When Elon Musk heard Li Mu criticize him for focusing too much, he felt a little awkward.
He never thought that focusing too much was a problem. In his mind, focusing was easier to succeed.
Because focusing often meant being more professional. Just like how he focused on reusable launch vehicles and pure electric cars, in his mind, there was nothing wrong with what he did.
However, in front of Li Mu, even though he did not agree with him, he did not dare to show it.
He very humbly asked Li Mu, "Li Zong, what do you think?"
Li Mu said firmly, "Tesla's position should not be the second car for consumers, nor should it be a supplement for fuel cars. It should be the first choice for people who don't have a car, and it should be the replacement car for people who have a car."
Li Mu said, "If you want to do this, in addition to preparing production capacity in advance, you must also find a way to solve the technical problem of fast charging."
Elon Musk's position for Tesla was to use it as a "fighter jet".
In other words, in theory, this car could travel up to 400 kilometers, so the user's maximum range of activity was 200 kilometers. Just like a fighter jet without the assistance of a refueling machine, if the user exceeded this range of activity, it basically meant that they could not return to the starting point.
However, he did not think that there was a problem with the combat radius of 200 kilometers, because in his opinion, 200 kilometers was enough.
However, he was indeed using the standard of "the user's second car" to define 200 kilometers. If he used the standard of the first car or the only car, 200 kilometers was far from enough, even if it was doubled, it would still be far from enough.
This was the misconception that Elon Musk had when he first founded Tesla.
He felt that the cost of Tesla was very high, so it must be a high-end model. For North American users who liked to drive Japanese cars or American pickup trucks, most people would not be able to afford it. The people who could afford this car must have at least one car at home, or even multiple cars.
In this case, the "combat radius" of 200 kilometers was enough.
Also, the United States was a country that grew on wheels. The car penetration rate was the highest in the world, and they often drove across state lines. They might go to Las Vegas, Disneyland, and national parks several times a year. With this demand, if there was only one car, the "combat radius" of 400 kilometers was not enough.
After all, the theoretical combat radius of a fuel car was endless. It only took five minutes to fill up a tank of gas. How could a pure electric car compare?
Therefore, in his eyes, Tesla was not a product that needed to be marketed to all car users. It was already very impressive that Tesla was able to take over the high-end market.
However, he did not know how to express his opinion to Li Mu. He was afraid that Li Mu's position was too high, so high that it exceeded the practical significance of the matter.
Seeing that Elon Musk wanted to say something, Li Mu said seriously, "Elon, let's do this together. Don't think like an entrepreneur anymore."
Elon Musk looked at Li Mu, puzzled. If an entrepreneur didn't think like an entrepreneur, then what did he think?
Li Mu looked at him and said, "No matter what industry it is, the vast majority of entrepreneurs start their journey barefoot. The core of their thinking is to open up sources of income and reduce expenses, and to accumulate a little to make a mickle. From zero to one is a breakthrough, from one to two is development, and from ten years to ten is considered a success. Just like the saying in Huaxia, if you don't accumulate step by step, you can't reach a thousand miles."
"However, others may need to take one step at a time, but do we need to? We can't walk, we can't even run. We have to fly! So what we need to do is spend money to buy a plane. If that doesn't work, build a rocket, and then fly as fast as we can. "
As he said that, Li Mu paused for a moment, then said, "Remember, what we need to do is multiplication, not addition. Even if we don't manage it well, and the whole project ends up being 0, or even a negative number, I can accept and bear the consequences. But I can't accept that we're doing addition bit by bit."
Elon Musk was slightly taken aback. He understood what Li Mu meant and immediately said, "I understand, Li Zong. If that's the case, then let's start developing high-power charging technology as soon as possible."
As he said that, he added, "My personal idea is to increase the charging efficiency to more than 20 kWh. That way, the user's charging time will be greatly reduced. A car can be fully charged in four to five hours."
Li Mu nodded and said, "That's the right idea, but it's not ambitious enough. If we can solve the problem of 100 kWh or even 200 kWh charging equipment in the future, then a Tesla can be fully charged in about an hour, or even 80% of the battery can be replenished. Then, we're really not far from great success."
Elon Musk said in surprise, "If that's the case, not only do we need to develop the fast charging technology, but we also need to greatly optimize the management of the battery pack. Moreover, the charging efficiency of more than 100 kWh is too much of a burden on the power grid. If a few 10 million kWh charging stations operate at the same time, the power will be equivalent to the power consumption of a few hundred people in a community. It's very difficult to set up a large number of charging stations."
Li Mu smiled and said, "Since we've already installed normal charging stations for the users, why do we still need to build high-power charging equipment in a residential area?"
As he spoke, Li Mu said, "High-power charging equipment is not for the users to use when they go home to rest. It's like a gas station for the users to replenish their energy. We can build them on highways, near hotels, airports, train stations, or even on popular tourist attractions far away from the city."
Elon Musk said, "I understand what you mean, but the power supply of these high-power charging stations is indeed a big problem. Just the problem of the power grid alone is very difficult to solve."
Li Mu smiled and said, "Actually, it's not difficult to solve at all. Let the power grid problem be solved by the power company. We just need to let the power company make a profit, and you don't have to worry about the rest.
"For example, the electricity price in Hua Xia is 40 cents per kWh, and we can collect a fee of 1 yuan per kWh from the car owners. Because it's a Super Charging Station that can quickly extend the range, and with the additional fees of the Super Charging Station, the users will definitely be able to accept this price. We can give all of this money to the power company, and this is equivalent to giving them an outlet to sell electricity at a high price. Why wouldn't they be happy?"
We can use our project to ask him for subsidies from the California government. "
Elon Musk sighed and said, "This way, the power grid problem is indeed easy to solve. But Li Zong, the development, manufacturing, and installation costs of the Super Charging equipment should not be low. In the future, we might need to build tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of such equipment around the world. But if we give the electricity price difference to the power company, we will not get any profits. With such high costs, no profits, and equipment maintenance, it will be hard for us to support it."
Li Mu reminded, "Giving the electricity price difference to the power company is to urge them to help us solve the power supply problem. As I said earlier, we will give the electricity price difference to them in the early stages, but in the later stages, we need to gradually get back a certain proportion.
"Don't forget, green travel, energy saving, and emission reduction are the trends advocated by the governments all over the world. We can communicate with the local governments to get some government subsidies and support.
"Let's look at California. Arnold Schwarzenegger will be the governor soon. Before he was elected, he had been advocating for environmental protection, and our product is what he wants.
"We can ask the state government to give subsidies to every California user who buys a Tesla, and we can ask the state government to give us some tax cuts. We can even ask the state government to exempt the Super Charging Station's consumption tax and public utility taxes. We can also outsource the construction and maintenance of the Super Charging Station to a company in California, and we can help this company get the state government's tax cuts. This way, we can lower our costs, and it is completely reasonable and legal."
In Li Mu's previous life, there are all kinds of subsidies for alternative energy vehicles. Although Li Mu is not directly involved in the alternative energy vehicle industry, he knows a lot about it.
The country and the government attach great importance to environmental protection, and that's why they give all kinds of subsidies for alternative energy vehicles. They give subsidies to manufacturers, consumers, and even waive the purchase tax. Li Mu believes that this is not only a trend in Hua Xia, but also a global trend. Now, Tesla wants to be at the forefront of the alternative energy industry, and they should try their best to get subsidies and help from the local governments. This way, Tesla can take off more quickly.
Elon Musk's eyes lit up when he heard Li Mu's words. He never thought that Tesla has an invisible super lever behind it, and it can use a huge amount of resources. But the prerequisite is that Tesla must develop fast and well. Otherwise, once other companies realize this super lever, they will definitely rush over.
Li Mu continued, "I don't care what kind of car you're researching right now. Whether it's a super high-end car or a mid-high-end car, you must thoroughly understand the technology you need and then reduce the dimensions reasonably. For example, your battery, your motor, your frame and chassis, your electronic controls, and all the other electronic systems. First, achieve 80 points. Then, don't go from 80 points to 100 points, but from 80 points to 60 points."
"You must lower the technical requirements and costs, and then lower the parameters and price of the entire car. From a super high-end model to a high-end, mid-high-end model, and finally to a mid-high-end model. If we can build a car with the same price and comfort as a Camry, we will win even if we lie down."
Elon Musk nodded. "Li Zong, I understand what you mean."
Li Mu nodded and said, "Around next year, I will start to buy one or two car manufacturers in Hua Xia. Then, according to Tesla's needs, we will completely modify the production line. In the future, once our car passes the test, we can immediately start production."
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