My Age of Investment

  Chapter 278 Cost Control

   "Darren, now that the technical problem of the battery has been solved, it is time to put other details of the vehicle on the agenda."

  Standing in Tesla’s factory building, Eberhard preached to Xia Jingxing standing beside him.

  Xia Jingxing was watching employees use various tools to modify cars. He was watching with gusto. Hearing Eberhard’s speech, he immediately retracted his gaze, looked at the latter, and asked, "What details?"

"Come with me!"

  Eberhard called Xia Jingxing, and another partner, Tarpenning, came together in front of a brand new Lotus.

  After Tesla completed the B round of financing, it purchased a total of ten Lotus.

  Except for one that caught fire and was destroyed by fire, the other eight vehicles were all disassembled by the staff, and they were familiar with the body structure.

  Only this one is still intact, but it is estimated that it will not be long before it will be disassembled into a pile of parts.

  Xia Jingxing looked at the low-body, handsome Lotus, thought for a while, and asked: "You mean the exterior needs to be redesigned to distinguish Tesla from Lotus?"

  Eberhard smiled and nodded, "The appearance of the car must be redesigned.

  Otherwise, Tesla does not have its own appearance and shape at all. Others will only regard us as Lotus, electric Lotus.

   Then, all of what we have done is not all advertising for Lotus? "

  Xia Jingxing nodded slightly, "Yes, our exterior design must be a little cooler, to show the difference between us and other fuel vehicles.

  The more recognizable, the better, which is conducive to brand communication.

  If we can make the car on the road, others can immediately recognize that it is a Tesla, that is an electric car, we will succeed. "

  Eberhard smiled, "If passers-by can recognize Tesla casually, then I don’t know how famous Tesla will be by then?"

  Xia Jingxing smiled and said, "Maybe it will be three to five years, maybe ten years, or even longer.

  It all depends on our efforts. The harder we work, the sooner this moment will come. "

   "It should be fast."

  Tapening scratched his sparsely-haired forehead and smiled: “It has taken decades, even hundreds of years, for fuel vehicles to become a world-famous brand.

  At that time, there was no Internet or media in the world, and information was underdeveloped and spread very slowly.

  Tesla itself is a technology company, and its ongoing electric vehicle business is also very stunting.

  If we can achieve certain results, the spread of the brand may exceed everyone's imagination. "

  Tapenning appears very confident, and extremely optimistic about Tesla's future.

  Xia Jingxing noticed the other person’s scratching his head, saw the lonely hair on the other person’s head, smiled and said, "But before that, maybe your hair has to make a little sacrifice."

  Tapening knew it was a joke, and was not angry, touched his head again, shrugged and said: "If you want to succeed, someone has to sacrifice, not you, or me.

  What counts as a few hairs?

  I heard that Musk used to be balder than me. After selling PayPal, he became rich and immediately performed the best hair transplant. Now he looks handsome, doesn’t he? Many girls find him on dates.

  If Tesla succeeds, I will also go for an operation and ask for the kind that looks more hair than Musk. "

   "This is such a great idea!"

  Xia Jingxing said in a serious manner.

  "Stop discussing your hair here, you two, come over and take a look at the car."

  Eberhard squatted on the ground, wondering when he had an extra ruler in his hand, and he was concentrating on measuring the height of the car door.

   "Look, the door is too low, only one foot high, it is very inconvenient to get in and out, you need to adjust it."

  Eberhadra opened the door, got in and out, showing the two of them several times.

  Xia Jingxing nodded, "You are a professional, if you think it is inappropriate, then change it."

  Eberhard smiled and asked Tarpening to help, and the two measured the length of the body together.

  "This bodywork also needs to be lengthened for the battery pack and storage box."

  Eberhard made another suggestion, and Xia Jingxing nodded in agreement.

  Eberhard patted the car body and continued to ask: "Tzero uses glass fiber, Darren, do you think Tesla also uses this material, or is it better to use carbon fiber?"

   "Naturally it is carbon fiber."

  Xia Jingxing smiled and said, “I don’t know much about materials, but I also know that carbon fiber is lighter with the same volume and has greater tensile strength.”

Tarpening nodded, "Yes, generally speaking, vehicle weight is reduced by 10%, fuel consumption is reduced by 6% to 8%, emissions are reduced by 5 to 6%, 100% acceleration is increased by 8-10%, and braking distance is shortened by 2 to 7 meters.

  In addition, the lightweight body can lower the center of gravity of the vehicle, which improves the steering stability of the vehicle.

  Carbon fiber composite material also has higher vibration damping. When used in automobiles, it contributes a lot to the improvement of vehicle noise, vibration and harshness, and can greatly enhance the comfort of car driving.

  This kind of material also has many advantages, such as high fatigue strength, and easier platformization, modularization, and integration of car body development. "

  Tapennington paused, and said with a smile, "Of course, there are also shortcomings, that is expensive!"

  Xia Jingxing shook his head, “It doesn’t matter how expensive it is. Tesla’s first car must be famous and give people a sense of value for money.

  Even the carbon fiber body is useless, it is too uncompelling and not attractive enough. "

  "If this is the case, the manufacturing cost of the car may be very high, even if it is sold at a cost price, the price may be more than one hundred thousand US dollars."

  Eberhard has been in contact with this industry for a long time, and after a little calculation in his mind, he reported a number to Xia Jingxing.

  "One hundred thousand US dollars, which is not high. Our first car is not for ordinary people, but for the rich.

  What do these target groups want?

  Beautiful body shape? First-class acceleration performance? Is the driving experience different from that of a fuel car? Contribute to the cause of environmental protection, and get a good impression in front of the public?

  These, they will all consider.

  But the only thing that will not be considered is money. "

  Eberhard and Tarpening looked at each other, and they both thought it made sense.

   "But what if sales are very bleak because the price is too high?"

Eberhard asked again, he was still a little worried about this problem, and said, "After all, there are always a few people who are curious. In the long run, we need the same price as the price, performance, driving experience and other factors. Of sports cars for comparison.

  I believe that most people will also incorporate these factors into their decision-making options before buying a car.

  If you just want to sell dozens or hundreds of cars, you don’t have this concern.

  And we are different, we should consider a little longer. "

  Xia Jingxing nodded, "You are right to consider this aspect, so we need to do everything possible to save costs.

  For example, your control of labor costs is very good. You have recruited a lot of college students who have just graduated and let them work and study at the same time. "

   Eberhard laughed, "We think this is a new industry, except for some necessary positions that require some experienced people.

  Recruiting a new job in other positions with an annual salary of only US$40,000 to 50,000 is even better than recruiting engineers who have worked for several years and need an annual salary of more than US$100,000.

  Because the old people in the workplace have more complicated thinking and consider more problems, and their so-called mature experience cannot help Tesla at all.

  The newcomers who have just stepped out of school are different, with simpler thinking, and feel that Tesla is doing a great career.

  They are willing to take low wages for this cause, endure the crude working environment, and continue to learn at work.

  These young people don't think it's a chore, but they feel extremely grateful for joining Tesla. "

  Looking at Eberhard with a bright smile, Xia Jingxing knew that this was also a master of cake painting.

  But being able to rely on this ability to save costs for the company is also a major advantage.

  "Human cost, let's not talk about it for the time being. Employees are willing to follow the company so desperately. If the company succeeds in the future, we will not treat them badly."

  Xia Jingxing looked at the two and said something like this.

  (End of this chapter)