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Seems the only "green" was the money pocketed

Asphaultnaut

Asphaultnaut

Own the Mess You've Made!
Joined
Dec 21, 2008
Location
San Jose
Moto(s)
2007 Yamaha FJR1300A - sold long ago :(
Name
Rick
It's companies like this-that live only to get grants, produce nothing but promises, fail to develop or even present their own technologies or innovations, and survive only off of stock hype or government cash that are the real impediment to an EV revolution.

http://www.ksbw.com/r/28586219/detail.html

I stand by my original opinion, that a real, practical EV company will come along and be identified by the fact that it can produce a real, practical EV without a massive government payout. The fact that EVs aren't succeeding, even with the taxpayer funded giveaways, shows that something critical is missing. Until that magic formula is discovered, these payoffs disguised as business investment are only going to continue to fail. It doesn't help that a naive or complacent government fails to recognize the amount of snake oil salesmen that have profitably infiltrated the "green movement" for the sole reason of easy cash from cheap promises with no consequences.

The company that "figures it out" will not even need the subsidy.

(my money is the EV paradigm shift will come from motorcycles. Partially because there's less design regulation, and more freedom to innovate)
 
Seems only an EV company folding is drawing your ire when there are tons of other companies getting grants, subsidies, VC and folding way more spectacularly.

There will be losers in every field,I don't think this says anything at all about the viability of EVs in general.
 
Isn't it something like 80% of all new businesses fail within 3 years, and the rest eventually fail given a long enough time line?
 
it's because EV companies folding, especially when so many are exactly as bad as all the previous dot-coms, are hurting the overall progress.

It's companies selling the moon when they cannot and in most cases plan not to deliver.

Do they blame the market, or the buying or selling of cars? nope. Just the lack of capital. Always about the capital. never about the product.

Getting tired of the hucksters stinking up the environment. I focus on EVs because I know them, don't know finance or made up money games for the well-to-do. Or anything about restaurants. Not too many of those demanding half a million from their city of choice, IIRC.

I do know a project a BARF-er is involved in that seems to be running along well without hitting a cash-strapped city for almost a million dollars. One is going to produce product. The other, looked like a modern day carpetbagger from day one, and proved to be so.

augustiron said:
Seems only an EV company folding is drawing your ire when there are tons of other companies getting grants, subsidies, VC and folding way more spectacularly.

There will be losers in every field,I don't think this says anything at all about the viability of EVs in general.
Click to expand...
 
So Salinas sucks at evaluating funding proposals. So what? :dunno

If there weren't suckers there wouldn't be the hustlers. Chicken, egg, who cares.
 
and the award for contributing absolutely nothing goes to....

wazzuFreddo said:
:blah
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if only it had been a taxpayer funded boondoggle by "teh Right" then you might have had something to contribute, eh?

Or perhaps, even looked into the issue, and saw a company that even in it's dying words, is still only about "the capital" and not at all about product?

But that would take a second other than knee jerk response, and that's too much to ask these days. :rofl
 
Asphaultnaut said:
I do know a project a BARF-er is involved in that seems to be running along well without hitting a cash-strapped city for almost a million dollars. One is going to produce product. The other, looked like a modern day carpetbagger from day one, and proved to be so.
Click to expand...

If anything should draw your ire, it should be a cash strapped municipality betting money they can't afford to lose.
 
tzrider said:
If anything should draw your ire, it should be a cash strapped municipality betting money they can't afford to lose.
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telling it like it is.

read, evaluate, and understand a business proposal before investing in a project. also, make sure you do your own research into the viability of the project.
 
that was part of the point. Public funded entities shouldn't be involved in risky businesses.

But no giving "companies" like this a free pass. If someone steals a bike, you can clown the victim for not having his bike locked up in a vault. But the end result is thieves making life for everyone else suck.

I've been thinking the best way to thin the herd of essentially fake companies from ones with a chance, to separate the wheat from the chaff, would be to cut the amount of money available *before* product is produced. But recent federal, state and local grants don't do that. they go to the best sales pitch. Which is fine, if you want to buy sales pitches.

If there has to be payoffs, I'd rather see them go to companies that demonstrate hardware, rather than vaporware.

Perhaps some unified policy for investment, devoid of politicians and stocked with at least as many engineers as MBA's?

tzrider said:
If anything should draw your ire, it should be a cash strapped municipality betting money they can't afford to lose.
Click to expand...
 
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the czar of new venture financing has spoken.

go up to Sand Hill Road and tell them how you really feel

:twofinger
 
tumblr_lmm3edWoLK1qh55zko1_400.jpg
 
Salinas is getting desperate...

HSBC is threatening close down their credit card center and there aren't many prospects outside of the ag business or service industries for a place that wants to associate itself with "Silicon Valley".
 
This reminds me when Cannondale decided they could produce dirt bikes. I was a little incredulous given how saturated the market was with large manufacturers. And Cannondale went bankrupt over this decision.

Now you want to build a car to compete against Toyota, GM, Ford? Good luck.

I think even Tesla is kidding themselves, but maybe America can support a sports car company. I know my tax dollars are.

But electric motorcycle market seems wide open. None of the majors are building anything, just the start-ups.

When Honda and Kawasaki think it is worth their time, I suspect there will be a viable bike commercially available. And our community is glad to support a small builder.
 
sanjuro said:
I think even Tesla is kidding themselves, but maybe America can support a sports car company. I know my tax dollars are.
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Blasphemy! Tesla estimates they're gonna grow almost 20 fold in the next 3 years, from 2010 revenue of $116 mil to 2013 revenue over $1.8 billion...

My bet is the only place Tesla is headed is bankruptcy court.
 
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