Tesla Gigafactory Investor Thread

[Jack6591]

California could be in the running

Dan Morain: California could be in the running for Teslas battery factory, after all - Dan Morain - The Sacramento Bee

 

[JRP3]

Not sure how I feel about that. I thought part of the idea was to have some operations outside of CA for more geographic diversification. I'm also surprised that Tesla is concerned about keeping the $2500 refund since I'd bet that has almost no effect on the demand for a $72K+ vehicle.

 

[clmason]

This thread seems like the best place for my question, but still not really the perfect fit. Sorry its a little out of scope.

Is anyone investing in Alcoa (AA)?

I have just recently begun researching AA and I like what I see. Other automakers are jumping on the aluminum bandwagon too. Demand will be increasing substantially solely because of this over the next decade.

Thoughts on AA?

 

[JRP3]

This article doesn't paint a great picture but I haven't looked deep enough to know if it's accurate. http://www.bidnessetc.com/21482-alc...owngraded-to-junk-territory-by-finch-ratings/

 

[clmason]

This article doesn't paint a great picture but I haven't looked deep enough to know if it's accurate. http://www.bidnessetc.com/21482-alc...owngraded-to-junk-territory-by-finch-ratings/[/QUOTE

Thanks for the article, I will keep researching AA.

 

[Krugerrand]

There are other aluminum suppliers besides Alcoa.

 

[Chickenlittle]

There are other aluminum suppliers besides Alcoa.

And there are other car makers than tesla

over 6 months with stock and options have a 3 bagger so far with aa. Aluminum as a commodity has been damaged by glut but aa is using alloys to differentiate themselves from competition. Cars are not made from pure aluminum. Ford and gm have gone for alcoa. Their profits are coming from what they do with the aluminum not making it. Read transcript of last conference call. They have even licensed their waste water treatment to other companies. If the price of aluminum were to increase that would be gravy.

The debt downgrade is strange since the company paying it down for a year now and with improvement in the financials they are downgrading. The most recent "loss" a paper write off of assets not involving cash. As alcoa points out the company has no need to borrow anyway for at least three years. I would see downgrade of bonds an opportunity to invest in the bonds, not my style, since they are not in trouble at all

 

[Chickenlittle]

This article doesn't paint a great picture but I haven't looked deep enough to know if it's accurate. http://www.bidnessetc.com/21482-alc...owngraded-to-junk-territory-by-finch-ratings/

Sure glad that didn't stop me on tsla over the last two years

 

[LakeForest]

Tesla CEO: Panasonic Likely Partner in Battery Plant - WSJ.com

Sounds like we should expect some info in 2-3 months and that they would break ground in two location to minimize risk. Also, Panasonic is "likely" partner.

 

[JRP3]

The company would break ground at two separate locations to minimize the risk of delays, he said.​

So they are building two gigafactories, or two half-gigafactories?

 

[Cattledog]

So they are building two gigafactories, or two half-gigafactories?

(2) 512 Mb factories?

 

[Zaxxon]

Ha.

 

[Cobos]

Bulldozing land can't be that expensive, and even though unorthodox doing it 2 places at once might make some sense? That way you tell state 1 that at state 2 where we are also clearing land we got this and that, if you can match that we'll just give that flat land away over in state 2. Must be a good way to drive a really hard bargain?
And as said bulldozing land costs a few million dollars, so those with permits and best incentives first will get the deal?
I'm just thinking out loud here, so please pick my idea apart...

Cobos

 

[surfside]

The company would break ground at two separate locations to minimize the risk of delays, he said.

So they are building two gigafactories, or two half-gigafactories?

where are you seeing this quote? it isn't in the WSJ article...

surfside

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

(2) 512 Mb factories?

It'd be cheaper, but you know they'd eventually wished they gone for one larger one.

- - - Updated - - -

where are you seeing this quote? it isn't in the WSJ article...

surfside

Google gives me a hit on the WSJ article "Tesla CEO Pledges to Build Up Support Network in China".

 

[Cosmacelf]

That WSJ journal article originally had a quote from Elon saying they would likely build two factories in the interest of time. Unfortunately that article got edited and the quote taken out! I hate it when newspapers do that!

Meanwhile, Tesla buys another factory in California: Tesla Begins Manufacturing Modifications On Its New 431,000 Square Foot Facility In Lathrop, California

Putting 2+2 together, I think Tesla has an aggressive timeline for their gigafactory, their negotiations with the states for tax breaks and locations aren't going as fast as they would like, so they are going ahead and starting initial work on gigfactory production in the new 431,000 square foot facility they just bought.

 

[hobbes]

That WSJ journal article originally had a quote from Elon saying they would likely build two factories in the interest of time. Unfortunately that article got edited and the quote taken out! I hate it when newspapers do that!

Yeah, they should at least note that it was edited. Seems to me that almost half of the text was edited.

 

[anon]

A similar quote can still be found in this article:
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/tesla-delivers-first-china-cars-110032342.html

 

[Cosmacelf]

Here's the quote in case that article gets edited too! "We are going to proceed with at least two locations in parallel, just in case one of them encounters some issues after breaking ground," Musk said. What an odd quote though. "just in case one of them encounters some issues after breaking ground" - meaning what? It blows up?


I loved his other quote in the article: "My instructions to the team are to spend money as fast as they can spend it without wasting it," he said. God, it must be nice to run a company that can do that!

 

[c041v]

Here's the quote in case that article gets edited too! "We are going to proceed with at least two locations in parallel, just in case one of them encounters some issues after breaking ground," Musk said. What an odd quote though. "just in case one of them encounters some issues after breaking ground" - meaning what? It blows up?

That is really weird, this isn't a Mars Colonial Trasnsporter, it's a factory. It's been done 1000 times before and there's many companies that specialize in that sort of construction. Heck, there's a division of my company that builds nothing but Costco's.

It must be an allusion to the issue being political in nature. "Just because we've broken ground doesn't mean we're making batteries yet."