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#961
Cosmacelf said:
Rivian scaled up(ish) before they had sensible supplier agreements in place. Remember that they delayed R1 launch due to Covid (which, if true, was another mistake they made, I suspect, we’ll never know), so ended up launching right in the middle of the supply chain crunch. This was a big deal as evidenced by Tesla jacking up their prices A LOT. Tesla had actually already started to come down the cost curve from an efficiency standpoint, but input costs due to the supply chain crisis forced them to raise prices.

While the supply chain was bad for all things, I suspect it hit really bad with battery cells. As the supply chain crisis was hitting, Chinese EV automakers decided to also ramp up massively causing the infamous lithium spot pricing to skyrocket.

Anyways RJ has complained about the horrible long term pricing they entered into to get access to any parts at all. Indeed, the expiry of those long term contracts by the end of this year is what is leading Rivian to expect to finally see positive gross margins.

So that accounts for SOME of the cash burn, but it can’t be all of it. I’d have to do some serious spreadsheet comparison to see if their opex is completely out of whack too. I suspect it is since Rivian announced a 10% cut to that with no production hit.

Should Rivian have simply delayed their launch by a year to get better pricing? We will never know, but in hindsight, it might have been a cash conserving play. They would have had to lay off lots of people, which no startup wants to do though.
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Let’s not forget, they’ve changed/removed:
The 12v from under the frunk.
The 12v from under the dash.
Changed audio system.
Changed from quad (Bosch) to dual (rivian) drive units
4 new battery options
Removed wood from back of headrests
Removed launch edition
Added adventure edition

They also made the R1S shorter wheelbase. read: new frame, restricting the vehicle from being able to share the same physical battery space the T has for their original ‘max pack’ requiring them to change it and not allow quad motor + max pack to be an option. Despite this being touted to preorder holders.

That’s some of the fun. Let’s not forget that RJ himself had a fun little email chain when quite a few R1S owners were reporting leaking roof panels, the panel directly after the front windshield would allow a waterfall into the cabin via the overhead console. 😂
 
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#962
buckets0fun said:
Rivian has been around over 12yrs at this point.
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Yeah that's what confused me by having 6 years of data for Rivian... first I thought, since source is listed as SEC filings, maybe it's just since IPO.... but Rivian only IPOed 2.5 years ago.... the only "major" stuff I can think of that would be "6 years" would be from the date they bought their first factory or announced the first two products- but that'd be a weird starting point unless he's trying to cherry pick a bit to make Rivian look worse?
 
#964
Knightshade said:
Yeah that's what confused me by having 6 years of data for Rivian... first I thought, since source is listed as SEC filings, maybe it's just since IPO.... but Rivian only IPOed 2.5 years ago.... the only "major" stuff I can think of that would be "6 years" would be from the date they bought their first factory or announced the first two products- but that'd be a weird starting point unless he's trying to cherry pick a bit to make Rivian look worse?
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Having been at the factory in Normal 3 years ago when they acquired it they were burning cash like a wild fire nearly doubling the factory expansion from the previous Mits site along with lots of fab equipment which I happily sold them. Like a piggy bank with no cap on the bottom.
 
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#966
Yelobird said:
Having been at the factory in Normal 3 years ago when they acquired it they were burning cash like a wild fire nearly doubling the factory expansion from the previous Mits site along with lots of fab equipment which I happily sold them. Like a piggy bank with no cap on the bottom.
Click to expand...


I'm not arguing they're burning insane cash-- I'm arguing showing their total 15 years after founding, but labeling it "6 years" is.... confusing at best.
 
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#967
Todd Burch said:
Little things like that matter, especially when there’s no reason why it CAN’T be on the driver’s side.

In my garage it would be a pain because my garage is just barely longer than my Model X. I’d have to squeeze around either the front or back of the car to get to the port. I would have to turn flat to the garage door and scoot sideways carefully to prevent the dirt on the car or garage door from getting all over my nice button-down work shirt, or from tearing my jacket on one of the myriad metal pieces on the door.

If it’s on the driver’s side, you’re *already* on that side of the car when you get out. In my case it would save 10 or more seconds.

Sounds like not much, but now do it at least twice a day for years and it’s a whole lot of needless time wasted and risk to nice clean shirts and jackets for nothing.

Seems small but things like that add up to be the difference between an acceptable design that people tolerate and a great design that people love.
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What will you do with 2 Tesla's parked side by side in the garage? Even with both on the drivers side? Your situation becomes the Rivian issue where you now have the same problems again, but with a 2nd Tesla even though the charge port is on the drivers' side for both of them.
 
#968
golferguy said:
What will you do with 2 Tesla's parked side by side in the garage? Even with both on the drivers side? Your situation becomes the Rivian issue where you now have the same problems again, but with a 2nd Tesla even though the charge port is on the drivers' side for both of them.
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I routinely park on the right side of a 2-car garage in which each garage door is independent. My cord is on the wall between the two garage doors. I never have to cross to the other side of the car to plug in. Similarly, a car on the left side would have the charger located on the left wall.

With the charge port on the passenger side, 100% of drivers are guaranteed to have to cross to the other side of the car to plug in 100% of the time. Whereas with the port on the driver’s side there’s a large percentage of people such as those in my situation who will never have to cross.
 
#969
Todd Burch said:
I routinely park on the right side of a 2-car garage in which each garage door is independent. My cord is on the wall between the two garage doors. I never have to cross to the other side of the car to plug in. Similarly, a car on the left side would have the charger located on the left wall.

With the charge port on the passenger side, 100% of drivers are guaranteed to have to cross to the other side of the car to plug in 100% of the time. Whereas with the port on the driver’s side there’s a large percentage of people such as those in my situation who will never have to cross.
Click to expand...
2nd EVSE and avoid the grief?
 
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#970
Todd Burch said:
I routinely park on the right side of a 2-car garage in which each garage door is independent. My cord is on the wall between the two garage doors. I never have to cross to the other side of the car to plug in. Similarly, a car on the left side would have the charger located on the left wall.

With the charge port on the passenger side, 100% of drivers are guaranteed to have to cross to the other side of the car to plug in 100% of the time. Whereas with the port on the driver’s side there’s a large percentage of people such as those in my situation who will never have to cross.
Click to expand...
So you would buy a 2nd charger? Most owners don't when they have 2 cars so left or right it won't matter. Like I stated, I live this with and have little problem with it and you are imagining it and making it a nightmare.

Are you not more annoyed at the Tesla lousy customer service? The lack of human phone contact? The lack of Apple Carplay? Lack of Android Auto? If you had a M3 or MY what about Homelink or SXM as standard, instead we get Elon's services? The absurd labor prices for out of warranty? Lack of loaners for warranty at times and UBER payments instead? Or lack of loaners and Uber payments for out of warranty. Getting your car back dirty because Tesla doesn't wash or vacuum a car for repairs and dropped the simplicity of a wash?

I hope you focus on the all of these things too.
 
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#971
SalisburySam said:
2nd EVSE and avoid the grief?
Click to expand...
What grief? I’m simply explaining why a passenger side charger is not ideal. My port is on the driver’s side so I don’t have any grief. That’s the point. If it were on the passenger side it would be more of a pain.

Even with a second EVSE you would still have to get out of your car and go to the other side to plug in. Hell, string 100 chargers up in your garage. You still have to go around the car to plug in.
 
#972
golferguy said:
So you would buy a 2nd charger? Most owners don't when they have 2 cars so left or right it won't matter. Like I stated, I live this with and have little problem with it and you are imagining it and making it a nightmare.

Are you not more annoyed at the Tesla lousy customer service? The lack of human phone contact? The lack of Apple Carplay? Lack of Android Auto? If you had a M3 or MY what about Homelink or SXM as standard, instead we get Elon's services? The absurd labor prices for out of warranty? Lack of loaners for warranty at times and UBER payments instead? Or lack of loaners and Uber payments for out of warranty. Getting your car back dirty because Tesla doesn't wash or vacuum a car for repairs and dropped the simplicity of a wash?

I hope you focus on the all of these things too.
Click to expand...
Whoa dude, who pissed in your corn flakes? I’m simply explaining why a passenger side charge port is not ideal.
 
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#974
voyager said:
https://twitter.com/x/status/1766873022260990048
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What slow down?

1710094850166.png


fourweekmba.com

Tesla Production Numbers By Year - FourWeekMBA

Tesla Production Model S/X Model 3/Y Q1 2023 19,437 421,371 Q2 2023 19,489 460,211 Q3 2023 13,688 416,800 Q4 2023 18,212 476,777 FourWeekMBA Intelligence Read Next: Tesla Business Model Related to Tesla Who Owns Tesla Tesla Business Model How Does Tesla Make Money? Tesla Cost Structure Tesla...
fourweekmba.com fourweekmba.com
 
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#975
Q1 2024 is currently tracking to be quite similar to Q1 2023. For the whole year we're likely looking at maybe 10% YoY growth at best.

Even Tesla pointed out in their Q4 shareholder deck and call that growth this year (and likely next) will be much smaller than had been typical in previous years.
 
#977
buckets0fun said:
“Europe curb side charging”
Click to expand...

buckets0fun said:
“Tesla shouldn’t dictate the location of chargeports for other manufacturers”
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insideevs.com

Here's Why The Rivian R2 And R3 Have The Charge Door On The 'Wrong' Side

One of the most controversial design decisions of the Rivian R2 and R3 is the charge port location. We finally find out why Rivian placed it on the right side.
insideevs.com insideevs.com

And other takeaways from that round table discussion echo this.
 
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