Hasta La Gadget!

Here’s a tip: you should probably research the bill of materials before pricing the item you’re building to sell. In an effort to calm down potentially irate early buyers, Tesla Motors Elon Musk has issued an email confessing that it had no idea actual production costs for the $92,000 Roadster would run closer to $140,000. The automaker is hoping the changes in “manufacturing approaches, the car’s drive train, heating and air conditioning system, wiring and even the supplier of body panels” will lower production costs to somewhere between $90,000 and $100,000 soon, which certainly gives a little insight into the $128,500 starting price of the recently unveiled Roadster Sport. In order to recoup some of the losses, Tesla is asking pre-orderers to pony up an extra six large for a high-speed charging cable and custom wheels — both of which consumers were expecting to be included in their original purchase price. At any rate, the firm is aiming to get build costs down to $80,000 by summer, with profitability following close behind. And you thought the automotive problems began and ended in Detroit.

[Via Edmunds]

Filed under: Transportation

Tesla admits to underpricing Roadsters, still hopes profitability is near originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 22 Jan 2009 05:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ve been disappointed by the fits and starts that powerline technology has suffered in the past, but an honest look over the past year’s HomePlug Alliance achievements isn’t without bright spots. Growth in the install base (now at 25 million devices), products and vendors (18 new members) are nothing to sneeze at, and HomePlug AV2’s promise of 600Mbps speeds sounds promising going forward. Kicking of at CES this week and moving forward, the alliance wants to see lots more household connectivity for HDTV, HDMI and all manner of data transfer you want to get done without tearing down the sheetrock in your home. Could this be the year that HomePlug really takes off, or will disappointing real-world performance continue to dog the technology? Hit the link for the alliance’s rosy view and let us know your predictions in the comments.

Continue reading HomePlug Alliance hits some milestones, rallies the troops at CES

Filed under: CES, Home Entertainment, Household, Networking

HomePlug Alliance hits some milestones, rallies the troops at CES originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 07 Jan 2009 15:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It seemed nearly imminent that Fujitsu would be selling off its hard disk division to rival Western Digital, but apparently something has gone awry. According to Fujitsu President Kuniaki Nozoe, there is currently “zero chance” of a deal being done, though he did confess that the two had sat down and contemplated changing their statuses to “it’s complicated.” Unfortunately, that’s about all we have to go on for the moment, especially when you consider that WD’s take on the whole ordeal is a concise “no comment.” Who knows, maybe this is just cold feet or something, or maybe Fujitsu simply realized that it was better off saving itself for the one.

[Via NotebookReview]

Filed under: Storage

Fujitsu puts the kibosh on possible sale to Western Digital originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 06 Jan 2009 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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