Tesla’s Macintosh 194
them decided to read a book. But he couldn’t find a light,
so he said, “This is the stupidest car in the world.” Elon,
who always seek out negative feedback, decided to install
reading-lights in the backseat.^419
Building a car is similar to building computer soft-
ware. “There are a couple of key milestones,” Elon said.
“You’ve got the alpha phase, the beta phase, the release
candidate, and then finally you are in production. The beta
vehicles will be almost indistinguishable from the final
production designs.”^441 In March 2009, Tesla completed the
Model S prototype (the alpha phase) an unveiled it in front
of hundreds of people in the SpaceX factory. A proud
von Holzhausen pulled the silver sheet off the car, and it
sparkled under the white spotlights. “You’ll see that this
isn’t some show car that doesn’t do what it says it’ll do.
It’ll go fast with a lot of people in it,” Elon told the crowd.
But everyone weren’t convinced. “I wouldn’t call it
Tesla Motors yet,” a critic said. “I would call it the Tesla
prototype company. My concern is that there are people in
charge who don’t have a realistic view of the car industry.”
The same critic thought the Model S would never see day-
light. Tesla would need 30 to 40 years to become a profitable
company, and $700 million to successfully develop and
mass produce Model S. “I will eat my hat if we spend
anything close to $700 million on our model-2 car [Model
S],” Elon replied.^372
Neither Tesla’s customers were enthusiastic when pho-
tographs of a Model S beta leaked on the Internet. Tesla had
tested the car on the streets in Palo Alto and someone took