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Elon Musk reveals a lifelong lesson for electric car startups

Recently, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has a piece of advice for electric car startups trying to replicate his company’s success: “It’s extremely difficult.” In an interview at the Financial Times’ Future of the Car conference on May 11, Musk said he sees many fledgling electric vehicle companies taking the wrong approach. And if they see the success of Tesla as a sign that electric cars are a surefire way to get rich, then they should think again.

Musk said: “Tesla is close to bankruptcy which makes me lose my mind many times. Starting an electric car company is a big pain. It is not an easy thing to make money. It is the furthest thing from the past. easy money you can imagine”.

Elon Musk reveals what other electric car startups are doing wrong.  Photo: @AFP.

Elon Musk reveals what other electric car startups are doing wrong. Photo: @AFP.

According to Musk, the scaling of electric vehicle startups today is accepting change too much too soon. EV companies are making a big splash early on, he said, calling their strategy “roundabout.”

“Starting an auto company is a big deal. It’s not just about cash,” he said. “What I see with some of these new car companies is they’re jumping to the bottom and trying to make a car that’s super big in every way when they’ve never built a car before,” Musk said. “It’s like if you don’t practice any sport and you run into the Olympics. You won’t be able to win. This is crazy.”

Musk said that startups should start small and need to learn to make mistakes early, before progressing to producing supersized cars in terms of size and technology to find a highly competitive foothold. than.

“You really need to start small, make mistakes on a small scale, make sure you have plenty of capital to spare, and then gradually build up from the stupid things that you do initially and less stupidly. stupider over time,” said the Tesla CEO. It is “extremely difficult” to go up against established automakers that have the advantage of expertise, dealer networks and existing customers, he added.

Rivian and Lucid Motors, two of the most promising electric vehicle startups, started shipping their first cars late last year. For Rivian, it’s the ultimate electric pickup. For Lucid, it’s a $170,000 luxury sedan called the Air. Both startups have struggled to scale up production more than expected, forcing them to raise prices and cut production targets.

When asked which electric car start-up impressed him the most, Musk said Volkswagen is making the most progress in electric vehicles outside of Tesla.  Photo: @AFP.

When asked which electric car start-up impressed him the most, Musk said Volkswagen is making the most progress in electric vehicles outside of Tesla. Photo: @AFP.

In the race to deliver electric vehicles, Lucid had to buy parts from Amazon and send the company’s workers to help assemble the vehicles, Insider previously reported. And a host of emerging companies promise to unleash electric pickups, SUVs, sedans and commercial vehicles in the near future.

When asked which electric car start-up impressed him the most, Musk said Volkswagen is making the most progress in electric vehicles outside of Tesla. He said on May 11 that the new electric car player that has impressed Musk the most, is not a startup but one of the biggest automakers on the planet: Volkswagen.

“I think the company that’s made the most progress outside of Tesla is actually Volkswagen, which is not a startup but can be seen as a startup from a development point of view of encroachment into electric vehicles. Because So, VW is doing the most on the electric vehicle front.”

Of course, every legacy automaker that also makes electric vehicles can be considered a startup from an EV standpoint, but it’s important that Musk nominates Volkswagen and not another company. It may or may not have something to do with his friendly relationship with VW Group CEO Herbert Diess.

The two CEOs acknowledged each other’s achievements in the field of electric vehicles, exchanging test drives of Tesla and VW EVs, and Diess even invited Musk to speak to 200 Volkswagen executives via a video call in October. 2021. Musk’s comment about VW being second in the field of electric vehicles after Tesla can be seen as one of the compliments Musk has given Diess in recent months.

VW aside, the Tesla CEO sees strong competition from Chinese electric vehicle makers going forward. “I think there will be some very strong companies from China. Where there are a lot of super talented, hard-working people in China who strongly believe in the manufacturing sector.” Again, Musk isn’t nominating any Chinese electric vehicle startups, but having Tesla run a manufacturing plant in Shanghai has given him a unique insight into the work ethic there and the speed at which it works. The growth rate of everything in the Chinese electric vehicle market.

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