Tesla, TSLA & the Investment World: the Perpetual Investors' Roundtable

[winfield100]

AND those two were the only superchargers on the East Coast at the time. Not a place for dilly-dallying around the parking for ten minutes, which Broder did in order to finally Broder the car and get the money-shot of a Tesla on a flatbed that was the goal from the start.

Elon's response to that hitpiece was what made me decide to invest, after some due diligence, following the April 1 leak that they were marginally cash-positive. IIRC.

@Lessmog
as a historical side note in the picture, 4 are S85 and 4 are S60 and the Gaithersburg service center folks were helpful)

(additionally we had a tornado a few years later that missed the service center by a mile or so, pulling up big trees)

You are also correct superchargers were few and far between back then, an S 60 didn't have enough to do that run from DC to NYC,
so all 8 Tesla made the run from Gaithersburg, Md, just outside of DC and 2 miles from my house to Delaware rest area, then 4 continued on to NYC, recreating the Broder run, tweeting "a comfy 72 degrees F interior" since Broder complained about it being cold)

HOWEVER, soon after

a Father/daughter team happened to notice that the Northern route across the US, NYC to California was _almost_ complete and the father was keeping an eye on supercharger installs and permits

They took a chance and left NYC gambling on a supercharger becoming energized "out west" on the route and won,
making the 1st (FIRST) transcontinental voyage in a Tesla S a week or so before the Tesla folks did the trip west to east.

 

[jerry33]

I'm looking at the web pages for refreshed S and X. There is no option for ordering a factory-installed hitch on either vehicle. The Y does.

How does one go about getting a hitch on an S/X, and how much does it cost? Do they even offer a hitch on the S?

The hitch comes with the X as standard. The website is now sadly lacking in details, but I can't see them removing it.

 

[Chunky Jr.]

GM’s Decision To Go Electric By 2035 Will Be Too Little Way Way Way Too Late.

Maybe by 2035 GM will have an EV that matches the specs of a 2013 Model S

 

[Lessmog]

@Lessmog
as a historical side note in the picture, 4 are S85 and 4 are S60 and the Gaithersburg service center folks were helpful)

(additionally we had a tornado a few years later that missed the service center by a mile or so, pulling up big trees)

You are also correct superchargers were few and far between back then, an S 60 didn't have enough to do that run from DC to NYC,
so all 8 Tesla made the run from Gaithersburg, Md, just outside of DC and 2 miles from my house to Delaware rest area, then 4 continued on to NYC, recreating the Broder run, tweeting "a comfy 72 degrees F interior" since Broder complained about it being cold)

HOWEVER, soon after

a Father/daughter team happened to notice that the Northern route across the US, NYC to California was _almost_ complete and the father was keeping an eye on supercharger installs and permits

They took a chance and left NYC gambling on a supercharger becoming energized "out west" on the route and won,
making the 1st (FIRST) transcontinental voyage in a Tesla S a week or so before the Tesla folks did the trip west to east.

Your memory beats mine, but I do recall seeing news on that Trans-Am trip when new.
Great pioneers! Trailing blazers. Punting pants. (Some kind of garment)

 

[Lessmog]

Maybe by 2035 GM will have an EV that matches the specs of a 2013 Model S

Would that be the actual GM-E? Considering which one will still be around by then ...

 

[oldTAVguy]

Now this Crazy.

In the New York Times, GMs fluff PR announcement about having electric by 2035 got not one but 2 front page featuring stories above the fold both Friday and Saturday.

Same story. Two days. Front page news. Above fold!

Wow.

With all that is going on in the world, this non story BS press release gets two days of front page???

How does this happen?

Man, whoever is paying Neal Boudette to spin these legacy auto propaganda articles to the front page editors at the Times, give him a raise.

Friday front page:

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/28/business/gm-zero-emission-vehicles.html

Saturday front page:

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/29/business/general-motors-electric-cars.html

No wonder TSLA takes it dips. There still is so much misinformation about the auto business out there being peddled as front page news.

People still have no idea the sea change that is happening.

The front page headline should be:

GM’s Decision To Go Electric By 2035 Will Be Too Little Way Way Way Too Late.

and then

GM In 2035, Hoping To At Least Be The Next GME.

You needed to split this into 2 posts so I could give you a funny and an informative.

 

[15Peter20]

Maybe by 2035 GM will have an EV that matches the specs of a 2013 Model S

I am tempted to wager you on this.....

 

[S3XY]

I've gotten to a point where I could purchase a Y using margin, and retirement may be as close as a month away. We started planning a trip for late Summer to head to the Rockies and beat the heat. So, naturally, I pulled up the Supercharger map to plot our usual route for the car to be, only to find that I can't get there from here in a Tesla using the Superchargers without driving many miles out of the way on the boring interstates.

Now, I'm one who will gladly drive extra miles to avoid interstate highway travel, but I won't drive extra miles just to stay on an interstate. When I'm on vacation I prefer desolate country highways over the crowded super-slab. I want to find all those world's largest ball of string places, and enjoy the personality of small town cafes, and can relax as I watch the countryside slide by along with endless fences and power poles without being surrounded by the lemmings running full tilt into oblivion.

For now it will be a matter of looking forward to the greater expansion of Supercharger sites so I can finally choose a Tesla for my travels.

Till the 500 mile Cybertruck can be had it will be ICE, baby, whether I like it or not. I won't give up my back roads. Maybe in another year or two they will have filled in more of the blanks.

Happy weekend y'all!

I hate to say it but by definition the road less traveled has less cars and and therefore is less likely to get superchargers. Superchargers are meant for long distance travel which correlates to highways. I expect Biden's fast charger plan to favor highways as well. That's why I'm getting a Cybertruck, although I'm all about getting to my final destination so will stick to the highways. But I do plan to spend some time discovering the areas where we stop for supercharging and stay overnight along the way.

 

[Unpilot]

I hate to say it but by definition the road less traveled has less cars and and therefore is less likely to get superchargers. Superchargers are meant for long distance travel which correlates to highways. I expect Biden's fast charger plan to favor highways as well. That's why I'm getting a Cybertruck, although I'm all about getting to my final destination so will stick to the highways. But I do plan to spend some time discovering the areas where we stop for supercharging and stay overnight along the way.

Campgrounds are going to be great for the cybertruck. Most have 30A service and many have 50A service.

 

[Unpilot]

I agree that its pretty cheap-ass of tesla to not let FSD carry over to a new car... BUT
They don't have to?
I want a model Y, in the UK, so RHD, and will likely have to wait another 8-9 months. I want FSD with it, and by buying it, I'll lose my lifetime free supercharging and premium connectivity too. This is really cheeky of them not to let me keep it after being such an early customer 7 investor...
But lets get real. Am I REALLY going to stick with a 5 year old model S out of spite instead? And much more importantly, if I do, and keep the model s, they will sell *my* model Y to the next person in the queue.

Tesla have so much demand, they don't have to care about their early customers that much. That may feel a bit harsh for people like me, but I see their POV. They are trying to keep costs down, and sales up, and until they are producing more cars than they can sell, they really don't have to care about what I think as a customer. (the same goes for how much I had to pay for a new MCU).

I suspect teslas approach to stuff like this will change in maybe 2025, but until then its just expand and produce at all costs, and do whatever they can to fulfil demand and get more EVs built.

As an investor, I gain more from that focus than I lose on having to pay for supercharging my next car.

Right there with ya. I WILL order a new ModelS soon...and in the process lose my unlimited SC and unlimited Premium connectivity.
Do I WANT to lose these perks...hell no.
But I will and keep on smiling as I drive the new car of the future....knowing it won't be long before I won't have to drive anymore...unless I want to.

And the reason all this is happening is because folks like us keep buying these amazing cars...allowing Tesla to keep pushing ahead.
If we did not and had to wait on the legacy car makers...well we would all be dead before that happened.

The fact that Tesla has basically single handedly built and then pulled the EV market to were it is now is due to the incredible work ethic of EM and team coupled with people who share his dream of renewable energy...AND are willing to put their dollars where their hearts are.

Of course the fact that the cars are drop dead sexy and cool helps.
Plus a lot of us are getting rich along the way.

It is all unfreakingbelievable.

 

[lklundin]

First time buying tsla in a long time in my roth account. Saw an "old" unfilled order for 400 from Nov.

Good thing you only had unattended buy orders lying around - I assume...

 

[Prunesquallor]

Now this Crazy.

In the New York Times, GMs fluff PR announcement about having electric by 2035 got not one but 2 front page featuring stories above the fold both Friday and Saturday.

Same story. Two days. Front page news. Above fold!

Wow.

With all that is going on in the world, this non story BS press release gets two days of front page???

How does this happen?

Man, whoever is paying Neal Boudette to spin these legacy auto propaganda articles to the front page editors at the Times, give him a raise.

Friday front page:

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/28/business/gm-zero-emission-vehicles.html

Saturday front page:

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/29/business/general-motors-electric-cars.html

No wonder TSLA takes it dips. There still is so much misinformation about the auto business out there being peddled as front page news.

People still have no idea the sea change that is happening.

The front page headline should be:

GM’s Decision To Go Electric By 2035 Will Be Too Little Way Way Way Too Late.

and then

GM In 2035, Hoping To At Least Be The Next GME.

Yeah, but I don’t get it. Why advertise new EVs if they don't HAVE any new EVs?

 

[Words of HABIT]

Excellent commentary by Jonathon at CleanerWatt in explaning the before and after Model S 2021 Refresh with clear photo comparisons and stats. I thought this was very helpful, and the changes are far more than I expected at first glance.

 

[ReddyLeaf]

Indeed, weak longs (includes day traders) with tight round number stop loss limits are likely being harvested by short selling hedge funds. The cascading effect is much like toppling dominoes. So far $800 and $790 limits have cracked, but near $780 has brought in buyers. Getting back above $790 may inspire the hedge funds to cover their shorts at a profit.

Late posting this update: With all the GME macro issues, I was expecting a nice Friday dip. So, I set up a series of 10 share buys in roughly $5-$10 lower increments in multiple accounts to round out in 100 share increments. I managed to catch 90 total shares at $805.10, $800.50, $795.10, $790.50, and $780.50. I still think there’s a low probability, but more serious 20% drop possible next week. Therefore, I saved some cash to buy another 30 shares to finish my last lot, and maybe buy back some sold Mar19 covered calls. While TSLA will eventually recover, this may be a GME-induced Black Swan event that will test the whole market. HODL, 2022 will be here soon.

 

[Favguy]

Right there with ya. I WILL order a new ModelS soon...and in the process lose my unlimited SC and unlimited Premium connectivity.
Do I WANT to lose these perks...hell no.
But I will and keep on smiling as I drive the new car of the future....knowing it won't be long before I won't have to drive anymore...unless I want to.

And the reason all this is happening is because folks like us keep buying these amazing cars...allowing Tesla to keep pushing ahead.
If we did not and had to wait on the legacy car makers...well we would all be dead before that happened.

The fact that Tesla has basically single handedly built and then pulled the EV market to were it is now is due to the incredible work ethic of EM and team coupled with people who share his dream of renewable energy...AND are willing to put their dollars where their hearts are.

Of course the fact that the cars are drop dead sexy and cool helps.
Plus a lot of us are getting rich along the way.

It is all unfreakingbelievable.

I agree with almost all of your sentiment, but cool and drop dead sexy? They are all cool tech, but sexy? Let's take a look...

The Roadster, absolutely, but not here yet.

The S, yes.

The 3, well... Meh...

The Y, looks like a potato, so no!

The X, looks like a bigger potato, again, no!

(Note: I really only like coupe styling, so may be biased. Looks are subjective, your taste and needs may vary, always read the label)

 

[Artful Dodger]

I will not be surprised if Fremont Model Ys are exported when Austin is fully ramped, all US customers might want a Austin Model Y,

Elon has already said that Fremont will produce vehicles for West coast states (California bought about half of all Teslas until GF3/Shanghai ramped).

Elon further said that Giga Texas will provide Models Y+3 to the Eastern U.S. He also mentioned reducing the costs of logistics for sales East of the Rockies.

Since Austin will produce Model Y before Model 3, I expect that the 'Texas 3' will also have the structural by pack + 4680 cells.

And it won't matter for sales or demand. Anecode: last year, I asked a friend what kind of car she has. She said "Red".

Ask 100 people which engine their ICE car has, they'll say "dunno, don't care". Only the 1% of Tesla nerds/geeks like us care. The rest just want a reliable car that's cheap on gas. Wait, no gas? Well, sold.

Once all Model S/X is 4680, the 18650s can go into Powerwalls and everyone will be happy.

Powerwalls, and most of TE Energy products, are switching to Iron Phosphate chemistry, as will Tesla's entry level / std range vehicles . Nickel chemistry batteries will be be reserved for long range autos and Semi (per Bty Day slide deck).

Cheers!

 

[2daMoon]

I hate to say it but by definition the road less traveled has less cars and and therefore is less likely to get superchargers. Superchargers are meant for long distance travel which correlates to highways. I expect Biden's fast charger plan to favor highways as well. That's why I'm getting a Cybertruck, although I'm all about getting to my final destination so will stick to the highways. But I do plan to spend some time discovering the areas where we stop for supercharging and stay overnight along the way.

Yes, that has always been what drives availability of goods and services. Even in the ICE age. The CT should be a better fit for me too.

I've always avoided crowds like the plague (turned out to be a useful behavior) and have preferred living as far as reasonably comfortable from urban centers. For about ten years I lived where I'd have to drive a hundred miles just to find a traffic light that changed colors.

Sure, I realize I'm an outlier and will be far down the list to be accommodated for all the reasons mentioned. Folks prefer to run in packs and the interstate is there for them. That has always been okay with me using ICE, but I could plan for fuel easier on the back roads than I can with a Tesla. Harder to carry the miles equivalent of a five gallon can of gas as a spare battery.

Once EVs are owned by a more significant portion of the public, those rural commercial entities will want to attract EV customers to their stores. It will happen.

I've got a few more years left in me to wait, and was only a tad disappointed not to be able to replace my ICE with a Tesla, especially now that TSLA is willing to buy one for me.

 

[StarFoxisDown!]

Elon has already said that Fremont will produce vehicles for West coast states (California bought about half of all Teslas until GF3/Shanghai ramped).

Elon further said that Giga Texas will provide Models Y+3 to the Eastern U.S. He also mentioned reducing the costs of logistics for sales East of the Rockies.

Since Austin will produce Model Y before Model 3, I expect that the 'Texas 3' will also have the structural by pack + 4680 cells.

And it won't matter for sales or demand. Anecode: last year, I asked a friend what kind of car she has. She said "Red".

Ask 100 people which engine their ICE car has, they'll say "dunno, don't care". Only the 1% of Tesla nerds/geeks like us care. The rest just want a reliable car that's cheap on gas. Wait, no gas? Well, sold.

Cheers!

Yeah really....I think we sometimes have to take a step back here or from the people around us that also follow Tesla as a company with a hawk's eye.

As Tesla get's more mainstream and is adopted by a wider mass audience, the percentage of Tesla owners who will care where their 3/Y is coming from is going to be very very small.

 

[Bet TSLA]

But I love you! When I saw your post I thought "This is the kind of total stupidity I can get behind." so I put ~$10K into some Jan 29 870 calls. Now worth ~$60K. I still expect they'll expire worthless, but what the hell. Maybe I'll get out at a nice profit.

Sorry, @bro1999, but I don't love you any more. As I expected, these calls expired worthless. But they had a chance! And, really, what good is stupidity if you don't stick with it. I would have sold them before earnings, but I knew if I did you wouldn't respect me in the morning.

 

[JustMe]

Sorry, @bro1999, but I don't love you any more. As I expected, these calls expired worthless. But they had a chance! And, really, what good is stupidity if you don't stick with it. I would have sold them before earnings, but I knew if I did you wouldn't respect me in the morning.

Do you frequent r/WallStreetBets, perchance?