China needs it more than any other nation. Pollution related deaths in China amount into the millions.
13) Sandy Monroe predicts that the second Asian wave of automobile sales is occurring soon. China is not making ICE cars, it will skip a generation, to produce EV’s, and if idiots like Biden continue to ignore that fact then America is in big trouble.
14) No it is true Biden is an Idiot. ID 10 T error. Biden invited Ford, UAW to DC to discuss tax credits for EV’s. Tesla has sold more than 200,000 cars, so has GM, but Tesla is being ignored by Biden. Notice Ford increased Labor UNION built cars from $500 to $4500 tax credit. Problem is Ford EV’s Ford Mach 2 is produced in Mexico with labor union workers, but not American workers. That is called a lobby, and that is reason Biden is so ignorant, he is playing politics, and allowing Ford to save money with Mexico labor and $4,500 tax credit. Oh wait and asking tax payers to foot the bill. Maybe we are the idiots.
15) Ford and GM famously, announced plans for EV pick up trucks, and Ford has pre sold over 200,000, but not one is on the road today.
16) Tesla is only company making a profit on EV sales, Porsche has admitted to $8,000 to $10,000 lost per car for the Porsche Taycan, it felt it could not pass on that cost to consumers.
17) Worse yet local governments, disallow sales of Tesla’s, direct sales of automobiles. Pointing to a law that dealerships, can not compete against factory “defeats”. There is no such thing as factory dealers, this is another lobby that is pure political bullshit, Apple store has a similar selling model.
18) Buy the best car for you, most people are driving less. Thanks to Dr Death, Gas prices like all prices are rising, inflation is out of control, Thanks Biden. Yet Biden just purchased 1/2 billion testing kits for Covid, no one can have one for some time, you know maybe after the danger has past. The point is except for 1-2 weeks a year most people don’t even need more than 350 miles per day of range. Tesla, and other EV’s have gone cross country, cross world, and infrastructure is there. The best part no more gas stations, you home is the recharging point, and preheating car, over the air updates, are part of every Tesla, but not part of every EV made. Other manufactures, want the car at the dealership to perform software updates.
19) If you try you will find click bait You Tube videos, complaining about Tesla quality, however there are far more satisfied customers that will never go back to anything but other EV’s. People the future is here, and it far faster, efficient, cost effective, safer, than any other alternative for transportation. Remember Tesla been around since 2012, all other manufactures are over 100 year old operations, how did this happen?
20) LEGACY automakers are a legacy, and this major shift will mean there will be losers, forigein and domestic. One thing that is vital for America is that is leads the way in technology, stupid ass politicians should step out of the way of progress.
That is enough from me, the book was good, and this not the only book AI have read on Elon Musk, but I felt compelled that the fate of the nation balance on what we do in the next few years, it maybe to late for some companies, but it is not to late for America. Tesla is manufactured in Fremont California, China and Germany also have factories owned by Tesla.
Support American built cars, they are some of the best cars in the world.
1 )Mercedes Benz, Audi, and BMW sell vehicles in same price range as Model 3, each manufacture sells less than 100,000 of these models per year. They are now selling even less.
2 ) Car makers that have been producing cars for over a 100 years, are being beaten by a company that has mass producing since 2012. Yes Tesla sold the Tesla Roadster, but that was a Lotus that was a glider and Tesla supplied the EV parts.
3 ) GM, Ford, Chrysler which is owned by Fiat, do not have a viable solution or product to offer the paying public. Worst yet GM with its bolt, has dubious value of burning down garages and homes.
4) Tesla will sell one million cars, Model 3 is the best selling premium car. Europe is leading the way, same nations like Sweden and Norway has EV sales accounting for nearly 90% of all car sales.
5) Biggest change is automation is occurring now, largest death rate of Covid 19 is occurring because of Dr Fraudci. These two things will be a part of history.
6) Porsche first car, was an electric car. Yes EV’s, were more advanced in the era cars were just starting has a force in transportation, folks this is 1898. Horses were most people’s source of transportation. The German army of World War II was still using horse drawn transportation in Hitler’s conquest of Europe.
7) Sandy Monroe a Detroit person that disassembles cars for all big automotive companies to reveal ways to reduce cost and optimize production. Sandy was so critical of Tesla, he claimed they were over built, that certain fasteners should not be used. I took Sandy to task and wrote him an email, because he completely missed what was occurring. I wonder if he would admit to that, but when Sandy is asked who is competition to Tesla. Pause, Tesla has no competitors right now.
8) Elon Musk goal was not to build the best car, it was to build the best EV car. Also he has built the best Tesla charging network in the world, and has offered to share to other manufactures. At a cost of course.
9) No other automaker is doing that, none.
10) I don’t like hero worship, when someone reaches a high status, humans want to see them fall. Musk is a person. Like Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, or any other famous person who is changing how we live. I think he is far more important than some other glorified sport person. Those are games, 0 emissions vehicles is not a game, it maybe vitally important to our future, and our child’s future. Sorry Micheal Jordan, or Oprah are not going to save the world.
11) Space X, the Boring Company are other examples just in case Tesla accomplishments are not enough for you.
12) EV’s 0-60 in less than 2 seconds. Ranges up to 430 miles, but with increase in batteries technology that could soon be 800 miles. Now truly Internal Combustion Engines will appear to be obsolete. ICE served us well, but the world needs something better. China needs it more than any other nation. Pollution related deaths in China amount into the millions.
13) Sandy Monroe predicts that the second Asian wave of automobile sales is occurring soon. China is not making ICE cars, it will skip a generation, to produce EV’s, and if idiots like Biden continue to ignore that fact then America is in big trouble.
14) No it is true Biden is an Idiot. ID 10 T error. Biden invited Ford, UAW to DC to discuss tax credits for EV’s. Tesla has sold more than 200,000 cars, so has GM, but Tesla is being ignored by Biden. Notice Ford increased Labor UNION built cars from $500 to $4500 tax credit. Problem is Ford EV’s Ford Mach 2 is produced in Mexico with labor union workers, but not American workers. That is called a lobby, and that is reason Biden is so ignorant, he is playing politics, and allowing Ford to save money with Mexico labor and $4,500 tax credit. Oh wait and asking tax payers to foot the bill. Maybe we are the idiots.
15) Ford and GM famously, announced plans for EV pick up trucks, and Ford has pre sold over 200,000, but not one is on the road today.
16) Tesla is only company making a profit on EV sales, Porsche has admitted to $8,000 to $10,000 lost per car for the Porsche Taycan, it felt it could not pass on that cost to consumers.
17) Worse yet local governments, disallow sales of Tesla’s, direct sales of automobiles. Pointing to a law that dealerships, can not compete against factory “defeats”. There is no such thing as factory dealers, this is another lobby that is pure political bullshit, Apple store has a similar selling model.
18) Buy the best car for you, most people are driving less. Thanks to Dr Death, Gas prices like all prices are rising, inflation is out of control, Thanks Biden. Yet Biden just purchased 1/2 billion testing kits for Covid, no one can have one for some time, you know maybe after the danger has past. The point is except for 1-2 weeks a year most people don’t even need more than 350 miles per day of range. Tesla, and other EV’s have gone cross country, cross world, and infrastructure is there. The best part no more gas stations, you home is the recharging point, and preheating car, over the air updates, are part of every Tesla, but not part of every EV made. Other manufactures, want the car at the dealership to perform software updates.
19) If you try you will find click bait You Tube videos, complaining about Tesla quality, however there are far more satisfied customers that will never go back to anything but other EV’s. People the future is here, and it far faster, efficient, cost effective, safer, than any other alternative for transportation. Remember Tesla been around since 2012, all other manufactures are over 100 year old operations, how did this happen?
20) LEGACY automakers are a legacy, and this major shift will mean there will be losers, forigein and domestic. One thing that is vital for America is that is leads the way in technology, stupid ass politicians should step out of the way of progress.
That is enough from me, the book was good, and this not the only book AI have read on Elon Musk, but I felt compelled that the fate of the nation balance on what we do in the next few years, it maybe to late for some companies, but it is not to late for America. Tesla is manufactured in Fremont California, China and Germany also have factories owned by Tesla.
Support American built cars, they are some of the best cars in the world.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 21, 2020
When I say this book is a critical look at Tesla (and by extension Elon Musk) I am using the work 'critic' in the same sense one would use it in the term 'film critic' — someone who looks at what is presented and offers a review.
The writer covered Tesla as a journalist for several years before he wrote this book so he was no tabula rasa, but I think it's a pretty fair look at a company that has done one fundamentally interesting thing (build an an advanced electric vehicle powertrain that still seems to be first-in-class even as competitors emerge) that is constantly overshadowed by the continuing series of financial and promotional circus acts Mr. Musk carries on that are tangental to the one interesting and significant thing.
Anyway, the book was a bit of a slog at times because it became — probably unavoidably — a trapped in repetitive narrative fog Musk creates around the company and its cars, in which he overpromises something amazing — self-presenting door handles, gullwing doors, touch screen displays that last beyond the warranty — fails to deliver it, then distracts everyone with the next amazing thing (most recently 'self-driving).
I put it down for several extended periods, more of a reflection of getting tired of the subject than any comment on the writer and his work.
The writer covered Tesla as a journalist for several years before he wrote this book so he was no tabula rasa, but I think it's a pretty fair look at a company that has done one fundamentally interesting thing (build an an advanced electric vehicle powertrain that still seems to be first-in-class even as competitors emerge) that is constantly overshadowed by the continuing series of financial and promotional circus acts Mr. Musk carries on that are tangental to the one interesting and significant thing.
Anyway, the book was a bit of a slog at times because it became — probably unavoidably — a trapped in repetitive narrative fog Musk creates around the company and its cars, in which he overpromises something amazing — self-presenting door handles, gullwing doors, touch screen displays that last beyond the warranty — fails to deliver it, then distracts everyone with the next amazing thing (most recently 'self-driving).
I put it down for several extended periods, more of a reflection of getting tired of the subject than any comment on the writer and his work.
November 14, 2019
I've read another (two?) book plus many articles on Tesla and Musk. I found this very well done, especially how Niedermeyer used the financing to illustrate the viability of Tesla. Musk is a serious river-boat gambler (I don't even really know what that signifies) - he is willing (maybe "eager") to bet everything on his particular vision. And some of his visions were/are nuts!
I don't want to mislead - I stand in awe of Musk. I wish he'd spread the credit more, but maybe his egotism is necessary for him to get where he is.
The sources for my previous reading tended to be people who had drunk the Kool-Aid. Niedermeyer seemed to be reasonably neutral. Well done, Edward.
I don't want to mislead - I stand in awe of Musk. I wish he'd spread the credit more, but maybe his egotism is necessary for him to get where he is.
The sources for my previous reading tended to be people who had drunk the Kool-Aid. Niedermeyer seemed to be reasonably neutral. Well done, Edward.
October 16, 2019
Disclaimer- I enjoy cars and technology in general, and appreciate Elon Musk's genius.
However, this did not stop me from reading and appreciating this book's perspective and quasi 'expose' of Tesla Motors.
Niedermeyer paints a picture of what is, essentially, a company that could have been great but has become a dissapointment.
While avid Tesla fans are going to ignore and bash this book, it's worth a read to see and understand how Silicon Valley genius can be warped and distorted if mismanaged.
However, this did not stop me from reading and appreciating this book's perspective and quasi 'expose' of Tesla Motors.
Niedermeyer paints a picture of what is, essentially, a company that could have been great but has become a dissapointment.
While avid Tesla fans are going to ignore and bash this book, it's worth a read to see and understand how Silicon Valley genius can be warped and distorted if mismanaged.
September 25, 2019
Much better than the typical ‘chronicle of a chaotic / controversial start-up’ book, mostly because this author has a ton of experience writing about the auto industry, and combines a fun company history with a lot of insightful points about how the auto industry works, management style differences between Tesla and legacy companies, and speculation on business outcomes.
Also doesn’t hurt that I work at Tesla, was interesting to get a non-biased outsider perspective.
Also doesn’t hurt that I work at Tesla, was interesting to get a non-biased outsider perspective.
February 9, 2020
A very interesting read into the development of Tesla, and particularly the battle between Engineering and Marketing. By necessity, a lot of it is focussed on Elon Musk, and the portrayal of him is unflattering. Diehard Tesla fanbois will not like this one but is well worth the read/listen for the rest of us.
August 30, 2019
Great look at the uglier truth beneath the shiny veneer of Tesla Motors. Building cars is tough and the author does a great job detailing why and how Tesla's departures from industry norms are constantly hurting it.
January 14, 2020
A fascinating read. Recommend this whether you’re a Tesla bull or bear.
April 11, 2020
Lives up to its title. Not for Tesla cult members.
January 3, 2023
As an Austinite, I am subjected to a continuous daily barrage of Elon Musk news, and ordinarily that would make me want to pay attention to literally anything else, but as the saying goes, “you may not be interested in Elon Musk, but he is interested in you”. I finished this book in late 2022, just as Musk's bid to buy Twitter was entering an especially interminable phase of legal shenanigans, and his baffling actions during the Twitter acquisition perfectly complement the journalism here. After reading this history of Tesla, which is essentially an EV emissions credit-selling company that has a side business of selling cars at a loss, I am now not surprised one bit at any of the baffling maneuvers he’s undertaken to avoid what is pretty clearly a case of buyer’s remorse over an ill-advised impulse; it is fascinating how consistently he has behaved over the past decade and change.
Niedermeyer’s book was published in 2019, but while 3 years is practically decades in terms of grandiose Musk overpromises, his basic pattern has remained the same from Tesla to Twitter:
Make a ridiculous promise with an impossible deadline
Hold a showy demo with a barely functional duct-taped demonstration model
Bask in the rapturous press attention and take as many pre-sales as possible
Book that revenue and use it to solicit desperately needed funding from banks to actually make the product
Years later, begin shipping small quantities of the half-functional product, but no one cares because you’ve already moved on to the next thing
There is more than a small element of deception and chicanery involved in this hype cycle, but that’s often how things work in the tech sector, where charismatic founders are still far more influential than they are in more established and mature industries like cars. Speaking of which, one of the main points Niedermeyer makes repeatedly is that the “move fast and break things” startup mentality that is common in Musk’s Silicon Valley habitat is in many ways fundamentally opposed to the best practices of the auto industry, where enormous amounts of time, effort, and care are invested in creating the most stable and predictable production processes so that carmakers can produce tens or hundreds of thousands of the same model without worrying that they’ll spend a fortune in recalls, lawsuits, and repairs the way that Tesla has.
While not a grand business history book in the way that, say, James Stewart’s Disneywar is, this is a great piece of business journalism (Niedermeyer writes for car blogs and you can tell by his keen attention to specific claims and sourcing) that should be required reading for anyone tempted to proclaim what game-changing genius Musk is.
Niedermeyer’s book was published in 2019, but while 3 years is practically decades in terms of grandiose Musk overpromises, his basic pattern has remained the same from Tesla to Twitter:
Make a ridiculous promise with an impossible deadline
Hold a showy demo with a barely functional duct-taped demonstration model
Bask in the rapturous press attention and take as many pre-sales as possible
Book that revenue and use it to solicit desperately needed funding from banks to actually make the product
Years later, begin shipping small quantities of the half-functional product, but no one cares because you’ve already moved on to the next thing
There is more than a small element of deception and chicanery involved in this hype cycle, but that’s often how things work in the tech sector, where charismatic founders are still far more influential than they are in more established and mature industries like cars. Speaking of which, one of the main points Niedermeyer makes repeatedly is that the “move fast and break things” startup mentality that is common in Musk’s Silicon Valley habitat is in many ways fundamentally opposed to the best practices of the auto industry, where enormous amounts of time, effort, and care are invested in creating the most stable and predictable production processes so that carmakers can produce tens or hundreds of thousands of the same model without worrying that they’ll spend a fortune in recalls, lawsuits, and repairs the way that Tesla has.
While not a grand business history book in the way that, say, James Stewart’s Disneywar is, this is a great piece of business journalism (Niedermeyer writes for car blogs and you can tell by his keen attention to specific claims and sourcing) that should be required reading for anyone tempted to proclaim what game-changing genius Musk is.
April 23, 2021
There are two main things to know about this book before you read it:
1. The author is a known “Tesla hater” and he does not deny this in the book.
2. The book was published in 2019, based on research from 2016-2018. It is badly outdated.
Niedermeyer is incredibly negative towards his subject. Take all the criticisms and myths about range anxiety, build quality, poor paint, slow charging, missed deadlines, and the like, roll them together, and the result is this book. Even the rare grudging positive is slewed: “Musk’s successes are due to good luck and hustle” (hustle here clearly used in the sense of fraud or swindle).
Still, flaws are carefully documented. Musk’s peccadillos, the company’s tendency to over-promise and under-deliver, the legal issues, the dodgy finances, the mistreatment of staff, the toxic corporate culture, the manufacturing problems and defects, the safety violations, the misnomer of “Full Self Driving”– all of these are recounted. Fans, haters and cynics alike can enjoy 200 fascinating pages of Musk/Tesla foibles, misfires, and mistakes.
As to the second point, Tesla has not stood still since Ludicrous was published, and the reader is advised to consider the denouement. Tesla has had six consecutive profitable quarters and production has grown to over 500,000 vehicles a year (2020) and rising. As I write, Tesla vehicles lead EV sales worldwide (including Sweden, Norway, China, and the US) despite many wannabe "Tesla killers". The Shanghai factory and Nevada battery plant were built after the book came out; the Fremont factory has been expanded; factories in Austin and Berlin are nearing completion with giant die presses expected to streamline production. Unlike VW which dumped thousands of ID4s to dealerships and counted them “sold”, Tesla continues to sell every vehicle it makes. The build quality has improved, with issues like uneven panel gaps and paint mismatches nearly eliminated. In fact, Motor Trend rated the Model 3 the best compact luxury sedan for 2021.
Disclaimer: I own a few Tesla shares that are now worth many times what I paid. I'm a fan.
1. The author is a known “Tesla hater” and he does not deny this in the book.
2. The book was published in 2019, based on research from 2016-2018. It is badly outdated.
Niedermeyer is incredibly negative towards his subject. Take all the criticisms and myths about range anxiety, build quality, poor paint, slow charging, missed deadlines, and the like, roll them together, and the result is this book. Even the rare grudging positive is slewed: “Musk’s successes are due to good luck and hustle” (hustle here clearly used in the sense of fraud or swindle).
Still, flaws are carefully documented. Musk’s peccadillos, the company’s tendency to over-promise and under-deliver, the legal issues, the dodgy finances, the mistreatment of staff, the toxic corporate culture, the manufacturing problems and defects, the safety violations, the misnomer of “Full Self Driving”– all of these are recounted. Fans, haters and cynics alike can enjoy 200 fascinating pages of Musk/Tesla foibles, misfires, and mistakes.
As to the second point, Tesla has not stood still since Ludicrous was published, and the reader is advised to consider the denouement. Tesla has had six consecutive profitable quarters and production has grown to over 500,000 vehicles a year (2020) and rising. As I write, Tesla vehicles lead EV sales worldwide (including Sweden, Norway, China, and the US) despite many wannabe "Tesla killers". The Shanghai factory and Nevada battery plant were built after the book came out; the Fremont factory has been expanded; factories in Austin and Berlin are nearing completion with giant die presses expected to streamline production. Unlike VW which dumped thousands of ID4s to dealerships and counted them “sold”, Tesla continues to sell every vehicle it makes. The build quality has improved, with issues like uneven panel gaps and paint mismatches nearly eliminated. In fact, Motor Trend rated the Model 3 the best compact luxury sedan for 2021.
Disclaimer: I own a few Tesla shares that are now worth many times what I paid. I'm a fan.
February 22, 2024
I've read a number of books about Elon (Ashlee Vance's biography and "Liftoff" most memorably), but this is the only one I've read that takes an openly critical view of his actions as head of Tesla. As a committed Elon skeptic, I thought it would be interesting to read a book with this viewpoint and I was not disappointed.
Lest you think this is a pure hatchet job, Niedermeyer is actually very fair in giving Musk credit where credit is due, but he takes a close look at Elon's conduct and actions and the greater societal phenomenon of the Elon fanbase. He does give Elon credit for leading the way in marketing electric cars and changing society's perceptions of EVs, but he holds him accountable for all the broken promises along the way (solar powered Superchargers, battery swapping, affordable pricepoints for the Model S and Model 3, the perpetually "available soon" Full-Self-Driving features), and for the massive blunders he made with feature creep on the Model X and the horribly executed Model 3 production ramp. He reveals how ineffective have been Elon's attempts to revolutionize automotive manufacturing using the agile software tenets popularized in Silicon Valley. He calls out how unproductive and even counterproductive Elon's habits of being "insanely hardcore" and sleeping next to the factory line are, and how this is emblematic of failed leadership and not "leading from the trenches" as Elon and his boosters always frame it.
My biggest takeaway from this book was a better understanding of the Elon phenomenon, and a framework for interpreting Elon's future promises that have taken place subsequent to the publication of this book. Looking at the much-delayed and problem-riddled Cybertruck launch and the promises of an entry level Model 2 in the context of this book reveals how much Elon is just playing from the same playbook again and again, and will likely ultimately be overtaken by the much more capable (if slower to innovate) traditional carmakers.
Lest you think this is a pure hatchet job, Niedermeyer is actually very fair in giving Musk credit where credit is due, but he takes a close look at Elon's conduct and actions and the greater societal phenomenon of the Elon fanbase. He does give Elon credit for leading the way in marketing electric cars and changing society's perceptions of EVs, but he holds him accountable for all the broken promises along the way (solar powered Superchargers, battery swapping, affordable pricepoints for the Model S and Model 3, the perpetually "available soon" Full-Self-Driving features), and for the massive blunders he made with feature creep on the Model X and the horribly executed Model 3 production ramp. He reveals how ineffective have been Elon's attempts to revolutionize automotive manufacturing using the agile software tenets popularized in Silicon Valley. He calls out how unproductive and even counterproductive Elon's habits of being "insanely hardcore" and sleeping next to the factory line are, and how this is emblematic of failed leadership and not "leading from the trenches" as Elon and his boosters always frame it.
My biggest takeaway from this book was a better understanding of the Elon phenomenon, and a framework for interpreting Elon's future promises that have taken place subsequent to the publication of this book. Looking at the much-delayed and problem-riddled Cybertruck launch and the promises of an entry level Model 2 in the context of this book reveals how much Elon is just playing from the same playbook again and again, and will likely ultimately be overtaken by the much more capable (if slower to innovate) traditional carmakers.
January 7, 2025
A fascinating story about the ludicrous rise of Tesla Motors despite myriads of problems and challenges. Most of its problems stemmed from the fact that Elon ran Tesla like a startup company, when a car couldn't be more different from a software. Yet his successes was also because he ran Tesla like a startup company.
Tesla would present a cobbled together prototype, hyping it in the media and using it to solicit money from Venture Capitals, deposits from customers, and loan from government. But even with all that cash (and Elon's own money), Tesla was barely making do and would continue to be in financial troubles time and again. Again, as the author tirelessly repeated, the troubles was mostly Elon's own making. He would insist on fancy designs and unique features that other car manufacturers did not have, not because they couldn't, but because they knew it would cost too much, something that Elon seemed to refuse to learn.
The startup mentality also meant that Tesla often delivered products that was bare minimum only, reasoning that there would be further upgrades down the road. That often translated to poor quality products, deluging their also poor customer services, further exacerbating the poor customer experiences. At some point, to avoid negative publicity, Tesla would even went as far as forcing customers to sign Non Disclosure Agreements (they're calling it Goodwill Agreements), if they want to get things fixed.
Personally, after reading this book, I'd stay away from anything made by Tesla (or by his other companies for that matter).
Tesla would present a cobbled together prototype, hyping it in the media and using it to solicit money from Venture Capitals, deposits from customers, and loan from government. But even with all that cash (and Elon's own money), Tesla was barely making do and would continue to be in financial troubles time and again. Again, as the author tirelessly repeated, the troubles was mostly Elon's own making. He would insist on fancy designs and unique features that other car manufacturers did not have, not because they couldn't, but because they knew it would cost too much, something that Elon seemed to refuse to learn.
The startup mentality also meant that Tesla often delivered products that was bare minimum only, reasoning that there would be further upgrades down the road. That often translated to poor quality products, deluging their also poor customer services, further exacerbating the poor customer experiences. At some point, to avoid negative publicity, Tesla would even went as far as forcing customers to sign Non Disclosure Agreements (they're calling it Goodwill Agreements), if they want to get things fixed.
Personally, after reading this book, I'd stay away from anything made by Tesla (or by his other companies for that matter).
January 5, 2023
Elon Musk, obviously has something. Being the charismatic CEO of any of his companies would have earned him fame.
I hadn't followed the Tesla story apart from the headlines. I am much more up on SpaceX which I have avidly followed from the start.
Tesla seems to be more chaotic than SpaceX. Both piggyback on the government's purse. Tesla in fulfilling green initiatives and SpaceX in supplying the government with a launch vehicle to space. In both, the breakneck continuous innovation in software and hardware play a big part of their success.
This book was written before Twitter though Twitter does play a part in the story as it was thought that his constant PR via Twitter was the source of a lot of trouble and controversy relating to Tesla.
You can't doubt that a lot of the success of Tesla is down to Musk. But a lot of Tesla's success is powered by the Musk's hype machine and his army of fans, many who have put their money where their mouth is to pre fund the development of their cars. He reminds me very much of Steve Jobs who was also able to inspire fanatical support, was the master of product announcement and seamless U-Turns and spinning unfinished software into some kind of advantage with his "reality distortion field".
You probably won't be a Tesla fan after reading it.
I hadn't followed the Tesla story apart from the headlines. I am much more up on SpaceX which I have avidly followed from the start.
Tesla seems to be more chaotic than SpaceX. Both piggyback on the government's purse. Tesla in fulfilling green initiatives and SpaceX in supplying the government with a launch vehicle to space. In both, the breakneck continuous innovation in software and hardware play a big part of their success.
This book was written before Twitter though Twitter does play a part in the story as it was thought that his constant PR via Twitter was the source of a lot of trouble and controversy relating to Tesla.
You can't doubt that a lot of the success of Tesla is down to Musk. But a lot of Tesla's success is powered by the Musk's hype machine and his army of fans, many who have put their money where their mouth is to pre fund the development of their cars. He reminds me very much of Steve Jobs who was also able to inspire fanatical support, was the master of product announcement and seamless U-Turns and spinning unfinished software into some kind of advantage with his "reality distortion field".
You probably won't be a Tesla fan after reading it.
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