2 questions:
1. Are we sure that 16Q2 was a 0 for ZEV? I didn't see a number in the letter and I know he complained about credits being worthless, but that doesn't necessarily prove the number was 0. Either way, probably a small number so maybe doesn't matter.
2. Even if a ZEV is worth $4k, isn't it possible they sold for far less, given Elon's "pennies on the dollar" statement, or am I missing something?
I suspect that Tesla unloaded these credits at a healthy discount. After this sale they had only 3,530 credits left. Looking at the bloated balance of credits for the companies to which they sold - Fiat, Ford and Honda, which are 68,308.2; 62,566.16 and 32,294.07 respectively, I think it is fair to assume that the reason these companies bought so many was not because they needed them right away, but because they were offered at a discount.
However, even if we assume that the credits were sold at half price, which is $3,000 - $4,000, say (very conservatively) $1,500 for each, we are still talking about addition to bottom line of more than $50MM.
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