A little off topic, but I have not had time to write something more substantial.  Earlier I was reading the post over at  TerraPass on who might build a better electric car, startups or the incumbants.

My money is on the startups.  In particular Telsa because of their choice to use technology that is already in wide production rather than create their own.  The main case where I have hard of this is the use of computer style batteries rather than typical car batteries.

While the big companies work to develop and control everything possible, smart startups are using the development and demand curve of other industries to lower costs.  This has the advantage of saving startups R&D on the basics, let anyone but Sony build the batteries, and Telsa can focus on other aspects of the electric cars.

This compounds a company like Telsa’s advantage, they do not have to worry about building, designing or manufacturing the commodity parts.  Instead they focus on taking those parts and creating something unique.

Now if only I could afford a Telsa…

Wayne

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