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

[KarenRei]

So, reading over the latest in the Tripp case, here's what I see:

Docket for Tesla, Inc. v. Tripp, 3:18-cv-00296 - CourtListener.com

• Discovery has been extended to 10 July
• Dispositive motions can be filed no later than 9 August
• The pretrial order shall be filed by 6 September
• Tripp has dropped his counterclaim of intentional infliction of emotional distress ("has and continues to suffer"), apparently to avoid a mental examination.
• Google has been subpoenaed by Tesla to preserve information related to the case. This includes:
  • His google account, [email protected]
  • Any entities associated with his Google account, including Gmail, Drive, Hangouts, Docs, Slides, and Sheets
• Tripp is still trying to get Elon deposed. The court wants more evidence backing the importance of such a deposition under the apex principle, designed to protect top executives from nuisance suits.

 

[Dan Detweiler]

It's baffling what benefit Elon perceives from continually poking the hornets' nest, but as Darrel Royal said "ya gotta dance with them that brung ya."

I keep going back to his history and upbringing. This is a guy that was bullied as a child. Left bloodied on the floor from what I understand. He has an inbred hatred for anything he sees as an injustice. If he feels the SEC is being unjust in their rulings and their practices it is in his nature to call it out. It is an endearing quality in most cases but can lead to what seems like obsessiveness at times. You can't fault him for who he is. We all knew what we signed on for.

Dan

 

[Nocturnal]

This whole SEC thing is farking stupid. 420? sure, that was a thing, but this? Best case it's some jerk obsessively sticking to a technicality.

Having talked with a good number of people in Nebraska while showing my S85 (several times or several years), I found very few negative comments, and most of those had to do with range. The big hold-up in Nebraska (besides politicians) is the lack of SCs for travel. East-West is fine, but North-South is really poor--especially in the winter. Most N-S routes have 200 miles between SCs. Half of what's needed.

I've had the same experiences here in Kansas City. People are either ambivalent or actively interested in the idea of electrics, at least when it comes to Tesla. Very few people have been negative.

 

[Fact Checking]

Tesla installing Supercharger V3 at LA Design Center ahead of Model Y event

"Tesla is installing a number of Supercharger V3 stations at the LA Design Center ahead of the upcoming Model Y unveiling event this coming Thursday."

"Photos taken of the ongoing buildout reveal that the new charging stalls are replacing a bank of existing V2 Superchargers. Most of the area is effectively closed off, and sources familiar with the ongoing construction have told Teslarati that the chargers being built at the Design Center are indeed V3 stalls."​

 

[Tslynk67]

Small data point I forgot to mention, Tesla Brussels told me that they're taking 45-60 orders per week from NEW customers, i.e. not reservation holders...

On that matter, I still have €1000 on an M3 reservation, would be nice to get the option to shift it to a MY if desired.

 

[Fact Checking]

New Small data point I forgot to mention, Tesla Brussels told me that they're taking 45-60 orders per week from NEW customers, i.e. not reservation holders...

Interesting - what percentage of EU deliveries does Tesla Brussels handle, on average?

 

[Nocturnal]

Quick data point. My local KC club has a sizable portion of our members that picked up the new AP or FSD during the sale. I won't take a huge number of customers to buy AP (with zero marginal cost to tesla) or upgrade to FSD (with zero marginal cost until the new hardware is provided) to provide a nice little boost to revenue in Q1.

 

[TheTalkingMule]

Dear Banks,

We have a long way to go til my 2020 call order executes today. If several of you would sell, that would be helpful. You can buy back in Friday.

Thank you for your cooperation.

 

[Spacemanspliff]

Having talked with a good number of people in Nebraska while showing my S85 (several times or several years), I found very few negative comments, and most of those had to do with range. The big hold-up in Nebraska (besides politicians) is the lack of SCs for travel. East-West is fine, but North-South is really poor--especially in the winter. Most N-S routes have 200 miles between SCs. Half of what's needed.

Oddly enough I looked at the superchargers in Nebraska recently while talking to someone about EV’s who’s from there and you are right, north South coverage is very poor and I would understand why someone wouldn’t want an EV there. More to my point is that more often than not when I talk with someone about EVs outside of the Bay Area It’s usually followed with “yea but.....” filled with some line that is completely misinformed. (For reference I live in CA and do not work in the tech industry)

Which I understand if you don’t have a friend/neighbor who has one, or already have a prominent interest in getting one, you probably will be misinformed. Especially when even liberal news sources like the Washington post have opinion pieces bashing electric cars. Stating the Standard range but saying it on average costs 43k.

 

[capster]

No.

It was "cyberpunk".

What?!? Neuralink has a deck ready already?

Sweet! I’m in.

 

[SteveG3]

We need to publicize this illegal market maniplation. I'm not sure the best way to do it.

Might make sense to have an entire thread to discuss and make use of channels by which us shareholders can draw attention to these kinds of activities.

fwiw, off the top of my head, there are websites that support Tesla's mission, and there is also the Tesla feedback loop... contacting IR, raising the issue at the next earnings call if Tesla again takes upvoted questions from the external website for shareholder input Tesla used on the last call, and/or bringing up the issue at the shareholder meeting. I'd imagine Tesla has access to the "Fact Set" data, and similar sources.

 

[neroden]

It's $521M , not $3B.

Strong hints this is the first of several loans. There was talk of "Chinese banks" and this is from only one Chinese bank, singular.

OT

I am going to try to stop posting here (the investor forum) for a while. I do so out of an unhealthy compulsion to provide information to people. On the whole, people don't want to learn anything which disagrees with their preconceptions, so I really shouldn't. I've been told this by many wise people: let people believe whatever nonsense they want to believe; practically nobody wants to learn anything, and it'll just be frustration to explain things to 99% of people. They're right. Almost everything I've posted for the last year is a repeat of something which has been posted before, usually many times, by myself or others; I'm just seeing the same misapprehensions over and over again, and there's really no point in discussion. If I do start posting, I shouldn't be doing so.

Thanks and massive props to Brian45011 for being the only person here to disagree with me who really proved me wrong.
Thanks to jbcarioca for genuinely insightful responses on *all* occasions, even to content which moderators are deleting.
Thanks to those who have collected data.
Thanks to many of the rest of you for being interested in analysis.

I'll still be lurking and reading. I just won't post.

Nerode N signing out.

Moderator Test post; ignore please.

 

[Spacemanspliff]

I live in a small town in the midwest. A friend of mine considers himself knowledgable about Tesla, but appears to get his information primarily from blogs and the mainstream media. The last time he brought up one of the FUD lines about Tesla I was close to losing my cool because it gets so tiresome.*

The thing is this: while it might be tempting to think that advertising would change this, unless it changed blogs and headlines it wouldn't have any real effect on him. In fact, I don't think advertising even addresses the issue. Whether they are conscious of it or not, I believe most people view advertising as a tainted information source. So when it affirms what they already think, they believe it. When it goes against what they already think, they dismiss it.

Perhaps more to the point: the information is readily available. Anyone with access to blogs can easily discover FUD debunking -- it is a matter of where they choose to obtain their information from.
.

You bring up a really valid point, MOST people (in areas like the Midwest) will be far more swayed toward an EV by the grass roots campaign of a friend/neighbor having one and them checking it out. It’s more trusting than the media.

But there are also people like my mom who lives in CA, liberal (not that it matters but it is a more likely target), who is looking at purchasing a new car and Tesla isn’t at the top of the list because of “yea but....” reasons.

I think there are simple facts that people don’t know, like they have models with 310 miles of range or that there is a thing called a supercharger network. Etc.

 

[Fred42]

You bring up a really valid point, MOST people (in areas like the Midwest) will be far more swayed toward an EV by the grass roots campaign of a friend/neighbor having one and them checking it out. It’s more trusting than the media.

But there are also people like my mom who lives in CA, liberal (not that it matters but it is a more likely target), who is looking at purchasing a new car and Tesla isn’t at the top of the list because of “yea but....” reasons.

I think there are simple facts that people don’t know, like they have models with 310 miles of range or that there is a thing called a supercharger network. Etc.

Calvin doesn't have an "L" in the name of his alter ego.

 

[KarenRei]

Strong hints this is the first of several loans. There was talk of "Chinese banks" and this is from only one Chinese bank, singular.

OT

I am going to try to stop posting here (the investor forum) for a while. I do so out of an unhealthy compulsion to provide information to people. On the whole, people don't want to learn anything which disagrees with their preconceptions, so I really shouldn't. I've been told this by many wise people: let people believe whatever nonsense they want to believe; practically nobody wants to learn anything, and it'll just be frustration to explain things to 99% of people. They're right. Almost everything I've posted for the last year is a repeat of something which has been posted before, usually many times, by myself or others; I'm just seeing the same misapprehensions over and over again, and there's really no point in discussion. If I do start posting, I shouldn't be doing so.

Thanks and massive props to Brian45011 for being the only person here to disagree with me who really proved me wrong.
Thanks to jbcarioca for genuinely insightful responses on *all* occasions, even to content which moderators are deleting.
Thanks to those who have collected data.
Thanks to many of the rest of you for being interested in analysis.

I'll still be lurking and reading. I just won't post.

Nerode N signing out.

Just letting you know, you're appreciated - even when I disagree with you, which is usually not that often.

 

[TheTalkingMule]

I am going to try to stop posting here (the investor forum) for a while. I do so out of an unhealthy compulsion to provide information to people. On the whole, people don't want to learn anything which disagrees with their preconceptions, so I really shouldn't. I've been told this by many wise people: let people believe whatever nonsense they want to believe; practically nobody wants to learn anything, and it'll just be frustration to explain things to 99% of people.

Excellent to hear. Your efforts are noble, but in the end just making you nuts. We'll shine the giant TSLA spotlight in the sky when you're needed next!

 

[Curt Renz]

And people say no about advertising eventually. I’m not saying a full blown Super Bowl commercial and granted people talking about and showing their model 3’s helps, but this still doesn’t reach folks outside of CA CO NY etc. and penetrate into a state like Nebraska. A lot of people in this forum have a serious disconnect with what a large % of Americans know or believe about EV’s.

Obviously this becomes more of an issue as you go after larger market share.

At the very least a YouTube video series going over basic information would be helpful.

Maybe you won’t call it an ad campaign but a misinformation campaign. It also does not need to be in a traditional format.

Indeed, TMC members, especially Californians, are so knowledgeable about Tesla that many find it hard to imagine that a great number of Americans are still so deeply in the dark.

Here in Chicagoland during recent years more people have progressively come to realize that Tesla and electric cars exist. But for a great many their knowledge remains quite weak. In conversations, they perpetually bring up range anxiety, with little understanding of the ease of home charging and Supercharging. There are still not enough Tesla owners here for a large number of people to learn from them.

So once production capabilities ramp to greater speed, a more aggressive educational campaign by Tesla may be helpful.

 

[jeewee3000]

Interesting - what percentage of EU deliveries does Tesla Brussels handle, on average?

Impossible to determine, I'm afraid.

Either way: a very low percentage, cause in Belgium people buy Tesla's in three major cities (Ghent, Antwerp, Brussels) so Brussels only gets part of the cake. If I had to make a calculated guess I'd go for 0,5% of Europe's deliveries. (mainly because most other EU countries in which Tesla is active have way larger populations)

 

[wipster]

Thank you Norway.

Ya, sure, you betcha!

 

[Spacemanspliff]

Calvin doesn't have an "L" in the name of his alter ego.

Haha I made this account after the Rogan pod, I thought it was fitting after his actions and his aspirations.