Latest / Elon Musk Podcast / SpaceX Falcon Heavy Update and Tesla Brews Beer
Transcript
- 0:01Hello and welcome back to another episode of the Elon Musk
- 0:04podcast. I'm your host, William Walden,
- 0:07tech entrepreneur and founder. In today's episode, we're going
- 0:11to unpack Elon Musk's Tesla and their latest offering.
- 0:16And no, it's not another electric vehicle.
- 0:19It's actually a limited edition set of beers that you could
- 0:22drink, retailing for a hefty $150.00.
- 0:27We'll also touch upon the contrasting fortunes of Elon
- 0:30Musk and Bernard Arnault, owner of luxury conglomerate LVMH, and
- 0:35how Tesla's merchandising may move some people that were
- 0:40interested in a cyber truck to stick with it.
- 0:43Now Tesla, the electric vehicle giant, has given us yet another
- 0:46curveball. The company known for its
- 0:48disruptive automotive technology is now brewing beers.
- 0:53Yes, that's right, Tesla is releasing an exclusive set of
- 0:57beers dubbed Tesla Cyber Beer along with a pair of ceramic
- 1:01steins called Cyber Steins. These are specifically designed
- 1:05to reflect the aesthetics of Tesla's much anticipated cyber
- 1:09truck. Tesla's offering 211 ounce
- 1:12bottles of lager with unique notes of herb, spice, tea and
- 1:17citrus, all wrapped in an exquisitely designed gloss black
- 1:21sleeve. And to sip these beers in style,
- 1:24the kit also includes 2 matte black ceramic steins with a
- 1:28design mimicking the angular structure of the cyber truck.
- 1:32These are not just drinking vessels, but are also being
- 1:35viewed as future collectors items.
- 1:38The beer will start shipping in October, but there's a catch.
- 1:41The offer is limited to individuals who are at least 21
- 1:44years old and reside in the United States, and after adding
- 1:47tax and about $15 for shipping, the total cost for the beer and
- 1:51the steins is $176.63. Now, Earlier in the year, Tesla
- 1:57has already dipped its toes in the brewing industry with a $30
- 2:01Giga beer celebrating the opening of its Berlin Giga
- 2:04factory. Tesla's move into alcohol isn't
- 2:06just a one off affair, seems like a deliberate attempt to
- 2:10diversify the brand's portfolio for the future.
- 2:13It's a nice little trinket to have a collector's item for the
- 2:16future. And while Tesla stock has
- 2:19performed very well this year, increasing Elon Musk's wealth by
- 2:23approximately $100 billion, Bernard Arnault of LVMH is
- 2:28seeing a downturn in his fortunes.
- 2:31Arno's estimated net worth fell by more than $5 billion
- 2:35recently, mainly due a decline in the LVMH stock.
- 2:39The luxury conglomerate posted weaker than expected sales,
- 2:42indicating challenges in the luxury sector amid global
- 2:46economic shifts. Arno and Musk have often been
- 2:48neck and neck in the race for the title of the world's richest
- 2:51person. But as Tesla diversifies into
- 2:53areas traditionally dominated by luxury brands like LVMH, we must
- 2:58wonder as Tesla's entry into high end merchandising like
- 3:01cyber beer. In additional pressure point to
- 3:04Bernard Arnault. Now, let's not forget that this
- 3:07is not Tesla's first safari into merchandising.
- 3:10The automaker had early released a $250 bottle of tequila shaped
- 3:14like a lightning bolt. Although they had initially
- 3:17filed the name for the liquor teslaquila, they had to drop the
- 3:21idea due to industry regulations.
- 3:24Tesla's merchandising gamuts are more than just stunts.
- 3:26They offer unique, limited edition items that align with
- 3:29the company's brand identity. And the diverse range of
- 3:32products from Tesla seems to extend the company's ethos into
- 3:35other aspects of lifestyle as well.
- 3:37Whether it's a gigafactory themed beer or lightning bolt
- 3:40shaped tequila, Tesla's merchandise feels like an
- 3:43extension of the futuristic disruptive brand image.
- 3:46Now, the divergent in fortunes between our No and Musk isn't
- 3:50just about beers and luxury products, it's a sign of how
- 3:52different industries are responding to the current global
- 3:55economic environment. LVMH is feeling the pinch from
- 3:58weakening consumer trends, especially in its key markets
- 4:02like China. And on the other hand, Tesla
- 4:04seems to be riding high in the diversification strategy which
- 4:07seems to be paying off. Luxury sector in the tech
- 4:09industry often cater to a similar clientele who are
- 4:12willing to pay a premium for high quality exclusive products.
- 4:16So when Tesla moves into the merchandising game, could it be
- 4:19stealing some of another luxury markets Thunder?
- 4:22It's kind of an intriguing question to think about.
- 4:25And shifting gears a little bit, NASA recently launched the
- 4:28Psyche mission aboard a Falcon Heavy SpaceX rocket.
- 4:32It's headed toward a unique asteroid between Mars and
- 4:35Jupiter. It's embarked on an ambitious 6
- 4:37year journey that could change our understanding of our whole
- 4:41solar system as viewed by solar powered propulsion and propelled
- 4:45by state-of-the-art thrusters. This spacecraft aims to collect
- 4:49data from the asteroid Psyche, which is believed to be an
- 4:52exposed planetary core. Now this groundbreaking mission
- 4:55could offer crucial insights into the violent history of
- 4:58planetary formation and even the early solar system and how the
- 5:02Earth was formed. This sets up the stage for
- 5:05future space expeditions as well.
- 5:08Now, spacecraft propulsion technologies are continuously
- 5:11advancing, and the Psyche mission is a case in point.
- 5:14It utilizes solar electric propulsion to journey through
- 5:18space, A more efficient form of travel compared to traditional
- 5:21chemical rockets like Spacex's Falcon Heavy and Falcon 9 and
- 5:25Starship. Now, this kind of propulsion
- 5:27uses electromagnetic fields to accelerate ions of xenon gas,
- 5:32offering the potential for higher speeds and greater
- 5:35maneuverability. Now, a spacecraft is estimated
- 5:38to accelerate to speeds of up to 124,000 mph, A considerable feat
- 5:44that could influence the engineering of future deep space
- 5:47missions. And the mission also includes a
- 5:49cutting edge optical communication system called
- 5:53DSOC, or the Deep Space Optical Communication System.
- 5:57This system uses a near infrared laser to transmit data, offering
- 6:01ten to 100 times the bandwidth of conventional radio wave
- 6:05systems that NASA currently uses.
- 6:08Now, what this means for space exploration is a huge deal.
- 6:11Higher data rate returns could facilitate more sophisticated
- 6:15scientific experiments, not to mention enable smoother
- 6:18communication for future human missions.
- 6:21To the moon for something like the Artemis program, or to Mars
- 6:25with something like Spacex's Starship, this could be a game
- 6:29changer, opening up doors to more ambitious projects like
- 6:32manned missions further out of the solar system or district
- 6:36asteroid mining. Now NASA's Psyche mission isn't
- 6:39just a scientific exploration, it's a technological trial run
- 6:43for what could be the next era of space exploration.
- 6:47With advanced propulsion systems and breakthrough communication
- 6:49technologies on board, Psyche could be a milestone in
- 6:52humankind's external quest to explore our final frontier of
- 6:56space. And as such, the mission has
- 6:58wide reaching implications for future space travel.
- 7:01Taking it not just a venture to watch, but a cornerstone for
- 7:05what may come next in our journey through this cosmos.
- 7:08Thank you so much for tuning into this episode of the show.
- 7:12Now don't forget to hit the subscriber The follow button on
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- 7:24Please take care of yourselves and each other and I'll see you
- 7:27in the next one.