Li Mu's sudden "you idiot" made Elon Musk dumbfounded.
He did not expect Li Mu to respond and attack him so fiercely. Every word that came out of Li Mu's mouth was like a cannonball bombarding his confidence. He thought that his self-confidence was strong enough, but it was not until Li Mu's cannonball bombarded him that he realized how fragile his self-confidence was.
Li Mu did not immediately explain to Elon Musk why he scolded him. Instead, he fell into deep thought.
Through Elon Musk's overall plan for automobile manufacturing, Li Mu understood that great people were not great in everything. The more great a person was in certain areas, the more likely they were to make extremely stupid mistakes in certain areas.
Ford knew a hundred years ago that automobile manufacturing needed a versatile assembly line. The assembly line was not the key. The real key was versatility. Elon Musk did not know that.
Take Zippo as an example. If Zippo built a production line for each model of lighter, it would also be an assembly line. However, was this considered advanced?
Because of the extremely poor versatility of this assembly line, as long as a product could not sell in the market, the supporting production line would be scrapped. If Zippo used this assembly line, it would not take long for it to go bankrupt.
The reason was that product replacement was fast, but technology replacement was slow!
There were so many models of Zippo lighters. Some were popular for half a year and then could not sell. However, the design structure, manufacturing process, and technology of Zippo lighters would not change significantly for decades. It would only develop slowly and steadily. Therefore, in this case, a versatile production line became the key.
For the same production line, when a certain style was popular in the market, it would be produced at full capacity. When another style was popular in the market, it would immediately be produced at full capacity. The products would be rapidly iterated, but it would not affect the platform. This was the key to development.
However, Elon Musk could think of building alternative energy vehicles, but he did not think of developing a versatile production platform for his own alternative energy vehicle plan.
Moreover, Elon Musk didn't even consider the importance of product iterations. Only one model at each stage? This idea was too simple in the field of automobile manufacturing and did not conform to the basic logic of modern industry.
Li Mu thought about it carefully. From 2008 to 2012, Tesla only had one Roadster for four years.
In the three years from '12 to' 15, there was only one Model-S.
Two cars in seven years was a bit funny. Elon Musk must have realized his naivety at that time, so he accelerated the introduction of new models. In 2015, the Model X was introduced, and in 2016, the Model 3 was introduced. Tesla had developed for more than a decade, and it only produced these four models.
The most embarrassing thing was that although the Model-3 received a large order, due to a serious lack of production capacity, they were unable to increase the speed of delivery. At that time, Tesla desperately increased production capacity and tried to realize the platform, but it was too late.
It seemed that Elon Musk's biggest problem was not that he did not build his own car manufacturing foundation from the beginning, but that he did not sort out his own thinking pattern.
Half a day later, Li Mu picked up his Zippo, lit a cigarette, and took a few puffs. As he played with the Zippo in his hand, he said to Elon Musk, "Elon, your biggest problem is that you're overconfident, which leads to stupidity."
After that, Li Mu said, "No businessman can use one product to become invincible in the world. Not even God can do it. Otherwise, everyone in the world would have a copy of the Bible."
Elon Musk wanted to explain himself, so he said, "Li Zong, I think we shouldn't have set our sights so high at the beginning. We didn't create Tesla to let everyone in the world buy a Tesla, and we can't do that. So I think we should build an electric sports car with excellent performance, and let the world realize the unlimited potential of electric cars. This is something we are very confident of doing. After all, the team we bought has already used batteries and motors to make a car go from 0-60 miles per hour in four seconds."
Li Mu shook his head slightly and said, "Even God knows he can't make everyone in the world become his believers, but he still sent his missionaries to every corner of the world. Elon, do you know what this means?"
Elon Musk looked at Li Mu with a blank expression. Since he was completely denied by Li Mu, he was in a bit of a trance, and his mind was in a mess.
Seeing that he did not respond, Li Mu continued, "The meaning behind this is that even though you can't make everyone your customer, you still have to work hard in this direction. Whether or not you can conquer the world, you must first have the heart to conquer the world. Otherwise, your Tesla won't even make it out of Silicon Valley!"
Elon Musk nodded. "I understand what you mean, Li Zong."
Li Mu said flatly, "No, you don't."
After saying that, Li Mu continued, "What I mean is, not only must you have the heart to conquer the world, you must also have different ways of conquering the world. What's the difference between conquering the world with a single car model and conquering the world with a single type of army? The Mongolian cavalry didn't manage to conquer Japan, Africa, Australia, and the Americas, so you must have multiple car models to form a multi-dimensional combination, just like the trinity of land, sea, and air. "
Elon Musk placed his left hand under his nose and frowned. After thinking for a moment, he asked Li Mu, "Li Zong, this is the key to your emphasis on platforms, right?"
Li Mu nodded. "Tesla needs a platform with strong versatility, and it might even need more than one platform. For example, we need a platform suitable for long-wheelbase, four-wheel drive cars. It can be used to produce medium to large high-end sedans, and it can also be used to produce medium to large high-end SUVs and medium to large high-end MPVs. In addition, we might also need a platform suitable for medium wheelbase, front-drive, and rear-drive cars. It can be used to produce our mid-range sedans, mid-range SUVs, and even performance cars."
Speaking up to this point, Li Mu continued, "Let's learn from Volkswagen. If Volkswagen only produced one car model, it would have died a long time ago. That's why they have a series of cars that look almost the same. It's just lengthened, shortened, raised, and flattened. However, through multi-dimensional car models, Volkswagen can ensure its product coverage."
Elon Musk muttered to himself, "This also means that we need to develop multiple car models …"
Li Mu said helplessly, "You still don't understand the key to platforms. Real car manufacturers don't research on car models, but on core components and platforms. For example, we have developed excellent battery packs and motors. We will use the best battery packs and motors to form our high-end products. Then, we will reduce the cost and performance of the battery packs and motors by 30% to form our mid-range products. If we reduce the cost by more than 50%, we will have our low-end products. Look at how many engines and gearboxes Volkswagen has. Most of their car models use the same engine. The only difference is the tuning and the level of the supporting assembly."
Speaking up to this point, Li Mu continued, "Let me give you a more specific example. If we develop a 100 kWh battery pack and a single motor with a power of 200 kilowatts, then we will use the 100 kWh battery pack, two 200 kilowatts motors, and a long wheelbase chassis. This way, we will have a high-end car model. We will name it Tesla S.
Then, we will reduce the battery pack to 70 kWh, two 120 kilowatts motors, and a mid-wheelbase chassis. We will have a mid-range car model. We will name it Tesla E.
Based on the Tesla S, we will increase the height of the chassis and the height of the car. We will have a high-end SUV model. We will name it Tesla X.
Based on the Tesla E, we will use a 100 kWh battery pack, two 200 kilowatts motors, and choose the rear drive mode. We will have a sports car model. We will name it Tesla GT.
If there is a market demand, we will put the 1000 kWh battery pack into the bus chassis, and two 200 kilowatts motors. We will have a new energy passenger car model … "
Elon Musk finally understood why Li Mu called him an idiot. He said to Li Mu awkwardly, "Li Zong, I understand what you mean. My way of thinking is too narrow. I always feel that people's demand for cars is like the demand for internet products. A single YY product can cover almost all users. If Tesla can reach its peak, it can also be as popular as YY. However, I neglected one point. The difference between car manufacturing and internet products is that internet products are mostly free, while the car industry needs to consider the spending power of different classes of users. However, I only want to build one model."
Li Mu nodded and said, "What I said just now is based on the laws of the modern industry. There are some areas that I am not satisfied with. Apart from that, I am also a little disappointed."
Elon Musk hurriedly asked him, "Li Zong, if there are any areas that you are not satisfied with, please don't hesitate to point them out."
Li Mu nodded and said, "I support you in the new energy industry not to show that we are different, nor to overturn the traditional car industry, but to spread the advantages of new energy to the world through the successful cases of new energy. It is cheap, clean, environmentally friendly, and renewable. I want people to realize the advantages of clean energy and gradually give up on traditional cars to reduce pollution and emissions."
At this point, Li Mu changed the topic and said, "But, I just realized that you don't actually think so. Although you want to make a new energy car, you only want to build an awesome new energy car. You want to use the new energy to make the car run faster. You want to shock the world, make the elites all over the world flock to you, and make the whole world give a thumbs up and praise Elon Musk for creating a super car powered by a battery. But, apart from personal reputation, what other value does it really bring to society? To put it bluntly, you are just showing off. "
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