SpaceX has moved to "version 1.1" which expresses Elon Musk's confidence that the next launch will not have the same problems as the first. (In software culture, which Musk earned one of his fortunes in, an initial version of 0.9 or no version augmentation from previous expresses scepticism. 1.1 or augmentation of the major or minor version expresses confidence.) To fix the specific failure from the last launch "...any exposed aluminum B-nuts are being replaced with either an orbital welded joint or a stainless steel B-nut that won't corrode." To fix many other sources of potential failure, the electronic monitoring, automatic launch procedures, remote monitoring, exterior redesign and better climate control for payload are all excellent improvements. Bravo!

The oversight by managers they implemented needs more details released before I would recognize it as a new improved way of doing business. (Finally, while I have seen another company launch with the engine compartment on fire, a technical coup may be a PR mistake.)

In other news, Musk's electric car company is making headlines.

All sounds good, I wonder what the penalty in added weight is and how that cuts into the payload to orbit.

I want the car.........

Hopefully Tesla won't be a distraction for Musk. Falcon is vastly more important, and a number of other companies (not the least of which, Bigelow) are depending on its success for their timetables. But if both work out, he'll have earned the reputation as a two-time Giant Killer: Big Space and Big Auto.

The Lithium ion batteries are about a fifth the weight of traditional lead acid, and such electric cars can have acceptable performance and range. Such Lithium car batteries are still beyond the price range of average cars, ($20,000?) – hence the luxury market, still there is some hope that these battery costs will continue to come down. If I were to pick any horse in the electric car market, this would be it.

You can now get 10kW plus model airplane brushless motors with power to weight ratios around 10kW/kg. Combined with Lithium ion batteries , (power densities up to a few kW/kg), overall power to weight ratios are significantly better than most internal combustion engines.

This raises a very interesting application – VTOL flying cars. Flying cars because they fly as the crow flies, do not have to stop for traffic and can be far more streamlined – can be significantly more fuel efficient than ground cars. So a similar Lithium battery powered flying car can have a sufficient power to weight ratio for VTOL and still have an effective range of perhaps 500km or more. And they can be a lot faster…

Considering that this would also avoids road costs, and all the power systems are now OTS, (just add as many motor modules as you need – lots of redundancy), I am kind of amazed no one is developing such yet. As strange as it might first seem, this is the killer app for electric vehicles.

Musk knows very little about the Car business.

Designing and manufacturing quality cars is a pretty difficult
business. Lots of government regulations, Insurance company
pushback, picky consumers, mandatory fleet and dealer
and service station support.

Now add on a novel propulsion scheme, and it's just harder.

The Yugo was an attempt to get into a proven design
with an unproven workforce. The yugo was famed for
quality problems in the field.

The Delorean was a novel design led by a famed
Detroit designer, which failed.

A good electric car is a real market need, but, i'd bet
more on Honda or Toyota to do this, then Tesla.

Musk knows very little about the Car business.

Duh! That's why he's outsourcing everything but the electronics to Lotus.

while I have seen another company launch with the engine compartment on fire, a technical coup may be a PR mistake.

No problem: just re-position that little fire issue. "Ours is a unique dual-track development approach, gathering data on aerospike combustion patterns while getting operational thrust from a conventional chamber..."

Prices on request.

Musk knows very little about the Car business.

Perhaps...but he proved Detroit is living on a lie.