My Age of Investment

   Chapter 1277 Ao Guanhai's visit

   "Delivery a car?"

  In a Tesla conference room, an old white man with a two-piece Santa Claus beard and a Mediterranean hairstyle put his hands on the table, crossed his fingers, and looked at the ceiling thoughtfully.

  Xia Jingxing, who was sitting opposite the old man, nodded and continued to fudge: "In the past, some people have always questioned that Tesla is a small workshop and a concentration camp for DIY enthusiasts.

   But we made the Roadster, the world's first mass-produced electric sports car, and achieved great results at the Nordschleife.

   But there are still people who question Tesla's achievements and technical level, and feel that we are dipped in the light of Lotus and AC drives.

   Therefore, we plan to develop our own chassis, our own powertrain, and independently develop and mass-produce a car based on our own capabilities.

   And it's not a dazzling sports car, it's a mid-to-large sedan that targets the BMW 5 Series. "

   Zetsche smiled slightly, "Only the BMW 5 Series, excluding the Mercedes-Benz E-Class?"

  Xia Jingxing said with a smile: "Hasn't BMW always been a performance brand? ModelS will compete with them in the future, provided that the BMW CEO dares to accept our gauntlet."

   Looking at the high-spirited young man on the opposite side, Ze Che didn't know whether to judge him as an ignorant and fearless man, or as arrogant and arrogant.

  BMW, as their old rival of Daimler, has fallen in love with them for many years, and is his favorite car brand other than Mercedes-Benz.

   He has a lot of classic BMW models in his private garage, but he is by no means a traitor in the media’s mouth, nor is BMW a spy CEO who broke into Daimler’s interior. His main purpose is to better study old rivals.

   Xia Jingxing despised BMW so much that he didn't like it very much.

  Thinking of this, he immediately stopped deciding what to save face, and stated clearly.

   "Daren, I know you are the rising star of the Internet and the overlord of the financial world, but the auto industry is not something that can be easily established by setting up a few servers and investing at a good time.

  The century-old automobile industry is all about the progress that has been explored bit by bit.

   Like you in China, we have cooperated with Daimler for many years. Although the auto industry has made some progress, it is still far from catching up with the world's top automakers.

   Of course, I don't mean to belittle China when I say this, it's the truth. "

  Xia Jingxing smiled and didn't bother to argue with Cai Che about this matter. Could it be that the Beiben does not leak oil, which is better than the imported Ben?

   "New energy vehicles do not have fuel engines and traditional gearboxes, we are entering a new field, and everyone is on the same starting line.

   Of course, traditional car manufacturers have advantages and experience in vehicle manufacturing that we do not have. I do not deny this.

   But we also have advantages! "

  Xia Jingxing looked at Ze Che with a smile, paused and then introduced: "Mr. Ze Che has seen our prototype car and should know the difference between Model S and traditional cars.

  Central control touch screen, new centralized electronic and electrical architecture, fewer electronic control units that are more conducive to management and control, OTA air upgrades...

  What we pursue is technology and intelligence, which is why I put Tesla in Silicon Valley, where there are the most and brightest technology talents in the world. "

   Zetsche did not refute Xia Jingxing's words, but smiled and said, "This is also what we value Tesla.

   If your model has no innovation compared to the previous electric cars, Daimler will not give you cooperation orders and invest in you. "

  Xia Jingxing smiled lightly, "But Mr. Zei Che, you don't seem to be 'important' enough?

  Tesla has been in business for six years, has hundreds of patents on electric vehicles and lithium batteries, and has sold and delivered cars worth nearly $300 million. "

   Zetsche smiled and shook his head, "Daren, I came all the way from Germany to Silicon Valley, and naturally I really hope to negotiate this investment and cooperation.

   But that shouldn’t be your reason for making random prices, Tesla is still a startup after all, and you don’t even have your own manufacturing plant.

   Lotus used to provide you with chassis and assembly, what about in the future? "

   Ze Che spread out his hands, just about to say that young people should not be too arrogant.

  Xia Jingxing smiled lightly: "The factory will be available soon, and the first Model S will be delivered by June next year."

   Zetsche understood after a little thought in his heart, and asked, "Are you planning to invest in Tesla on a large scale?"

   "No, someone gave us money!"

"Who?"

"U.S. Department of Energy."

Looking at Ze Che's suspicious eyes, Xia Jingxing explained calmly: "The day after tomorrow, Ao Guanhai and the Minister of Energy will come to inspect Tesla. If everything goes well, the Ministry of Energy can provide us with a sum of up to 500 million US dollars. interest-free loan.”

"This is real?"

  Xia Jingxing smiled, "Of course it is impossible for me to make such a joke with you, otherwise, Mr. Ze Che will stay in Silicon Valley for two more days, and we will meet the commander of Ao Guanhai together the day after tomorrow."

   Zetsche basically believed what Xia Jingxing said, but he never expected that the US authorities would take Tesla so seriously.

   This made him re-evaluate the value of Tesla in his mind. If the electric car manufacturer can successfully pass the government certification and get a loan, will the valuation go up a little?

   He thinks it still needs to go up a bit.

   But traditional thinking is reminding him again that this company has almost nothing compared with serious car manufacturers, except for the pile of technical patents in the field of electric vehicles.

   "Okay, then I'll stay for two more days and wait for your good news."

   After thinking about it in his heart, Ze Che still made a decision.

  …………

  …………

   Two days later, Ao Guanhai came to Tesla on time with the newly appointed Minister of Energy Zhu Liwen.

   The long convoy drove all the way downstairs to the Tesla office park.

  After the car was parked, a group of bodyguards in smart suits wearing headsets got off the car first, and then quickly separated the surrounding areas.

  Xia Jingxing led Straubel, Bodichevsky, Davis, Franz, Rawlinson and other executives to wait.

   After seeing Ao Guanhai getting off the bus, a group of people immediately greeted him.

After seeing the greetings, Ao Guanhai looked around for a few times, smiled and showed a row of white teeth, "To be honest, the environment here is quite surprising to me, it's not like a car manufacturing company, but more like a technology company. ."

  Xia Jingxing replied: "We are a technology car company!"

  Ao Guanhai laughed, and the entourage also laughed.

  Ao Guanhai suddenly looked at Zhu Liwen, the Chinese minister beside him, and asked, "Steven, how do you feel? Isn't it interesting? It's completely different from the car companies I've seen in the past."

  Steven Zhu, with grizzled hair and round glasses, looked like a college professor.

   In fact, he is really a professor of physics at the University of California, Berkeley, and the winner of the 1997 Nobel Prize in Physics, mainly engaged in atomic physics, laser science research.

  Zhu Liwen said with a smile: "This should be Tesla's R&D department, right? A factory is still needed for complete vehicle manufacturing."

  Xia Jingxing replied: "We are already looking for a new factory, and if nothing else, we will soon have a factory in California."

   Hearing this sentence, Ao Guanhai was very satisfied and felt that Xia Jingxing was very knowledgeable and responded to and supported his own manufacturing return plan.

   Such an obedient and sensible guy, of course he won't begrudge his reward.

  Ao Guanhai waved his hand, "Daren, lead the way. Let's take a look at the various departments of Tesla, and show us any new technologies."

  Xia Jingxing said "Okay", and then began to lead Ao Guanhai and his party to visit the entire office park.

   (end of this chapter)