Capital Project Management, Volume III

CHAPTER 1

Tesla through 2015: Something Old and Something New

Introduction

When Tesla first appeared, the “EV industry” was already both very new and very old. Electric autos had been around since the beginning of the automotive era, but the new version seemed more promising than previous efforts mostly due to technological advancements (mostly in lithium-based electrochemical “batteries”). One might also view it as an industry within an industry, a new one within an old mature one based on a revolutionary technology (compared to the standard internal combustion paradigm). From a pre-introduction period to introduction (Volume I), industry-wide average profitability was clearly negative, and sustained firm-specific (quarterly or annual) profit ...