My Age of Investment

Los Angeles.

Inside a racetrack.

A bright yellow object is moving fast and making a "humming" noise!

If you look closely, it is a sports car with a bullet-shaped front and smooth body lines racing on the track.

The car is fast and stylish, and looks different from the average sports car on the market.

When the sports car is cornering, the speed slows down, the body drifts, and the tires rub the ground, making a screeching sound.

After accelerating in a straight line, turning and drifting, and running a few laps around the track, the sports car stopped, the low door was pushed open, and a figure wearing a helmet curled up.

Xia Jingxing took off the helmet, put it under his arm, looked at the few people walking towards him, and said with a smile, "It feels good, but the noise of the motor is too loud!"

A middle-aged white man spread his hands, "I'm also annoyed by the damn noise, but I can't help it, let's make do with it!"

The man asked again, "What about other aspects? For example, acceleration, driving experience, what do you think, Daeron? Is this little rocket strong enough?"

"Acceleration is really exciting, faster than many sports cars!"

Xia Jingxing patted the car shell next to him, "Is it related to the shell material? The fiberglass shell is much lighter than the aluminum body of a normal fuel car."

The middle-aged white man laughed, "Yes, the light weight of the body is one of the important reasons for the high acceleration performance of the tzero.

In addition, low torque is also a major feature of this car.

Traditional internal combustion engines require a certain speed guarantee before reaching maximum torque.

But the tzero's torque doesn't have to be like this, we can instantly reach the maximum torque value of 183 lb-ft (248 Nm), whether it is 0 rpm or 5000 rpm maximum speed.

In a road test in San Diego, California last year, the acceleration performance of the tzero beat two classic sports cars, the Porsche 911 and the Ferrari f355.

They all need more than four seconds to close to five seconds to complete the "zero-hundred acceleration", and our little rocket only takes 42 seconds. "

"Then why don't you mass-produce it, Tom?"

Xia Jingxing looked at tzero like a work of art, secretly regretting it.

This car can be called the godfather of modern electric sports cars and is currently the fastest electric sports car in the world.

But the ac drive company just wasn't willing to put the car into mass production.

Martin Eberhard persuaded them, and Elon Musk persuaded them.

But the company was unmoved.

Tom Cage, the middle-aged white man, laughed bitterly, why does everyone ask them such questions? Every time he has to take the trouble to explain.

He reluctantly spread his hands, "Because of the price of 220,000 US dollars, the little yellow rocket is destined to only become a niche luxury. It's okay to treat it as a hobby. Loss is certain.

ac (ac drives) is just a small company and we don't have that much money and energy to invest in R\u0026D and can't afford to fail. "

Xia Jingxing nodded and stopped persuading him. Anyway, the ac drive had already licensed tzero's related technology to Tesla.

What ac drives dare not do, Tesla will do it for you.

The car tzero has an interesting name meaning, "t" stands for time and "tiro" stands for zero, which stands for start.

As soon as it started, it ended.

ac drives built three cars in total, one sold, one used by Tom Cage, the president of the company, and one was the one in front of him.

Because of the shape and color of the bullet, as well as the super fast acceleration, tzero also has a nickname - "little yellow rocket".

"What's the cruising range of this little rocket?"

Tom said, "When it was launched in 1997, it used acid batteries and had a range of only 50 kilometers.

Last year we used lithium batteries for laptops,

The cruising range has been significantly improved, reaching about 150 kilometers.

But there are several conditions, the speed must be maintained at 60 kilometers per hour, and the road must be flat to maintain this range.

If it is running on a mountain road or driving violently, the cruising range has to be reduced by 20. "

Xia Jingxing continued to ask, "For charging, an ordinary 120-watt or 240-watt socket will do, right?"

Tom nodded, "Yes, it's very convenient to charge the car."

Xia Jingxing and Tom had a lively chat, while Eberhard and Tarpenning stood beside them with their arms crossed, not interrupting much, and just listened to their conversation quietly.

Today, they accompanied Xia Jingxing to test drive the tzero, so that the chairman and the big sponsor could experience the charm of the electric sports car, and at the same time, they also talked about some business cooperation with the ac drive company.

The main business of ac drives is: production of drive systems, battery management systems, vehicle management systems and vehicle-to-grid systems for OEMs.

For Tesla to produce cars, in addition to using the relevant technical authorization of the tzero model that has already been obtained, other accessories also need to find an ac drive to place an order.

Xia Jingxing looked at the low sports car again and asked, "Are you selling this car?"

Tom shook his head, "The company only has this test car."

"Don't you still have one? Just sell this one to me."

Xia Jingxing felt that this car was very collectible.

Of the three small rockets in the previous life, only one survived, and the others were all broken.

The only one in the world, how many car collections can't be obtained!

"Alright then, take it if you want!"

Tom did not insist, he felt that Xia Jingxing was also a car lover, otherwise he would not have invested millions of dollars in Tesla.

Although the ac drive company does not want to mass-produce electric sports cars, it believes that there is a high probability of failure.

But seeing someone with high spirits to promote this cause, from a personal emotional point of view, he is still very supportive.

In addition, Xia Jingxing is also a very potential entrepreneur, worthy of his friendship.

Tom remembered something and said to the three: "Hey, by the way, someone wants to talk to you."

"Who is it?" Xia Jingxing asked.

"Elon Musk, a Silicon Valley madman who built a rocket!"

Tom said with a smile: "He is also a friend of mine, and he has always been interested in the field of electric vehicles.

When I saw that Tesla was struggling to raise money, I wanted to introduce him to you.

But soon after, Tesla completed the A round of financing, and I gave up on the idea.

Some time ago, Musk found me again and asked me if I knew you? He wants to chat with you. "

"What are you talking about? Does he want to invest in us?"

Tarpenning asked with a smile.

"I guess so! Do you want to see him?"

As Tom spoke, he glanced at the three of them, his main focus was on Xia Jingxing, because he knew that this was the major shareholder and the final decision maker.

Eberhard suddenly became interested, "Musk, is that the rich man who sold PayPal for more than 100 million US dollars before?"

Tom nodded and smiled, "Yes, it's him, with a lot of cash in his hand!

If you want to make a difference in the field of electric vehicles, you may need a lot of money.

I think you might as well meet him, one more shareholder can bring more strength. "

Tarpenning and Eberhard were moved, and they all turned their attention to Xia Jingxing.

Xia Jingxing was thinking, Musk finally came to the door.

Do you want to see him?

Soon, he had a decision in his heart. Anyway, Tesla had already been invested by him first, and he was not afraid of Musk coming to cut him off. It would be fine to meet him.

"Okay, let's see you then!"

Tarpenning and Eberhard looked at each other with a little regret.

It would be great if they delayed the financing for another month, and one more investor would compete. It would not be a bad thing for the two of them. Maybe they could get more favorable investment conditions.

Moreover, Musk is not some unknown little guy.

PayPal’s valuation of $1.5 billion was acquired by eaby, and Musk’s money was real.

Although Facebook has a valuation of more than 500 million US dollars, it is a valuation after all. Xia Jingxing holds more than 60% of the shares, and the book value is not low, but it has not yet been implemented.

Comparing the two phases, it is obvious that Musk is slightly better!