Elon Musk’s businesses
Recently Musk opened his new business in Hollywood recently.
What do you think it is?
Musk has built a Tesla Diner.
How would you describe the design and decor?
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?
One reviewer 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?
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?
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.