Elon Musk’s businesses
What do you know about Elon Musk?
You can see his rich list ranking here: www.forbes.com/real-time-billionaires/#1b65e80a3d78
Recently Musk opened his new business in Hollywood.
What do you think it is?
Musk has built a Tesla Diner.
How would you describe the design?
Musk designed a retro-futuristic diner. He said you can “eat a high-end burger while watching a classic movie while charging your Tesla.”
The parking lot has space for 80 Teslas to charge.
There is a robot that serves popcorn.
Only Tesla owners can order from the app in their car. Everyone else has to wait in line.
He placed 2 big movie screens in the car park to make it look like a drive in.
The neighbours are angry because the screens block their view.
What kind of videos do you think he plays?
old sci-fi movies
Star Trek episodes
80’s sci-fi cartoons
random laser videos
Tesla commercials
Would you like to eat here?
Do you think this diner can be successful?
Reviewers have said:
The food didn’t look anything like the pictures
The food was overpriced and the taste was mediocre
mediocre = “mee-dee-oh-ker” = so soThe corridors were too narrow for servers to move around quickly
The bathroom was dirty
There were only 3 bathrooms for the 250 seat restaurant
The restaurant is new so most people have to wait 2 hours to get in (because not all of the restaurant is open yet)
The Boring Company
Musk founded the Boring Company in 2017.
What do you think this company does?
This is a construction company that drills (bores) tunnels for electric vehicles under cities.
bore a tunnel = dig/drill a tunnel
Their drills have a unique design so the ground doesn’t need to be prepared in advance and they can drill quite quickly.
So far they’ve built 3 kilometres of tunnels underneath Las Vegas that are 12 metres deep. The plan is to build 109km of tunnels and 55 stops around the city.
Their next project is in Nashville, Tennessee (16 km of tunnels)
What are the benefits of these tunnels?
video using the tunnel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DS2l8mVB24
The company says:
It will help reduce traffic jams on the roads in the city
It lets people move quickly between buildings (casinos, hotels, convention centres)
In the future they will use self-driving cars that can hold 12 passengers.
Knowing Elon Musk, do you think there have been any problems with this company?
The company has been accused of…
not getting correct licenses and permits for their construction
not providing enough training for employees
focusing on deadlines and ignoring employee safety (There have been over 40 injuries reported from heat, chemical burns and other accidents)
making impossible promises about deadlines and the environmental impact… so projects in Chicago and California were cancelled
Do you think the tunnel system is a good idea? Can you think of a better system?
Could other cities in Japan or overseas use it?
Tesla
What do you know about Tesla?
Why did the brand become popular?
Tesla was the first company to mass produce luxury electric vehicles and build a charging network for their cars
Why were they smart to target rich customers first?
Why was building a charging network so important?
What advantage did they gain from only making electric cars?
Answers:
Many customers were hesitant to try using a new technology in their cars but the upper class people that Tesla targeted often owned more than one car.
This means the cars also became a status symbol - they were stylish luxury cars that were good for the environment.They were the first EV maker to build a reliable charging network which let drivers travel far in a Tesla. It was the best choice for EV drivers who wanted to travel to far places
Tesla only made electric cars. They could aggressively promote the benefits of electric cars. Other car makers couldn’t do this because it would damage sales of their gas cars.
Tesla’s sales have fallen by 40-70% in most developed countries this year. Why?
Do you think Tesla sales in Japan have fallen or risen?
The 3 countries with sales growth are:
Turkey (100%)
Japan (56%)
Norway (54%)
Why do you think these countries have bucked the trend?
buck the trend = do the opposite of the trend
Do you think Tesla will succeed in the future?
Turkey: new tax credits to promote electric car sales, and may be a stopping point before Russia
Norway: Norwegians love the new model Y and the country has the most EV friendly policies
Japan: lack of Japanese EV offerings, it’s the most trusted brand (compared to BYD)
Sometimes Musk says or does stupid things so the stock price of Tesla plunges.
plunge “plunj” = decrease quickly
Which of these actions caused the biggest plunge?
2020 He tweeted: “Tesla stock price is too high, IMO.”
2018 He smoked marijuana on a podcast
2025 Musk argued with Donald Trump and tweeted: “Without me, Trump would have lost the election”
“Tesla stock price is too high, IMO.” - 8% drop
Musk smoked Marijuana - 9% drop
Musk fought with Donald Trump: 14% drop