Tesla stock in the UK?

[Torokruger]

Anyone who thinks Tesla is still going to be head and shoulders above the "legacy" car brands in 10 (or even 5) years time may be blinded by the excitement/personal attachment to the brand.

Tesla is new in the industry and and an exciting an innovative auto maker. People, including myself, like to feel a part of the brand/cause. However, compare the share price to other auto makers. Many of which who's financials make Tesla's share price look like its been set to ludicrous mode with 1% charge remaining. The profit just isn't there yet to justify the share price.

There are literally dozens of companies hot on their heels in regards to full self driving, EV's and battery tech. The majority of which have much more enviable balance sheets and bigger R&D budgets.

Once said tech is incorporated into existing car brands, the playing field will be levelled and the Tesla share price will come down to be more comparable to other automakers.

Just my $0.02

These bigger manufacturers are falling at the first hurdle, with battery tech, software (VW) and not being completely on board with the future.
Case in point GM says they will have everything in place for a complete range of electric cars by (wait for it) 2035 .
PSA an amalgamation of the previous big manufacturers have one skateboard platform that they punt out Corsa, Peugot and DS3 . They all still believe in the dealership principle (where they make their money).
I just feel that as people and governments views change more towards sustainability then these dinosaurs will be left behind.
If the Graphene manufacture can be reduced and integrated into cells then the first manufacturer to harness this will be the leader either with their own products or supplying to others and I've got a sneaky suspicion that may be Tesla.

 

[Rooster6655]

Interactive investor is expensive if you only do a few trades a year

well depends what other platform you are using and how much you are investing, £120 a year is nothing if you don’t get extra charges and £96 in trading credit.

 

[AnthonyLR]

well depends what other platform you are using and how much you are investing, £120 a year is nothing if you don’t get extra charges and £96 in trading credit.

The OP just wants to buy a few Tesla shares and eventually pass them to his kids. I think the HL fee structure of 0.45% per annum will fit his investment profile more cost effectively than Interactive Investor.

 

[Rooster6655]

These bigger manufacturers are falling at the first hurdle, with battery tech, software (VW) and not being completely on board with the future.
Case in point GM says they will have everything in place for a complete range of electric cars by (wait for it) 2035 .
PSA an amalgamation of the previous big manufacturers have one skateboard platform that they punt out Corsa, Peugot and DS3 . They all still believe in the dealership principle (where they make their money).
I just feel that as people and governments views change more towards sustainability then these dinosaurs will be left behind.
If the Graphene manufacture can be reduced and integrated into cells then the first manufacturer to harness this will be the leader either with their own products or supplying to others and I've got a sneaky suspicion that may be Tesla.

Tesla don’t have the answer to an alternative to the dealership because what they offer currently is sub par and really only a cost saver nothing more, it’s a method but they need to fine tune it beyond what it is today.

Legacy automakers don’t have to have a better offering as Tesla and they will still sell cars, Tesla can only grow so much without sales and marketing.

If I was going to buy Tesla shares it would be in April when they have the delivery numbers for the first quarter which I don’t expect to be good.

 

[M3PMike]

These bigger manufacturers are falling at the first hurdle, with battery tech, software (VW) and not being completely on board with the future.
Case in point GM says they will have everything in place for a complete range of electric cars by (wait for it) 2035 .
PSA an amalgamation of the previous big manufacturers have one skateboard platform that they punt out Corsa, Peugot and DS3 . They all still believe in the dealership principle (where they make their money).
I just feel that as people and governments views change more towards sustainability then these dinosaurs will be left behind.
If the Graphene manufacture can be reduced and integrated into cells then the first manufacturer to harness this will be the leader either with their own products or supplying to others and I've got a sneaky suspicion that may be Tesla.

Although I agree with some aspects of your opinion, I also think it's naive to view Tesla on a pedestal like this.

We all love or have some form of passion for the cars, the sustainability, the tech, the charismatic CEO otherwise we wouldn't be on this forum, right?

I knew my opinion would be contentious, and I had to hover over the "post reply" button for quite some time as I didn't want to effect the general positivity of the forum. Everyone is excited waiting for or enjoying their cars, which is great.

However, the OP asked for advice on trading TSLA as he was curious about whether/if he should invest his hard earned into the company.

I would recommend asking the same question on a Financial Investment forum where you won't get the biased answers and see how many people recommend the current price as a good entry point.....

 

[Rooster6655]

The OP just wants to buy a few Tesla shares and eventually pass them to his kids. I think the HL fee structure of 0.45% per annum will fit his investment profile more cost effectively than Interactive Investor.

Yes well I put the information there for others to benefit as well and there was more than 1 person interested in buying shares.

 

[Rooster6655]

For low commission/user friendliness a good place to start is trading212.

I would recommend being very cautious with any investments at the moment unless you're in it for the long run.

Yes the tesla stocks are "going cheap" compared to the previous peak however they are massively overbought (still).

Don't invest on emotion/an attachment to a company and do plenty of research into their financials and read their valuations from credible market analysts before parting with your ££ otherwise it may be the last time you see it!

Goes without saying that your capital is at risk...

I agree, long term is best for investing but that doesn’t mean that every stock will perform over the long term and some will go down if there are long term problems.

 

[AnthonyLR]

Although I agree with some aspects of your opinion, I also think it's naive to view Tesla on a pedestal like this.

We all love or have some form of passion for the cars, the sustainability, the tech, the charismatic CEO otherwise we wouldn't be on this forum, right?

I knew my opinion would be contentious, and I had to hover over the "post reply" button for quite some time as I didn't want to effect the general positivity of the forum. Everyone is excited waiting for or enjoying their cars, which is great.

However, the OP asked for advice on trading TSLA as he was curious about whether/if he should invest his hard earned into the company.

I would recommend asking the same question on a Financial Investment forum where you won't get the biased answers and see how many people recommend the current price as a good entry point.....

OP didn’t ask for investment advice. He asked if there was an easy platform to trade Tesla shares on. He’s already decided to buy some.

 

[M3PMike]

OP didn’t ask for investment advice. He asked if there was an easy platform to trade Tesla shares on. He’s already decided to buy some.

Fair one.

But still....

 

[Plagued]

I don't see Ford, VAG, Mercedes, Toyota, Nissan etc etc as the big companies here. They make cars with engines steering wheels and peddles, in the long game of commuter transport these are all things that will go. The Tesla share price isn't this high on the basis that their metalwork is amazing, it's the tech. If they wanted they could licence it to other companies that make cars like GM want to do with their platform. Tesla is the big player here. Intel are probably one to watch too after their purchase and investment in mobileye. Tesla have also done a good job of buying up battery tech firms. If it was about how well you could put together the metalwork of a car Tesla would lose. I'm not saying they're a safe bet, but of all the car manufacturers out there all losing huge amounts in their share price I'd rather take a gamble that Tesla will remain the technology leader above other car manufacturers that are much newer to the technology game than Tesla.

 

[M3PMike]

I don't see Ford, VAG, Mercedes, Toyota, Nissan etc etc as the big companies here. They make cars with engines steering wheels and peddles, in the long game of commuter transport these are all things that will go. The Tesla share price isn't this high on the basis that their metalwork is amazing, it's the tech. If they wanted they could licence it to other companies that make cars like GM want to do with their platform. Tesla is the big player here. Intel are probably one to watch too after their purchase and investment in mobileye. Tesla have also done a good job of buying up battery tech firms. If it was about how well you could put together the metalwork of a car Tesla would lose. I'm not saying they're a safe bet, but of all the car manufacturers out there all losing huge amounts in their share price I'd rather take a gamble that Tesla will remain the technology leader above other car manufacturers that are much newer to the technology game than Tesla.

Compare Tesla like for like in the tech arena and they're still way overpriced.

I hope they pull some amazing innovations "out of the bag" and drive the share price up. Why wouldn't I?

I'm obviously not a Tesla hater. I am also not a lay person in finance and my last (kind of reiterated) contribution to this thread is- to know what you're getting yourself into, understand the real risk of losing money (on any financial instrument) and to do your research.

M3PMike out...

 

[Torokruger]

The OP just wants to buy a few Tesla shares and eventually pass them to his kids. I think the HL fee structure of 0.45% per annum will fit his investment profile more cost effectively than Interactive Investor.

Thanks I think this is going to be my choice. Yes other shares are available but I dont normally go into something unless I truly believe in every aspect of the ideology so again thanks, and sorry if I went a bit ranty earlier its just that these other car companies and oil/petrol companies are all about the holy dollar and honestly dont give a damn.
And I totally agree about the potential losses but I will only use what I can afford to lose.

 

[pharwood]

Given that there seems to be a huge sale on stocks just now, is there an easy way to buy a share or 2 in Tesla from the UK? Any decent platforms etc? What costs should a small scale investor expect?

eToro is worth a look Trade with me on eToro

 

[Avendit]

Cheers all, loads of really useful info, and I'm glad it came with a (reasonably balanced!) view of should you - useful for anyone else reading later.

Personally just considering it as somewhere to park a few £100 which may or may not accelerate my purchase of some model Y wheels for my 3. A gamble that may pay off, or not, but it's not the end of the world of it doesn't work out. I've been kicking myself for not having got a couple of shares years ago, this market wide dip seems like an opp to address that.

But yea, don't stick your life savings on a single company, any money you do put into any stock n shares -is- at risk. Ie what would you do if you didn't get any of your money back, like ever.

 

[Bobly]

Cheers all, loads of really useful info, and I'm glad it came with a (reasonably balanced!) view of should you - useful for anyone else reading later.

Personally just considering it as somewhere to park a few £100 which may or may not accelerate my purchase of some model Y wheels for my 3. A gamble that may pay off, or not, but it's not the end of the world of it doesn't work out. I've been kicking myself for not having got a couple of shares years ago, this market wide dip seems like an opp to address that.

But yea, don't stick your life savings on a single company, any money you do put into any stock n shares -is- at risk. Ie what would you do if you didn't get any of your money back, like ever.

I did a similar thing last year, as I missed out on the first batch of deliveries last year I put the money I’d set aside for the deposit into $TSLA, I then got a bit carried away and continued to add throughout 2019 as the sentiment towards the company started to shift to be more positive and the negative news appeared to be to become more and more desperate (tinfoil hat time, but I was sure those with large short positions were really pushing more and more ridiculous negativity) rode the wave until mid-Feb and then chickened out as it just seemed to be going too crazy for my liking. I’ve left a little bit of the profits invested in Tesla as I still believe in the long term success of the company and that’s taken a beating recently, but overall was a rather successful punt.

 

[WannabeOwner]

Anyone who thinks Tesla is still going to be head and shoulders above the "legacy" car brands in 10 (or even 5) years time may be blinded by the excitement/personal attachment to the brand.

I've been reading that on here for 5 years ... keeps not happening ...

 

[MrBadger]

I think the HL fee structure of 0.45% per annum will fit his investment profile more cost effectively than Interactive Investor.

Shares are actually 0.45% capped at £45/year, plus trading costs.

 

[Yev000]

+1 for HL, you can open an shares ISA in munutes. I also trasferred a small private pention to them for self investement. Good app and good online portal.

With Tesla I personally think that in 10-15 years time it will be as prevalant as Apple is today, so the shares are pretty cheap long term. Even with Android, Apple is still up there. My point is Tesla has already achieved cult status. You can't really take that away quickly even if the competition is just as good.

They also just made their 1000000 th car. Name any other auto maker with 1 million EVs under their belt.

To put that number into perspective, Nissan achieved about half that in the same time period (since December 2010). A big established manufacturer...

Other manufacturers would have us belive they will ramp up to 400k cars per year on the spot to start cometing? Where are the batteries going to come from? BMW managed about 200k EVs to date (not counting plug in hybrids).

 

[WannabeOwner]

Other manufacturers would have us belive they will ramp up to 400k cars per year

Quite. I keep seeing the hype ... but it hasn't materialised.

The Bolt ... seemed like a great car (some people complained the seats were uncomfortable ...). No idea what GM are up to on that (they seem to be making all the noises and moves that they are not in the Compliance game, yet the actual achievement looks just like that). And in USA they have the benefit of Electrify America for a good quality widespread 3rd party charging infrastructure. Sales dwindling ... new models imminent ... time will tell.

iPace ... fabulous car, on paper. Charging incompatibility, software problems, and so on ... From what I read owners almost universally "love to drive it" (but no idea if they have also driven a Tesla, I pigeonhole most iPace drivers as "Wouldn't be seen dead driving an iPad" ... fair enough). Plenty of complaints about trip-charging, and I'm staggered at how much time their owners are prepared to allow for charging on trips. Even if I was retired and had all the time in the world I'd prefer to get there and do something else with my time.

VW ID ... I reckon VW have got it absolutely right, on paper, with a ground-up skate-board design ... but still not here yet, delayed because of software problems.

e-Tron - much loved by owners (according to Fully Charged). And the Merc too. But the numbers they are selling look disappointing to me

Norway has a fabulous EV infrastructure, and getting on for 50% of new cars are EV. I therefore take the view that Norwegians can buy whatever EV takes their fancy, and not worry about charging etc..

 

[JupiterMan]

For those looking at alternatives to diversify in this sector, one to consider is the ishares electric vehicles and driving technology UCITS ETF (ticker: ECAR)

This is an exchange traded fund which passively invests in an index comprising of companies with significant trade in this sector - it includes some exposure to Tesla (1.9%), in addition to many other companies

iShares Electric Vehicles and Driving Technology UCITS ETF | ECAR

Units are currently priced at around $4.22, so a bit easier to purchase for those with smaller portfolios.