2017 Investor Roundtable:General Discussion

[RobStark]

J.D. Power 2017 U.S. Vehicle Dependability Study
Nameplate VDS ranking (problems per 100 vehicles)
Lexus

110
Porsche

110
Toyota

123
Buick

126
Mercedes-Benz

131
Hyundai

133
BMW

139
Chevrolet

142
Honda

143
Jaguar

144
Kia

148
Lincoln

150
Mini

150
GMC

151
Cadillac

152
Audi

153
Volvo

154
Industry Average

156
Chrysler

159
Subaru

164
VW

164
Mazda

166
Acura

167
Nissan

170
Land Rover

178
Mitsubishi

182
Ford

183
Ram

183
Dodge

187
Infiniti

203
Jeep

209
Fiat

298





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JD Power press release

You can reach John Irwin at [email protected]

Tags: Quality J.D. Power Vehicle Dependability StudyFiat Chrysler Automobiles Porsche Lexus
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[neroden]

I believe that one of his main motivations was to eliminate the high costs of civil construction (California high speed rail).

Sure, that was clear from his Hyperloop napkin blog post -- and he didn't do his research. He was working on the *wrong problem*.

Thinking about this, I really should waste a day setting up a twitter account to contact Musk. Because you know what would really cut the costs of civil construction?

Self-driving electric bulldozers

And Tesla could build those. Right now.

Software: put in an accurate land survey (in CAD form) and the desired shape of the land (in CAD form), and the automated bulldozers work day and night restructuring it, no humans needed, recharging as needed.

It would blow the floor out of civil construction costs.

 

[jhm]

SolarEdge Technologies, Inc Is Pumping Out Profits, But Where Does It Go From Here?

I'd like to see Tesla look into acquiring SolarEdge. It is extremely profitable, but is strategically vulnerable as middle component maker. It does not own the end customer, and battery makers like Tesla are eating into the inverter market. So if it were brought into Tesla Energy it would be strategically secure and remain a profit engine. Moreover, SolarEdge has some really good innovators on staff, so the talent acquisition would be a plus for Tesla. So basically, I think SolarEdge would be more valuable as a part of Tesla Energy than it is as a public company.

Disclosure: I'm long on both SolarEdge and Tesla.

 

[jhm]

Sure, that was clear from his Hyperloop napkin blog post -- and he didn't do his research. He was working on the *wrong problem*.

Thinking about this, I really should waste a day setting up a twitter account to contact Musk. Because you know what would really cut the costs of civil construction?

Self-driving electric bulldozers

And Tesla could build those. Right now.

Software: put in an accurate land survey (in CAD form) and the desired shape of the land (in CAD form), and the automated bulldozers work day and night restructuring it, no humans needed, recharging as needed.

It would blow the floor out of civil construction costs.

I love it. Autonomy and electrification have huge application in all sorts of construction equipment. Also temporary microgrids for powering a worksite come to mind.

And, yes, Musk needs this for Mars!

 

[RobStark]

I'd like to see Tesla look into acquiring SolarEdge.

I have thought this too in the recent past.

Then I heard Elon say Tesla has the best inverter engineers in the world.

Elon may not see much value in SolarEdge.

 

[erthquake]

Sure, that was clear from his Hyperloop napkin blog post -- and he didn't do his research. He was working on the *wrong problem*.

Thinking about this, I really should waste a day setting up a twitter account to contact Musk. Because you know what would really cut the costs of civil construction?

Self-driving electric bulldozers

And Tesla could build those. Right now.

Software: put in an accurate land survey (in CAD form) and the desired shape of the land (in CAD form), and the automated bulldozers work day and night restructuring it, no humans needed, recharging as needed.

It would blow the floor out of civil construction costs.

But aren't the bulk of civil construction costs due to working in densely populated areas?

 

[neroden]

But aren't the bulk of civil construction costs due to working in densely populated areas?

Turns out, no.

The absolute *worst* civil construction cost inflation is caused by undocumented underground utilities, and there's absolutely nothing to be done about this other than figuring out where they are.

Working on cramped sites can also drive up the costs.

But even when utility relocation is not a problem and there's plenty of space on the site and land acquisition is easy, it's still very expensive due to being labor-intensive and slow. There's something very odd going on.

An example: built-in-place bridges (the norm) are roughly twice as expensive as "prefabricated" bridges where the deck is manufactured elsewhere and dropped into place in one move. Says something about the inefficiency of on-site construction.

I'm sure you've all seen how many people there are on a typical road construction crew, and how many of them are standing around most of the time. *There's* one of your sources of cost. Exactly why that is happening is actually quite complicated (it's *not* pure waste -- for one or two of the work steps they actually use the entire crew at once), but it's not a good situation economically speaking.

 

[Matias]

As a Tesla shareholder I would like Elon to devote his time to Tesla.

 

[racer26]

As a Tesla shareholder I would like Elon to devote his time to Tesla.

Good luck with that.

SpaceX came first, and is far more important to his life's work than Tesla is, even though Tesla is the more accessible of the two.

 

[AudubonB]

Autopilot, etc., in heavy equipment already very much exists, and is an essential part of an enormous US and worldwide industry: agriculture.

Go to any John Deere or Caterpillar-Ag or Massey-F, etc., dealer, or search online, and you will see how amazingly robotic-controlled the industry is today, from ground prep to planting to fertilizing, weed control, harvesting &c - every facet of the process. GPS controls place the buster-lister, the combine or the what-have-you at the edge of the specific field down to the last inch on every single furrow.

As far as the construction portion of the industry: there I'm not so familiar, other than my scratching away at ditching and ground-leveling with my 20- and 30-year old fully manual equipment is laughably antique; today's machines have fully-computerized hydraulics that put that bucket at that exact depth in that ditch each time, every time....great stuff. The same is true in the mining industry.

 

[Bobfitz1]

Wtf?

Rant against TE is so absurd. Google the latest Ron Baron interview for his views on what he thinks the t

As a Tesla shareholder I would like Elon to devote his time to Tesla.

Right.... All of us on TMC can see how Tesla's progress as catalyst in EVs, battery storage and now solar energy are suffering so much from Elon Musk not devoting all his time to Tesla! Jeez.

 

[racer26]

Am I the only one feeling like its been forever since there was a CC? After the flurry of them in October/November for AP, SCTY acquisition, 3Q16 ER, its been so long.

 

[Matias]

Elon's achievements with SpaceX help boost his credibility and credibility of all his companies. I doubt TSLA would be trading at $280 if there would be no SpaceX.

I was referring to BoringCompany.

 

[150 kWh]

Am I the only one feeling like its been forever since there was a CC? After the flurry of them in October/November for AP, SCTY acquisition, 3Q16 ER, its been so long.

Elon is boring.

 

[CatB]

SolarEdge Technologies, Inc Is Pumping Out Profits, But Where Does It Go From Here?

I'd like to see Tesla look into acquiring SolarEdge. It is extremely profitable, but is strategically vulnerable as middle component maker. It does not own the end customer, and battery makers like Tesla are eating into the inverter market. So if it were brought into Tesla Energy it would be strategically secure and remain a profit engine. Moreover, SolarEdge has some really good innovators on staff, so the talent acquisition would be a plus for Tesla. So basically, I think SolarEdge would be more valuable as a part of Tesla Energy than it is as a public company.

Disclosure: I'm long on both SolarEdge and Tesla.

But if SolarEdge is vulnerable, why bother paying premium to buy it instead of hiring away talent that would otherwise be waiting for their market sweetspot to disappear?

 

[neroden]

Autopilot, etc., in heavy equipment already very much exists, and is an essential part of an enormous US and worldwide industry: agriculture.

Go to any John Deere or Caterpillar-Ag or Massey-F, etc., dealer, or search online, and you will see how amazingly robotic-controlled the industry is today, from ground prep to planting to fertilizing, weed control, harvesting &c - every facet of the process. GPS controls place the buster-lister, the combine or the what-have-you at the edge of the specific field down to the last inch on every single furrow.

As far as the construction portion of the industry: there I'm not so familiar, other than my scratching away at ditching and ground-leveling with my 20- and 30-year old fully manual equipment is laughably antique; today's machines have fully-computerized hydraulics that put that bucket at that exact depth in that ditch each time, every time....great stuff. The same is true in the mining industry.

The construction industry has absolutely not adopted the techniques used in agriculture and mining. Dunno why.

 

[RobStark]

EPA rates VW's 2017 e-Golf at 126 mpg-e and boosts range to 125 miles

 

[stealthology]

The construction industry has absolutely not adopted the techniques used in agriculture and mining. Dunno why.

Jobs?

 

[racer26]

Jobs?

More correctly: Unions.

 

[techmaven]

Are we getting together to discuss tonight?