2012/07/25 Q2 2012 Q&A Conf Call notes

[vfx]

And we have already seen pictures

Over on the Supercharger thread (go figure) there is another site pictured as well.

 

[thelastdeadmouse]

The Prius had a six to nine month backlog for the first seven years. Didn't seem to hurt sales any. I waited nine months for my 2001 and six months for my 2004. The 2004 was only six months because of the Pioneer Program for 2001 purchasers. I'm not concerned that three to four months will cause Tesla problems.

Exactly. Lowered sales because of backlog is a problem that fixes itself. If you're targeting a 3 months backlog, having a 9 month backlog just means you can produce vehicle at full tilt, and while the wait time drops, people who hadn't been reserving because the wait time was too long start to reserve again. Having more sales than units you ever intended to purchase isn't a problem.

 

[mitch672]

FYI, found this transcript as well:
Tesla Motors' CEO Discusses Q2 2012 Results - Earnings Call Transcript - TheStreet

 

[MikeK]

I talked to some of the service guys at the PA drive event and they said that Stanford may jack the rent or otherwise not renew their lease on the Menlo site (he said Stanford is planning a mall expansion or something and wants to reclaim all that land). So if that happens he said they'd move major service to the Fremont factory (since they have gobs of space) but that they'd also look to have a small service center somewhere on the peninsula (he mentioned Daly City). He said there are 350 Roadsters between Marin and the southern peninsula so they want to keep a service center close for those customers.

Ooof! It'd be a shame for them to lose the Menlo Park location, but if they do, I hope they can open someplace a bit closer to it than Daly City. Thinking purely selfishly here, Menlo is about a 15 minute drive from my house, and is on my way to work. Daly City is 50% farther away, and in the direction opposite work...

 

[strider]

Ooof! It'd be a shame for them to lose the Menlo Park location, but if they do, I hope they can open someplace a bit closer to it than Daly City. Thinking purely selfishly here, Menlo is about a 15 minute drive from my house, and is on my way to work. Daly City is 50% farther away, and in the direction opposite work...

Yeah. I guess their thinking is that north peninsula and Fremont would have the bay pretty well covered. I work in Sunnyvale so I can drop off my car and take Caltrain to light rail to get to work and back to the shop to pick my car up. No way to do that in Fremont though could be possible in Daly City. We'll see what they do - just passing on what I heard.

 

[TEG]

From what I recall, the Menlo Park location was always considered temporary from when they first moved in.
I think Stanford basically told them about their long term plans up front, so the lease terms were probably adjusted accordingly.

 

[doug]

I talked to some of the service guys at the PA drive event and they said that Stanford may jack the rent or otherwise not renew their lease on the Menlo site (he said Stanford is planning a mall expansion or something and wants to reclaim all that land).

That has been a long time coming. Their original lease ends in a few days, though GeorgeB told me that they managed to get it extended in the near term and that he wants another service location on this side of the bay. Some years ago, I heard from a Stanford admin that they planed to put staff housing there integrated with some shops, though that plan may have changed. For more details, see this post.