Re the TMC (as Toyota refers to itself ) rumors,
reposting here from a separate thread where I
posted the original news source
... what Toyota also brings is branding and sales/ service reputation that will assuage the more common mass media conditioned folks, those who would not consider a BEV from Tesla.
My take is that it is very plausible, and whatever comes of it will be in the best interest of Tesla and its mission, as well as Tesla as a business:
Since all BEV's are battery constrained, this is not going to impact Tesla's production for the coming year at least - but it can help Tesla's revenue as it can sell parts, software or some know how. Figuring the sale prices for whatever is sold for Toyota is best left to Tesla's experts. More BEV's by Tesla or anyone else is better for the mission and Tesla.
Besides the fact that Tesla is years ahead in car manufacturing/ design and accelerating if anything, Tesla is ALSO more than just cars, it's more like an incubator for mission oriented tech, as EMSK mentioned. Once freed from car manufacturing, they can redirect resources to other areas, mostly ENERGY: the utilities (huge opportunities for disruption, and Tesla has already started as you are aware, but there too, battery supply is the limiting factor), the HVAC home housing market together with the solar roof, and whatever they may be planning already.
In true WS fashion that news will not impress the bean counters/ financial reports anal-ysts. The FUD crown will probably spin it in the opposite way, in whatever silly fashion they can invent. So no effect on TSLA for some time IMHO, not until some shift happens, money wise (earnings) or perception wise.
I also like that if this materializes, it would bring in another real contender in the BEV field besides Tesla, VW and "the Chinese, aka Xpeng Volvo, Nio et al".
The way all carmakers play the coming years sure is interesting to watch -
the one unknown that is not mentioned much and would save the Lidar gang is V2X (vehicle to everything, ie other cars, infrastructure, pedestrians even). Now that would require massive investment, but considering the equally massive waste of money /USD /capital /energy we have seen in the past decade, it would absolutely make sense. Not expecting our politicians to want to understand that of course. Who knows, maybe enough people will wake up and help make a difference.
www.caranddriver.com
www.cnn.com
teslamotorsclub.com
